Customer Reviews

Starting a House Church: A New Model for Living Out Your Faith

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Cell Groups and House Churches: What History Teaches Us

As someone who has studied and written on house churches throughout history, I was pleased and intrigued to see this book on actually starting a house church today. And it's a great book! It gives an overview of the different forms of church today, of which house church is one. It also provides a good biblical basis for what is a growing phenomenon around the world. Although it does give very practical help in how actually to start or lead a house church, the book, however, does not major on structure but emphasizes that it is all about the heart and spirit of the church - that is a place to provide spiritual community and family so that Christians can grow in their walk with God. The book, furthermore, gives some helpful tips on mistakes which can be avoided. It provides vision, biblical backing and practical help - a very good combination and a worthwhile read indeed!

Larry and Floyd make a great tag team as they share a clear view of the new wineskins the Lord is forming through the rise of house churches and house church networks. An easy read yet filled with page after page of inspiring stories and practical applications for anyone interested in what God is doing in the house church movement. Touching on important topics such as Godly leadership with a fathering servants heart,they are also sensitive to the whole body of Christ and how God is blending several different styles of doing church, into a beautiful harmony with one another for fullfilling His purposes in these exciting days we live in.

Pastors Larry Kreider and Floyd McClung present Starting a House Church: A New Model for Living Out Your Faith, a handy guide to participating in the growing house-church movement, which has sprouted to meet the needs of Christians and their communities in a manner beyond the ability of traditional churches. Chapters cover how to start one's own house church, ideal models for leading house churches, current and future trends in the house-church movement, how to work together with local, traditional, and mega-churches, and much more. "Who ministers to the children when they meet separately for the second half of the meeting? Whatever works! Here are some ideas: a rotation of all adult house-church members; responsible, trustworthy older kids; a rotation of couples with children; or teams composed of one parent and another adult (so that the other parent can participate in the discussion). Some house churches share children's services and resources with other house churches." A handy and useful "get-started" primer, enthusiastically recommended for any Christian reader interested in supplementing their spiritual gathering needs of their community.

For quick ideas, this was a good easy read. They hadn't said anything that hadn't been said before several times, however what the authors did, was compile all the spread out information into one book. I am not afraid of large books, but only if they need to be long, this one could have been cut in half...my suggestion is to pick the chapters that best suite you questions, and only read those, if you want a better, more detailed book on small group churches read, Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens

Larry Kreider and Floyd McClung have teamed up to write "Starting a House Church: A New Model For Living Out Your Faith." It is 185 pages long and is divided into an introduction followed by 15 chapters. It introduces the concept of the house church model to newcomers who are just asking initial questions.

It has several strengths. First, it is written by two men with years of Christian leadership experience in church planting, cell groups, and/or house churches. So, from a practical standpoint, they have much valuable insight to share with the reader about what does and what does not work. Second, it is written in a tone that is kind and conciliatory toward the institutional church. It does not bash other Christians for doing things differently. Third, it is written in a highly easy-to-read style which will make it suitable for almost anyone, even perhaps non-readers and especially new house churches just getting started. Fourth, it deals with a whole bunch of issues that are important to think about, especially when you first start on this path, such as children in the house church, working with megachurches and community churches, leadership, evangelism, pitfalls to avoid, examples of modern house church movements in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and North America, what does the New Testament have to say about the church, etc.

There are two serious drawbacks. First, it is basically an expanded version of Kreider's earlier book "House Church Networks." Much of the same material is presented here, but with McClung's additional input and some updated information. If you have reader the earlier book, this one will not be particularly beneficial. Second, I found the book lacking in scriptural analysis. Scriptures were sprinkled here and there to bolster various points, and there was one superficial chapter on the early church. But, no biblical ecclesiology or biblical missiology are offered in the book, and there certainly was no conviction that this was necessarily the only biblical way to do church. Not surprisingly then, when speaking of various "models" of church available today, the authors feel that, "The Church of today is a diverse one, and diversity is healthy....There is tremendous freedom in the Kingdom of God!...Each kind of church has its strengths and weaknesses..." (pp.173-175). However, this seems to be a far cry from the apostles' conviction that believers SHOULD follow their traditions, teachings, practices, and patterns, so that the church can become all it was meant to become! (1 Cor 4:17, 11:2, Philip 4:9, 2 Thes 2:15).

Overall, the book is a very practical and useful introduction to the house church concept and would be a good foundation-laying read for a new house church. But it appears to be driven by pragmatism and church growth. And it leaves you sitting on the fence without a clear conviction about the biblical nature and mission of the church.

RAD ZDERO, author of LETTERS TO THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT and THE GLOBAL HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT

Perhaps the first contemporary volume on house churches (other than its direct precursor, Kreider's "House Church Networks") that doesn't problematize traditional, institutional church life in its presentation of why and how to start a house church. It thus ends up making house churches sound normal and mainstream, not dissident and edgy. A good read, therefore, for folks who have left the institutional church and want to do something different yet not renegade or based on disparagement. Regrettably, the book is not as hands-on as its title suggests; for the amount of useful material within, it could have been much shorter -- pamphlet-length, even.

The concept of starting a network of house churches is fascinating to consider. I am grateful for the role that this book played in informing me about the concept. However, there is more content which the authors could have provided on the topic. I felt as if I was left wanting more.

I found this book to be very helpful for solidifying our house church network strategy. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in starting a house church network or already in the process.

Larry Kreider and Floyd McClung worked together to present very helpful information about starting house churches and house church networks. I greatly appreciated the book and found it very useful.

This book is written from the point of view of an evangelical, but it does offer some good points and interesting ideas.