Life with the DeLoach's: House Church

Many of you know that Ben & I don't go to a building on Sunday to worship. We worship "as" the church, not "in" a church. Because people are the church not the building. The church worships together. Not sure how or why the phrase "going to church" got started.

There are many reasons why we started meeting as a church in homes and I really hope to write more blog post about that, but today I'm sharing with you what a Sunday looks like for us. I know it's different and I know it sounds weird. Trust me, I thought the same thing when we started. It was different than anything I had ever known. Oh how my thoughts and feelings have changed.

There are 13 families and 13 singles that are part of our church here in East Lake. There are actually two house churches, but both under The Church At South East Lake. Ours meets on Sunday mornings and the other one meets on Sunday night. For those of us who meet on Sunday mornings we have three houses that host so we can take turns.

Now that you know just a little here we go....

Everyone arrives between 9:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
Some don't get far before shoes come off - insert very comfortable setting.

Since 9 a.m. is normal nap time for little man he usually finds someone to rock him to sleep.

When it's time to begin, the choir starts singing.....

No projectors hanging from the ceiling or song books behind the pew, just a sheet of paper with lyrics. We're working on memorizing a couple of dozen songs together so we don't have to print out song sheets every week - just not there yet.

One of the things we have started during our worship time is a global prayer focus. We have 3 guys that take turns and each week they bring to our attention a specific place / people group around the world and how we can pray for them. We divide the room into groups and spend focused time in prayer specifically for them.

We make sure the kids participate in this as well.

I guess I can say that Ben is the main teacher for our church. We have two elders for each house church, but there are also what we call elders in training - men who are not yet ready to be elders, but are being mentored by the elders. Most weeks Ben will be the one teaching, but some weeks Mike Landrum or one of the elders in training will teach. Most weeks, depending on the teacher, we even have notes with blanks to fill in.

Something we have just started doing after we sing and pray together, is teaching the kids separately. Someone (we rotate) will take the kids out and have a lesson for them in a different room. That lesson is always the same as the one being taught to the adults but on a different level and it usually involves a craft.

We always end our time with more fellowship and food. Did I mention we're a baptist house church? :) Every week an email goes out from Perfect Potluck. Even though it says potluck in the title we usually have a theme. The first one to sign up sets that theme for the week. This particular week was BBQ.

We end with communion every week. And yes, that's only one cup you see. Totally freaked me out the first few times we did it and I'm not ashamed to say that I made sure I was at the front of the line so I could drink out of it first. I didn't really know these people and I didn't want their germs. Totally different view now. We are a community of believers, we are a family, we are one in Christ and I am more than happy to share only one cup. Just so you know we do have a napkin that is passed with the cup and everyone wipes it down after they drink. Mike makes the bread each week - it's unleavened and made fresh.

We don't pass it around, but it has a certain spot that it sits. Tithes and offering are taken up each week. We have our own checking account and deposits are made weekly.

I do want to share with you our first baptism. Just a few weeks ago we had the privilege to baptize someone that is now a part of our church. We pondered on just how that would be done. Our answer was this....

Yup, a swimming pool. Don't worry, the water wasn't cold - thankfully the hot water heater had a place to attach a water hose so it was filled with nice warm water.