Starting a House Church

by Larry Kreider & Floyd McClung (Regal)

Book review by Tamara Rice

With decades of house church experience between them, authors Larry Kreider and Floyd McClung expertly articulate the nuances and benefits of beginning a home-based church. As the director of DOVE Christian Fellowship International, Kreider trains and guides house church leaders worldwide, while McClung—once senior pastor of megachurch Metro Christian Fellowship in Kansas City, Mo.—now directs All Nations, another international house church movement and training ministry.

Unlike many of their contemporaries, Kreider and McClung are humble in their advocacy of the house church movement, but explicit in their support of other church models, which they label as megachurch and community church (a more traditional church setting).

Those burned by conventional church will find no solace here. The authors believe that house churches started by disgruntled Christians fed up with the establishment are doomed. Only those at peace with the value of all types of church and leadership will be able to grow a healthy house church or house church network.

More importantly, to avoid the ugly pitfalls of ingrown, exclusivist house churches, McClung and Kreider insist house churches must be birthed with outreach firmly at the forefront of ministry, above and beyond the fellowship of believers.

In addition, by becoming spiritual fathers and mothers, caring for the needs of others (who may not feel comfortable in other church settings) and gently discipling them to faith, the authors say house church leaders will naturally raise more house church leaders. By freeing their spiritual children to become spiritual parents themselves, the network will keep multiplying.

The authors point out that church styles are like containers—each designed for a different purpose. They suggest that house church multiplication is one of the best ways to build spiritual momentum.

In the end, their prescription for growth—pray, meet, make, gather and multiply—could be heeded by any church. Though it’s a guide to a specific kind of outreach ministry, Kreider and McClung’s manual is a worthwhile read for any believer looking for a fresh—albeit age-old—model of discipleship and evangelism.

-Excerpted from Outreach magazine "Media Cue," July/August 2007

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