1. What We Can Learn from the Global House Church Movement with Dr. Randy Wollf

2. Worldwide It is estimated that worldwide there are approximately: 450 million Christians within conventional churches 10 million in cell-based churches 450 million in simple, organic structures such as house churches, or meeting outdoors Source – Dale (2005)

3. Case study - China China went from having approximately five million believers (1949) to 80-130 million today Tens of millions of believers are part of house churches Sources – Brother Yun et al (2003), Zdero (2004)

4. Case study - India 100,000 house churches started in India from 2001-2006. “These little house churches in India are like the starfish, the more you divide them the more they replicate.” (Choudhrie, 2007, p. 308)

5. Case study - Ethiopia In 1982, the Ethiopian government outlawed the Meserete Kristos Church. It was comprised of 14 congregations with 5,000 members. What happened to this church that the government forced underground? Source – Case Study (Ethiopia) in Nexus (2007). Note: You can hear more about the story of the Meserete Church in the film “Against Great Odds” distributed by www.visionvideo.com.

6. Case study – Muslim world In an Asian Muslim country, more than 150,000 Muslims embrace Jesus and gather in more than 3,000 locally led Isa Jamaats or Jesus Groups (Garrison, 2004).

7. Case study – United States It is estimated that there are 5 million+ people in the U.S. who are involved in house churches (Dale and Dale, 2007). Neil Cole started his first organic church in a coffee shop. This was the start of Church Multiplication Associates (CMA – www.cmaresources) – Cole (2007) and Cole (2005)

8. Case study – United States NBS Report on House Churches in the United States

9. 20002025 Conventional church70%30-35% Alternative faith- based community (e.g. house churches, cyber-churches, marketplace churches) 5%30-35% Family5% Media, arts, culture20%30-35% Churchgoers Putting Feet to Their Longings in the U.S. Source - Barna (2005)

10. 20002025 Conventional church70%30-35% Alternative faith- based community (e.g. house churches, cyber-churches, marketplace churches) 5%30-35% Family5% Media, arts, culture20%30-35% Churchgoers Putting Feet to Their Longings in the U.S. Source - Barna (2005)

11. Case study – Canada Chilliwack – Chilliwack House Churches (http://www.chilliwackhousechurches.com)http://www.chilliwackhousechurches.com Calgary – East Edge (part of Centre Street) (http://www.eastedge.ca/)http://www.eastedge.ca/ Winnipeg – The Journey (www.journeypath.com)www.journeypath.com Ontario – The Meeting House (http://www.themeetinghouse.ca/)http://www.themeetinghouse.ca/ Canada-wide - Pathfinders Fellowships (www.pathfindersfellowships.com).www.pathfindersfellowships.com

12. Connecting with the Longings of North American Christians: Customization Participation Incarnational community Relationships From Zahn, D. (2005). What are driving today’s innovations. Leadership Journal, 26(1), 11.

13. A Key Characteristic in Some Global Church Planting Movements Garrison, David. Church Planting Movements: How God is Redeeming a Lost World. Midlothian, VA: WIGTake Resources, 2004.

14. A Key Characteristic in Some Global Church Planting Movements 1.Extraordinary prayer 2.Abundant Gospel sowing 3.Intentional church planting 4.Scriptural authority 5.Local leadership 6.Lay leadership 7.House churches/cell churches 8.Multiplying churches 9.Rapid reproduction 10.Healthy churches Garrison, David. Church Planting Movements: How God is Redeeming a Lost World. Midlothian, VA: WIGTake Resources, 2004.

15. Characteristics of Healthy House Churches…they are Simple Minimal programs Minimal organizational requirements Minimal expenses Painting entitled “Simplicity”

16. Characteristics of Healthy House Churches…they are Relational Characteristics of healthy house church communities: Continuous Authentic Intimate Intergenerational

17. Characteristics of Healthy House Churches…they are Missional Talking outreach Sharing Jesus Inviting the curious Starting discussion groups Launching a movement

18. Characteristics of Healthy House Churches…they are Flexible In coming alongside new friends In changing to address needs/opportunities within the group

19. Characteristics of Healthy House Churches…they are Participatory Everyone can use their gifts and abilities Interactive learning encourages personal discovery and application of biblical truths They can provide a context for extraordinary prayer

20. Recommended Books Cole, N. (2005). Organic church: Growing faith where life happens. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Dale, F. (2005). Getting started: A practical guide to planting simple churches. Manchaca, TX: Karis Publishing – E-version available on MinistryLift website Frazee, R. (2013). Connecting church 2.0. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. Garrison, D. (2004). Church planting movements: How God is redeeming a lost world. Midlothian, VA: WIGTake Resources. Simson, W. (1999). Houses that change the world: The return of the house churches. Emmelsbull, Germany: C&P Publishing. Zdero, R. (Ed.) (2007). Nexus: The world house church movement reader. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.