House Church gatherings are not new. In fact, looking at Acts 2:46 we see the early church was "continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house..." The early church met in both the temple and "from house to house." Keep in mind that this way of gathering was organized by the very apostles who had just walked and talked with Jesus on a daily basis for 3 years! Therefore, it is worth carefully considering how they chose to gather. We believe that by gathering via a combination of big church and house churches, we are gathering in ways that are much closer to what the early church did—and their results are indisputable!
The big church is a great opportunity to be a part of corporate worship and to hear scriptural teaching from gifted teachers of the Word. Yet, there are limitations inherent in the big church gathering, and one of the big ones that we see is that it does not facilitate participation for the majority of the body. The house churches however, pick up where the big church leaves off—they are a wonderful opportunity for everyone to participate in the teaching discussion, to share a meal together, and to enjoy overall rich fellowship in a smaller more intimate setting. There are also limitations to the house church style of gathering—a primary one being that it can segregate the body. By combining the two, the big church setting brings everyone back together every other week. We believe there is wisdom in what we see the early church doing in Acts Chapter 2, as these two ways of gathering work beautifully together.