Some practical guidelines for having a good house church meeting

From the Pastor’s Desk (284)

As I visit your house churches, I am often greatly encouraged because I see beautiful communities of Jesus being built as you do life together and faithfully reach out to your VIPs. I thank God for you. To help you have an even better house church meeting, I would like to share the following practical guidelines. Please apply them in your house church life.

Be on time!

Being on time is a sign of love and respect for others, whereas being habitually late can be a sign of selfishness and disrespect. Therefore, as Christ-followers, we must strive to be punctual.

Life happens, especially on Friday evenings on the way to house church. Therefore, it is understandable to be a few minutes late, and allowing a five-minute grace period is very reasonable. However, if you are going to be late, even by a few minutes, it is considerate and loving to inform your shepherd and house church members so they can proceed with the meeting accordingly. If you are going to be more than ten minutes late, you should expect your house church to start the meal without you. Let’s do our best to be on time!

The host should not pray for the meal!

Recently, I have noticed that quite a few hosts pray for the meal they prepared. I’m not sure how this practice even started, but it always feels a bit odd to me. If you are the host who opened your home and prepared the meal for your house church, you have already shown a labor of love, which is precious in God’s eyes. You should be blessed by God through your house church members’ prayers and words of gratitude. So, shepherds, please have one of your house church members pray a prayer of blessing over the host and their home.

Everyone must sit in a circle!

The closer we are in proximity when we share, the greater intimacy we will feel. Therefore, you should arrange the furniture in a way that brings everyone close together in a tight circle. No one should sit in the back or outside the circle, as this makes it difficult for others to see and engage with them. So, be intentional about forming a tight circle and fully participating in it when you share.

Put away your cellphone!

I also notice that many of us use our cell phones during house church meetings. This should not be the case. While cell phones can be used for praise and Word Time, and the prayer coordinator may use theirs to note prayer requests to be sent out after the meeting, everyone else must put their phones away—especially during sharing time. Being fully engaged in listening to one another allows us to truly know each other and pray effectively. This is what love does—love pays attention and listens attentively.

Clean up after yourself!

When the meeting is over, some hosts may tell you not to worry about helping with the cleanup. If they truly mean it, simply say, “Thank you! Goodbye!” and leave—that is actually a way to help them. However, at the very least, do your best to clean up after yourself. By doing so, you can lighten the host’s workload after everyone has left.

A house church doesn’t grow on its own because it is a living organism. It requires our collective effort to help it thrive and remain healthy.

Let’s all do our part so that each of our house churches can grow both spiritually and numerically.

Your pastor,

Pastor Eric