Our house churches operate on a rhythm of gathering and going. (We have a bookmark gather guide we’d love to give you). We recommend (but don’t enforce) an every-other-week meeting schedule to allow every other week to be dedicated to praying and going to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). On our gather nights, we do real relationship, applying the unfettered gospel to the visceral realities of our daily lives, supporting one another in our joys and sorrows and holding one another accountable to follow the leading of the Spirit. On our “Go” weeks, our desire is to faithfully and sensitively keep in step with the Spirit, bearing witness to the love of God in the lives of those He’s called us to serve and love.

The term oikos means “house” in Greek. The oikos list is located on the back side of the House Church bookmark. There are five lines to write the names of 5 people you will commit to praying for and reaching out to with the love of God. We encourage you to prayerfully consider the places you live, work, learn and play. Who are the people the Spirit is calling you to faithfully and consistently share Christ with? You might be called to strengthen your marriage, to intentionally disciple your children, to repair a broken relationship, to grow in relational depth with your neighbors or to boldly share Christ with a friend who ascribes to a different faith. The fact is, while we often have the best of intentions about praying for and sharing Christ with certain individuals, it can be easy to have poor follow-through, failing to love those who are far from the kingdom in simple, humble, costly, beautiful ways. And the sad reality is the church has left them behind. 96% of church growth is transfer or birth growth. The lost are remaining unreached, may it be so no longer! Spirit, lead us to proclaim the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name to many lost sons and daughters, that they might come home to salvation in Jesus Christ!

We feel strongly called to take a high investment, low control approach to our House Churches, meaning we want to deeply pour into those leading our house churches, while not limiting the movement of the Spirit in any way. We want to invest into each leader’s life while granting each House Church to live out the particular vision the Spirit is calling them to without burdensome restrictions. Each House Church will look different, which will be contingent upon the leading and conviction of the House Church shepherd. Some will be for certain lifestages, some will be affinity-based, some will be for men or women only, some will be for anybody and everybody, and some will be for those in seasons of recovery. This being the case, each group will have particular strengths, and will relationally connect in nuanced ways and will also have particular missional doors open that others might not have. For example, a group of millennials will probably operate, relate and do mission slightly differently than a group of empty nesters, and that’s a beautiful thing. The Holy Spirit uses them both for advancing the Kingdom in powerful ways.  If you are feeling led to lead a House Church, we require that you regularly attend Central Christian Church, submit to its leadership, consent to regular background checks, and participate in ongoing training/coaching for House Church leaders. Email housechurch@ccc.org to share your interest in leading a House Church.