To the growing movement of people participating in “house churches” the definition of “church” is continually evolving.

Do a search on your favorite Web search engine on the term “house church” or “simple church,” and you might be surprised to see how widespread this movement is. One site describes a house church as a group of Christians gathering regularly or spontaneously in a home or other setting instead of a building dedicated to the purpose. (Interestingly, the house church was the earliest form of church worship in Christianity.)

Many of the sites discussing house churches suggest that those who participate are not against the institutional church, they just have found that the large church experience isn’t for them. House churches seek to provide an alternative path, another way of approaching communal worship.

Even in large churches, peel away the layers of choir practices, standing committees, clergy, executive boards and church facilities, and what do you have? Often even within these larger communities, smaller groups will form to support one another in their relationship with God, Spirit, Love.

To Ontario, Canada’s Samuel Buick, a former minister, church is basically simple. “If God truly matters to us, we won't be consumed with our own needs as much as consumed with God and loving and embracing and being with people, and giving away what God has given to us.” Sam is active in a house church in his area.

“If the relationship with God does not translate into real community with other people,” he continues, “it is not much of a relationship. People get in touch with their inner selves looking for substance and reality, but if that reality doesn't translate into touching other peoples' lives, then what have we got?”

“Praise and worship is something we do from the depth of our heart,” says Klaus Kitt, who hails from the Kitchener-Waterloo region in Ontario. “Gathering in spiritual community is about acknowledging and living one’s relationship with God. We are less formal and less rigid because Jesus did not put on a front nor did he tell us that we must be a certain way. Jesus told us to come as we are.”

Linda Thornton, who attends an informal group of Christian Scientists in the Portland, Oregon, area, feels one’s relationship with God is what worship is all about. “Every person in the world has a one-on-one relationship with the divine Presence,” she says, “an indissoluble link with the Supreme Being who is available 24/7, who is always listening, hearing and answering our prayers. We all have it, whether we know it or not. But to know it is to experience it—to feel loved, guided, inspired and protected. It's like having a Best Friend who is always there for you.”

How does Linda connect with the Supreme Being, God? The smaller group worship experience in a home environment just works for her. “Being able to worship God in a more normal, natural setting—less formal, less rigid, less self-conscious—is both freeing and inspiring,” she says.

Carol Mason worships with a group that meets in London—in a park. But she is quick to point out that the relationship with God has little to do with the specifics of how and where one worships. It has nothing to do with it being less formal or structured, Carol maintains. “I feel I speak for myself and the others in saying that our relationship with God was and is totally established and comfortable. This outward statement, being available to others, had to do with our conviction in knowing we must share what we know of God, harmony, healing, divine Love—freely.”

The specific setting perhaps isn’t the pivotal factor. Referring to a Bible verse in Matthew (see link below), Carol goes on to say, "We recognize that when two or three are gathered in his name, there is church. We think it isn’t even dependent on being physically together.” Because their members travel a lot, they keep in touch via email and a Web site where they invite all seekers to participate in their “church without walls.”

There’s a definite sense among the members that they are touching lives. Carol sees their approach to worship as a catalyst for others. “The brush with our group has moved many people we don't know personally but hear about through others. Just as if they were with us in London on a Sunday, it seems to trigger the awareness of how to accomplish what is right for them, right where they are.”

Marge Thornton (not related to Linda), who attends a house church or informal group in Mesa, Arizona, agrees that worship or church is about our relationship with God, and that this does translate mightily into relationships with others. “To me, when I attend church I expect to feel spiritual inspiration. I expect to share my own inspiration, and support others. I get inspired by others experiences in their relation to God. I have the opportunity to share what the consciousness of God has meant in my life.”

What’s the connecting thread running through what all these folks are saying? Gathering together to worship builds community and relationships. And the foundational one is the relationship with God, the Supreme Creator. That relationship with the presence and power of God, the eternal Spirit, purifies and strengthens relationships with others.

Sam Buick says, “Church ‘happens’ wherever two or three believers are gathered together, no matter what activity they are participating in.”

To Sam, “God is the Creator, and my awareness of God is through all of the things He has created. God created man to have a relationship with Him. My own desire is to see the deep, intimate relationship I have with God translate into deeper relationships with people on a similar journey. Surely, if the inward journey toward a deeper relationship with God is to have any value, it must translate dynamically into real tangible relationships with people living together in community.”

Whether you enjoy gathering for worship in a less formal setting or whether you meet in a modest church, synagogue, mosque or mighty cathedral, being in the presence of the Divine—being conscious of one’s relationship with God—is an essential ingredient to building strong connections between yourself and others.

Gathering together in His name:

Science and Health
470:21-5
332:4-5 Father-Mother

King James Bible
Matt 18:20
Deut 31:12 (to 8th ,)