On Thursday, March 26, Tony Dale, of House2House, presented at our PlantR Network meeting. With his background in the simple house church movement, Dr. Dale brought a perspective that was unique from some of our previous presenters. While unique, I found that much of what he had to say was both challenging and encouraging. From conversations with others, I know that many walked about with mixed responses to his presentation.
Tony has experience with house church movements both in the UK and in the US. Though Tony didn’t summarize it this way, I was left with the impression that the simple nature of house churches leads to two results: mess and multiplication.
Tony knows that house churches are often quite messy, but is optimistic that God is at work in the midst of that mess. As the simple church movement takes the focus off of a primary visible leader, it creates opportunity for all to be engaged in the shape of each house church. While this leaves ample room for each person to grow and offer their gifts, it also leads to an inherent disarray. The hope, of course, is that maturity will come as the members work through the difference they have.
Most helpful for me was seeing how the simple nature of house churches can lead to multiplication. Tony referenced the work of David Garrison on Church Planting Movements. While the church in North America is in decline, growth is happening in the 2/3 world through the rapid multiplication of smaller faith communities. (See the reflections from George Patterson’s presentation for more on this.)
One of the great challenges of the house church movement is that it is so diverse, and therefore hard to fully grasp. In a follow conversation with Tony, he described how the movement incorporates “everything from the devil to the deep blue sea.” And while the movement is different from what many of us have experienced, I am thankful for the opportunity to hear from Dr. Dale and learn more about how God is using the church in all forms.
For a more complete look at Dr. Dale’s presentation, download the notes, compiled by Brandon Hatmaker, which include links and other resources.