This was sent to me today. I'm still reeling over it.

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Nelta, I don't know if I shared this essay with you... Once upon a time, it arrived in my e-box in German and I was so excited about it I translated it on the spot. You may remember a comment of mine: "What? Are you living out one of my dreams?" Here's the substance behind that question. Enjoy...ank >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Housechurches and Kids by Wolfgang Simson (tr. by ank)

Not long ago, I was having lunch in a London suburb with a young couple in their flat. They had two children, aged 3 and 1. Between bites of Yorkshire Pudding and sips of Darjeeling, I offhandedly asked the wife, "So, you enjoy your home group, then?"

She glanced at her husband, then somewhat furtively at me and said, "Well, you know..." and then petered out.

Her husband jumped in in a hopeful tone, "Yes, we do, very much," trying to smooth over the situation somewhat.

"I think I understand," I said. "Let me see if I've got this... Every Sunday is a living nightmare of sorts. If the congregation only knew, what kind of a drama precedes your entry to the service (punctually 5 minutes late), I don't think you would be an 'elder couple' very long, right? You know what I mean: the kids are fussy, the toast is burnt, Grandma is sick, the dog has made a "mess", Dad can't find his tie and the your nylon has a runner. Agitated and nervous -- just don't let it show! -- covered over with an "Everything's all right! Please don't ask about me!" spirituality, there you stand in the service until the weekly reprieve comes, when the Pastor says, "...and now the children can go to Sunday School!"

Now, at least on Sunday, the kids have Sunday School, but what about Homegroup? Wednesdays at 7:30 just don't work like that. Isn't that the way it is for you?" I asked. "Are you starting to think that your children are keeping you from getting closer to God?"

Pregnant silence.

"And then, here I come, and I have the gall to ask if you enjoy Homegroup. Aren't Homegroups typically a mini-Sunday service, just without a 'Reverend' or an organ? But there's an additional hardship for young families: What'll we do with the kids? A babysitter? Or maybe the kids have to be in bed by 7:20 PM so you can meet everyone at the door with friendly smiles and witty greetings as they arrive.

"How's this for an alternative: the House Church -- actually Neighbourhood- or Street-Church will do just as well. But it starts at 4:00 PM, not at 7:30. The wives get together, have coffee and visit together and with the children, sing some, pray some, talk, cry and laugh together. Then at 5:00 the husbands start to trickle in from work one by one. Instead of going to their own homes and dinner-tables they're also going to the Neighbourhood church tonight.

At 6:10 PM, that unsaved husband of one of your neighbours furtively comes in the door -- for the first time after your 11th invitation, and that, mostly because he was invited to a supper, not to a Bible Study. He's nervous and stiff and shifts uneasily back and forth on his chair. His countenance says, "I know that you all want to convert me. I haven't the foggiest how you're going to do it, but I'm expecting the worst." At that instant, your 1-year old comes crawling in and makes a bee-line for his trouser leg. When he manages to grab the trousers he coos, "Abudah!" and smears some unidentified substance on them. Then he laughs as only a 1-year old can. In that second, a miracle happens: From one moment to the next, the stiff neighbour and house-church leader have become 'daddies', glance at each other and start laughing. The little guy hasn't just eased the tension but also brought in a bit of human warmth into what you're neighbour had expected to find as a cold, formal, religious exercise. Suddenly, neither the atmosphere nor your neighbour are the least bit stiff. Everyone's much more natural and relaxed.

At about 6:30, everyone sits down to a "potluck" dinner, or perhaps a large pot of spaghetti, or as they do it in China, a large pot of noodle soup. There's some teaching at the table, but it happens like in the New Testament: conversations and discussions, during, not after the meal. People talk of their joys and sorrows, they share Communion, tell success stories and bloopers, trade insights on razors and cars, pray for and prophesy over each other, joke with the kids, who are not hindering, but enriching the situation, and collect some money for an unemployed widow who's moved into the area.

Pretty soon it's 7:30, and time for a collective bed time story before everyone leaves, told by one person to all the kids (from 6 months to 60 years). Perhaps this is when the unsaved neighbour is hearing - and understanding! - the gospel for the first time....

How would all that suit you?" I ask.

"It's too good to be true," she says, "but what'll our pastor think...?"

Gently I interrupt her: "Lets face a tough one. Where's the easiest place for a man to be spiritual?

Isn't it behind a pulpit, where one can preach to a whole distant crowd of people through a microphone? And where's the hardest place to be holy? Isn't it at home, in the persence of your kids and spouse? But that's also where the Gospel has the biggest impact, because the message of an ordinary life in an ordinary setting is its own litmus-test and is much more authentic than an artificial message delivered in an unnatural setting. After all, when Jesus asked his disciples to go as his messengers two by two, he asked them to find a house of peace, eat what they give you, drink what they give you, heal the sick, tell them the kingdom of God has come, and stick with them - do not go from house to house. Not complicated at all, is it?"

After another pause, I asked them, "So, tell me, when are you going to start your neighbourhood-church?" -- <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Nelta

-- Anonymous, October 20, 1999

Answers

I'm still reeling too. In confusion. In a paragraph, what was that all about? What was the point? Must have lost something in the translation!

-- Anonymous, October 21, 1999

Thanks Nelta for some really great ideas about home bible studies... I really like the earlier-time idea, but could it work in this society? hmmm.

We all know that the first century church grew in the homes of Christians and not from inside of a "Sanctuary". Small groups are better equipped at handling one-on-one problems that each congregation inveriably has.

How are everyone else's Home Bible studies doing? Are they growing? Or do you only have "Church" on Sundays and Wednesday?

-- Anonymous, October 21, 1999

Duane, if you don't get the impact of this essay there are not enough words in the English language to explain it to you. IMO people not understanding this concept is probably why we are in the mess we are in today with all this institutional stuff....etc.

Thanks for responding...though.:-)

-- Anonymous, October 21, 1999

I worded it wrong... I understood it... sort of... I don't know about impact, but.... After re-reading it, I can see where 4 pm beginnings would be a good idea. We used to have suppers at 6 pm on Wednesday so working couples didnt have to worry about preparing a meal... then a 7 pm Bible Study.

But some of the features mentioned are also found in our congregation at the place where we gather.... Little Johnny still grabs the pants leg and smears goo, men still "connect" through the experience, there is still human warmth without cold formal religious exercise, at our "neighborhood church". You can meet in somebody's house and still have "cold formal religious exercise" You can meet in somebody's house and still have frazzled nerves over a dog's mess and frazzled nylons.

At our fellowship meals, people still have "conversations and discussions, during, not after the meal." People still "talk of their joys and sorrows, they share Communion, tell success stories and bloopers, trade insights on razors and cars..."

My point is that the above story tries too hard to make "meeting in a church building" a stiff liturgical nightmare and "meeting in a house" a joyfully gut-wrenching koininea.... and it aint necessarily so.

-- Anonymous, October 21, 1999

I agree with your last statement to a point Duane, but in my experience...the bigger the group...the fewer people will talk about personal experiences or problems. People get to know each other better in a smaller group. Our congregation does both...In the summer we meet at the church building for an all church study. In the fall we split up into smaller home groups. Attendance is higher in the small groups, and there is more willingness to talk in the smaller groups.

-- Anonymous, October 22, 1999

Hear, Hear Mrs. Muse! We agree again!!! Now ain't that sumpin'? :-D

It IS easier to open up to 5 or 6 people than to a whole congregation of almost 400 (here). We've found that our growth is spurred on by our small groups though. (Depth, not width only) Christian maturity comes from being discipled by another mature christian, not just showing up on Sunday morning in anonimity. When you have excited, mature Christians discipling others, then that is all the new Christians know... "this must be how you do it!" so, "This is how I'll do it!" They don't know any better... they aren't dragged down by cerimonial traditionalism... they just don't know any better! :-D Amen and praise the Lord for that!

-- Anonymous, October 22, 1999

Brother Graham,

Yeah, that sure is sumpin' (LOL). I agree with you 100%!! Not only does more discipling go on during the week, but also I have found that there is much more accountability in the small groups. I can go to Sunday morning worship as you say in anonymity, but this is difficult to do in the home group studies we have here. In our local body, homework is given each week in advance for the small studies as well as our Bible classes on Sunday morning. Everyone is encouraged to have the work completed when they come to class. Because of this discipleship, more and more people open their Bibles at home during the week, and not just on Sundays. We too have found that our growth is depth & not width only.

-- Anonymous, October 22, 1999