Home Churches And Large Churches Compared

 

TRAITS

HOME CHURCH

LARGE CHURCH

Assumed lifestyle

Communal

Individual

Care for the hurting

Peers give correction and support

Professionals apply therapy

Church finances

Sharing, meeting immediate needs

Tithes and offering

Communion

Fellowship with God and the body

Visual symbol in a church ceremony

Corporate worship

Informal, in homes

Formal, in religious buildings

Evangelism

Natural, inviting friends and relatives

Outreach, special events

General purpose

Get church into people’s homes

Get people into the church buildings

Growth pattern

Groups reproduce themselves

Add new members

Imperative

Go make disciples!

Bring in new members!

Legal status

Usually private, sometimes secret

Registered, complying with laws and regulations

Love one another

Practiced and experienced

Preached as an ideal

Main leaders

Shepherding elders and deacons

Priests, clergy, lecturers, board members

Members’ attitude

Secure in mutual support

Anonymity, frequent insecurity

Ministry goal

Equip every believer to serve one another

Manage church programs

Ministry standard

Effective service

Excellent performance

Missionaries

Churches appoint members who go

Missionary agencies recruit volunteers

Motive and strategy

Commands of Jesus, love for believers

Guilt of inconsistent living, pride of tradition

Outsiders’ reaction

Relative comfort in homes of neighbors

Relative discomfort in unnatural ceremonies

Pastoral duties

Compassionate care of a few

Preach sermons, visit the sick, manage staff

Reproduction

Rapid as new believers come in

Slow, due to expensive leaders, land and logistics

Success measure

New groups of growing disciples

Number who attend and pay a tithe

Teaching style

Dynamic discussion

Monologue sermons

Type of group

Small, intimate fellowships

Big, impersonal meetings with a passive audience

Use of the Bible

Handbook for faith and practice

Content, proof texts for preaching and teaching

Workers’ salary

Most are self-supporting

Most require budgeted salaries

 

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