Learning from the House Church Movement

by An Anonymous Graduate

On Sunday mornings in Beijing, worship songs can be heard coming from a high-rise apartment complex. Each week, more than 50 people quietly file up three flights of stairs into a small, two-bedroom apartment. Members are reminded to keep quiet in the hallways, so as not to bother the neighbors. Once inside, however, subdued demeanors transform into a room full of smiling faces. Every seat in the room is filled with students and young adults. Latecomers sit in hallways and bedrooms, where they have to strain to hear the message.
The service includes Chinese worship songs, mixed with an occasional familiar Western hymn and praise chorus. The speaker comes from a rotating roster of local pastors, evangelists and lay leaders who circuit through a network of a dozen congregations throughout the city.

Jet, a pastoral intern and a graduate of one of the top universities in China, lives in the apartment. He preaches twice a month, leads Bible studies and prayer meetings, organizes church activities and directs a team of volunteer cooks. Bible studies and prayer follow the service, while the volunteer cooks prepare a family-style Chinese meal.

This is the growing unregistered house church movement that started among uneducated peasants in rural areas, grew rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s, and more recently is expanding among students, intellectuals and professionals in urban China.

While exact numbers are impossible to verify, some estimate China’s total Christian population to be from 75 to 130 million. While approximately 20 million are in the officially registered Three-Self government churches, the remaining majority of Chinese Christians worship in unregistered house churches.

A similar house church movement in America is on the rise. According to The Barna Group, there are “new ways of experiencing and expressing faith, such as through house churches.” George Barna estimates that within the next two decades “only about a third of the population” will be relying on conventional congregations. As alternative forms of worship grow in America, what are some invaluable lessons we can learn from China’s house churches?

Strengths of the House Churches in China
Chinese house churches are vibrant and inspiring. Worshipping together in a small, crowded room in China is an indescribable experience. Joy and excitement permeate the room. Limited space and fear of the authorities create a closely-knit, family fellowship. Members are often discouraged to invite visitors. For security reasons, seekers are invited to a separate evangelistic meeting. Such an atmosphere produces an inspiring, authentic worship experience.

While preaching is often lacking in quality and consistency, members are not necessarily coming just to hear a message. The main attraction is the warm fellowship resulting from an enthusiastic and inspiring worship experience.

Still, the house church is not the answer for all. Many intellectuals returning to China have a hard time finding a spiritual home. While overseas, they come to faith in a church with a vibrant teaching and preaching ministry. These abundantly resourced church conditions can produce a passive faith, which inhibits their ability to adapt to a house church environment.

Ming, a Beijing native, studied abroad in Australia and came to faith in a Chinese church in Sydney. After returning to China, Ming struggled with her faith. She couldn’t find a church with the quality of preaching and church life back in Australia. Neither the larger government-sanctioned Three-Self church, nor the house churches could meet her spiritual needs. House churches, while alive, active and authentic, can turn some away.

Another common characteristic of a house church is its simplistic devotion to the basics. The house church movement in China is similar to the description of the early church in Acts:
“They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).

Very little time and energy are given to extraneous ministries. House churches have difficulty enough keeping up with the basics of worship, fellowship, Bible studies and prayer. Limited resources are available for children’s programs, student ministry, missions and community outreach. Even with the Beijing 2008 Olympics in their country, sports ministry was not a concern. While a network of house churches may combine for missions, seminary training and some specialized ministries, church programs in general are limited by the lack of a critical mass.

Perhaps the most appealing characteristic of the house church in China is that it can really be described as a true movement of God. China’s current house church growth is not the product of some great personality, charismatic leader or strategic program. It cannot be credited to a particular church, denomination, mission agency, theological persuasion or charismatic movement. Instead, the house church movement in China is the result of a movement of God out of persecution.

China’s house church movement is a living, present day example of the first century early Church. Just a decade ago, Beijing was home to only a handful of house churches. Within the last 10 years, an estimated 6,000-10,000 house churches have been planted in the city. And it’s not just Beijing; church growth is happening nationwide in China’s urban centers.

The Temptation to Idealize
With such explosive growth stories in China, the temptation is to idealize the house church model as the model for all. While house churches are becoming a worldwide phenomenon, there are substantial differences between a house church movement in China and one in the U.S.

What is driving the American house church movement? Is it a reaction against megachurch Christianity or a postmodern fad against organized religion?

The most obvious difference of the house church in China is that it arose out of necessity and not by choice. House church leaders did not plan a house church strategy from the start, but because of persecution, the church was forced underground into Christian homes. Many of China’s house church leaders pray for the day of owning their own church building and moving toward a large church model.

This persecution is also the greatest cause of China’s church growth. A house church leader has described how, when the police came to disrupt a baptismal service, the added pressure actually strengthened his church. As the police recorded the names of these 40 new believers, the experience challenged the candidates to test their newfound faith. Some of these young believers were afraid, but their faith deepened as a result.

Persecution purifies the church and strengthens the faithful. This authentic faith attracts and draws others to join. Multiply that scenario in a home, and a house church movement takes off.

Finally, house churches in China are not as holy and pure as many have come to idealize. Like any church, the house church model in China has limitations and flaws. The house church movement in China is not by choice, but out of necessity, and has some real problems.
Limitations of the House Churches

A good description of the house church is that it is a mess, an organizational nightmare. Many times, no one knows who the speaker is or what that person’s credentials are. Meeting times and locations are switched at the last minute. While some strive for a systematic rotation of speakers, church leadership is often unstable or in flux. There is a lack of qualified leaders. Churches often split or divide without adequate preparation. As churches constantly grow, divide and merge, it is a challenge to exercise biblical accountability and to gain a sense of organizational unity and stability.

It is also a theological mess. Just like the early church, the house church in China is prone to cult-like attacks and theological heresy. The Eastern Lightning cult (which believes in a woman messiah) targets house church leaders. They send undercover adherents into churches for months or even years before ousting the pastor and gaining control of the flock. Even within the church, it sometimes is hard for church leadership to distinguish between orthodoxy and heresy. Divisions exist over the charismatic movement, reformed theology, the “health and wealth” gospel, the “Back to Jerusalem” movement and the relationship with the official Three-Self church, to name a few.

Lack of Visibility and Diversity
Another challenge of house churches in China is a lack of visible presence to the community. The significance of a megachurch community presence cannot be overlooked. It is an organizational challenge to combine the resources of multiple house church networks to have a similar impact. House churches operate on survival mode and have difficulty dedicating resources beyond its members. The “illegal” status further hinders their ability to maintain a visible presence in the community. However, Chinese leaders pray for the day when they can emerge and visibly be the “city on the hill” to engage the broader community.

Lack of diversity is another problem facing a small-sized house church. Beijing house churches tend to attract younger members, mostly between the ages of 18-35. Students gravitate toward worshipping with students and professionals gravitate toward worshipping with professionals. Due to the lack of childcare and Sunday schools for children, families with small children rarely attend. While some of the more developed house churches are beginning to offer children’s Sunday school programs, junior and high school youth ministries are virtually nonexistent.

To compensate for these limitations, many house churches relate to the wider body through a network of house churches. While house church networks in China have a variety of organizational structures (some operate under one larger church banner, while others are in an association of independent house churches), it is at a network level where the overall vision and direction, leadership training, larger evangelistic events, missions and community outreach can be more effectively accomplished.

Longing for Global Worship
Finally, probably most lacking in China’s house churches is a “longing for global worship.” In an open country, it is a privilege to experience a large worship service. House church worshippers in China long for this, a larger worship experience beyond their own small group.

A few years ago, several house church networks gathered for a day of prayer and fasting for the city of Beijing. As hundreds of believers met for worship and prayer in a secret, remote area, I could see the excitement in their eyes. It was no longer 30 family members, but a larger, more diverse worshipping Body of Christ. Something is missing that cannot be adequately fulfilled in a small home alone. It is a glimpse of the future, the final ultimate global worship in the kingdom of God. Implanted in each citizen of the kingdom is the desire recorded in Revelation:

“before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb” (Rev 7:9). F