Churches in the home
Churches in the home
By Brian Mutebi
THE expansion of the Church and the need to reach out to everybody in the congregation has meant that Christians need to meet in small groups for effective growth. As many churches embrace the idea of cells, there’s yet a new development — home churches.
Unlike the cell, which is an additional (usually mid-week) gathering of believers, in the home church, the pastor’s house doubles as the church auditorium where believers converge for the Sunday services.
“We have no gazzetted church buildings. We have regular members and worship and praise our God together in truth and spirit,” explains Jane Nakabiri popularly known as Musumba Nakabiri.
She pastors a home church in Kinaawa, about 2km from Nateete trading centre on the Nateete-Nakawuka road.
The church has no name, but if you ask for Musumba Nakabiri’s home, you will be quickly directed there. Her church was established four years ago.
Home churches are usually Pentecostal.
Nakabiri says, “Our church is rooted in Acts 2:42-47”. (“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”)
The church draws believers from the neighbourhood as well as distant places.
Interestingly, the oldest member of the church, a 70-year-old woman, travels the farthest to be at the church. She commutes from Nzebe, 1½ km away.
The Sunday services are characterised by praise and worship, prayer, mutual edification, sharing of Scripture as well as the giving of tithe and offerings.
Unlike in the ordinary churches where the preacher is the sole speaker and does not seek comments on the sermon from the congregation, in the home church, members are asked how they have benefited from the day’s message.
After the service, there’s time for interaction. Believers share their week’s experiences and then pray for one another. They eat together before they depart.
“It’s difficult to have a one-to-one understanding of each other in other churches. But it’s possible in our church given our small number,” says Sissy Baluka, a member of Christ Church Network church, a home church around Makerere.
Published on: Sunday, 17th September, 2006
By Brian Mutebi
THE expansion of the Church and the need to reach out to everybody in the congregation has meant that Christians need to meet in small groups for effective growth. As many churches embrace the idea of cells, there’s yet a new development — home churches.
Unlike the cell, which is an additional (usually mid-week) gathering of believers, in the home church, the pastor’s house doubles as the church auditorium where believers converge for the Sunday services.
“We have no gazzetted church buildings. We have regular members and worship and praise our God together in truth and spirit,” explains Jane Nakabiri popularly known as Musumba Nakabiri.
She pastors a home church in Kinaawa, about 2km from Nateete trading centre on the Nateete-Nakawuka road.
The church has no name, but if you ask for Musumba Nakabiri’s home, you will be quickly directed there. Her church was established four years ago.
Home churches are usually Pentecostal.
Nakabiri says, “Our church is rooted in Acts 2:42-47”. (“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”)
The church draws believers from the neighbourhood as well as distant places.
Interestingly, the oldest member of the church, a 70-year-old woman, travels the farthest to be at the church. She commutes from Nzebe, 1½ km away.
The Sunday services are characterised by praise and worship, prayer, mutual edification, sharing of Scripture as well as the giving of tithe and offerings.
Unlike in the ordinary churches where the preacher is the sole speaker and does not seek comments on the sermon from the congregation, in the home church, members are asked how they have benefited from the day’s message.
After the service, there’s time for interaction. Believers share their week’s experiences and then pray for one another. They eat together before they depart.
“It’s difficult to have a one-to-one understanding of each other in other churches. But it’s possible in our church given our small number,” says Sissy Baluka, a member of Christ Church Network church, a home church around Makerere.
Published on: Sunday, 17th September, 2006
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