Hospitality

Opening ones home for house church is a simple pleasure. It's also an opportunity for people to see how you really live. In our case, you might see a bit of dust on a shelf, or some laundry left on the floor in front of the washer and dryer. While hosting a night time home group, I shifted from anxious house cleaning to a far more reasonable expectation. Prior to home group and house church, the bathrooms are cleaned, the carpets vacuumed, the kitchen counters clear and wiped down, just don't look in the corner or on the bookshelves, cause there is probably dust accumulating! My house looks like people live in it, and I am comfortable with that result. Making the home environment self serve and ready for church members: Coffee and Tea. Loved by most who attend. I bought new mugs and created a help yourself tea and coffee station. Attendees brought various teas which I placed in baskets and small drawers to a little table top wood cabinet sitting unused in a bedroom. A little red paint, and voila, a great place to store tea, stevia and sugar. I added an electric tea kettle and coffee maker. This happy designated space is welcoming, and is always set up for use. Very helpful to me cause there is plenty of other things to do before people arrive for Church. I have been exceptionally blessed to find hand towels on clearance, so I have a handy supply of towels which I change out before people arrive. Large serving platters and serving spoons have made a handy addition to my supply of dishes which serve a large number of people, now I store them in a cabinet neighbors we giving away. Thanks God for pointing out that wonderful find! I found a very large paint wood repurposed tool carrier at a boutique, I stocked with paper plates, napkins, plastic silverware. It is easily restocked during the week and handy for everyone to use as they make their way towards the self serve buffet line at meal time. Practical, but a few useful changes that made House Church a little easier.

Around The Coffee Table

For Six years now, I have facilitated a home group, a believers meeting in my home. After attending home meetings for a number of years, it became clear, we, my husband and I should plant one in our home. First we, followed the model we learned through an Anaheim Vineyard Home Group, subsequently a second AV home group purposed to train future home group leaders. After six years of hosting a midweek home group, we have moved into planting a house church, one that seeks to stay in the home, free from supporting a lease or mortgage on a building, used only a handful of hours a week. Instead, giving is sent to the poor, maybe a neighbor in need, or a missionary we know personally. The Well's house church is purposed to be missional. Grow. But grow differently. We feel called to train up and send out leaders to plant house churches. Hence, the plural nature of our house church name, The Well's. So here we are as a group, leaning on Holy Spirit, as God made clear we should, to hear, learn and practice, doing church around a coffee table. Our fellowship time begins with worship, which includes intercession for any number of topics as Holy Spirit guides. We transition into a time of waiting on the Lord. Then the group shares what scripture God has been speaking to them about, or maybe a testimony, a God story from the past week. Then we transition into praying for one another as needs are explained. We conclude with a pot-luck meal. Family time, church family time. Get to know you more time. This is where friendships and community develops in the group. So begins the journey. We will see a year from now what the morning looks like.

Transition

When God first "downloaded" what I believed to be a call for intercession for my county, Orange County CA, I prayed obediently, but from a third person perspective. Well, that changed about six months following "the prayer assignment". Funny this, God would "show up" as some of us say, while I was driving or working on my sign and pillow business. A stream of thoughts about house church would suddenly flow like a waterfall through my mind. Suddenly, I found myself pondering different aspects of house church, that prior to the "waterfall" of thought, would not have interested me in the least. I was content to pour myself into a couple of positions at my church as a staff pastor, responsible for a slice of the pie if you will. I was quite comfortable with responsibility for only some of the whole sum of church life. God turned that settled place on it's side, even upside down! He did this through a series of waterfall downloads. It would start like this; God: tithing is different in House Church. Me. Oh, we are talking about house church again? God: tithes no longer pay for brick and mortar, money is freed up to go to the poor, a neighbor in need, a missionary. Me: Oh, ok, but what does that have to do with me? God: "silence." Waterfalls of thought or conversation continued for a few weeks. Then He narrowed to topic to me. I realized I was on a journey of reassignment that would change my comfortability, and it would affect a lot of people as well. When it became clear that disconnection was the destination, the how to walk that out began.

Vision.

Yes. Jim and I have planted a house church. Reassigned. Over the last year, God spoke to me about Orange County, CA, where I live, His desire to launch more house churches. As an intercessor I prayed for OC, that Christians would be stirred towards not only house churches, but fellowship under many banners such as home groups, music fellowships, art fellowships, etc. Then God began to speak to me about how house church functions differently than conventional church. I thought it odd that He would "show up" while I was driving or working and decide to talk to me about a form of church I didn't feel called to. Eventually, He didn't just talk about it as an idea, He called me into it. Transition. It has been a sweet journey with a team of people called to do the same. I am learning a lot. I love this form of church which is just another expression of Christian Fellowship. Let me be clear, I am not against conventional church. I am just called to do church differently, in a home, but outward reaching, alive in worship, the word, ministry and finally a potluck meal shared. So begins the journey.