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Here's something else I just found - it's the "Vineyard Central House Church Guidebook".
http://media.t1host.net/gems/vineyardcentral/HCGuidebook.pdf
this is much more structured than what rlp envisions, but there's some good stuff in there...

Notarev,That was quite an understatement.  87 pages of how to build, maintain, and sustain  house churches.  Wow!  What a gift the VC have given to us all.  Even if we don't follow this path, the broad concepts and structures of what is actually possible is just wonderful to consider.  Thanks so much. 

Ummm...let's see if I can answer these in order:   
 
1. Who knows? Why not do what is right and trust God with that?
2. Not a valid question. Why wouldn't there be spiritual leaders in small churches?
3. Until they are too big. Then they can sit on the couch if they want.
4. I don't know
5. I don't think so. Why would we?
6. I guess they would meet in other places.
7. That IS what my life is like. I've been bi-vocational for ten years. I like it just fine.

My perceived defensiveness/skepticism masked the fact that I am sincerely interested in knowing how you/your church would be different had your dream become a reality. The questions come out of my own experience (and may reflect some residual bitterness about it all). We started a church in a living room. The first meeting had thirty or so adults and almost as many children. We wanted to be a "house church" but never were able to. We struggled with providing Christian teaching for the children - something at their level. We ended up looking a lot like the church we left: Sunday school, an assembly more formal than we could have in the living room, etc. And we lacked the theological training and wisdom to lead the church. I remember studying the role of women (I guess we could have started with something easier!) and recall that we had no clue. We could have benefited from someone older and wiser to offer Biblical and spiritual guidance.

That all happened many years ago. My current church is wrestling with our future shape. We have all the programs a 40 year old church can develop, and then some. Should we continue as we are, ditch some things, or sell the building and re-invent ourselves around a house-church model? Our younger members like to meet in homes and work together in ministry. The older members like the building and prefer "programs." Whatever we do, we value our diversity and want to "keep it together" because we believe racial, economic, and generational diversity proclaims the gospel to all who visit us. But it's like walking a tightrope over Niagra Falls!

So maybe sometime you can look again at those dreams and see what has kept them from becoming reality. Did the real ministry situation you faced cause you to modify/abandon your dreams? Did the shape of the church evolve over time? These are the kinds of things I'm curious about.

Sincerely, Theosfan

Hey, I changed my reply to you. Didn't like it. Too much explaining and too much assuming on my part. So I just answered the questions. I see now what you meant. It was hard for you, but it's not like you can avoid having issues with church. You just have a different set of issues. However, I think it would have been helpful to have some experienced Christians involved. It doesn't sound like you did.
peace,

That was my thought as I read the original essay--there's a *reason* for a separate children's school. The teaching that I enjoy now as an adult had me squirming and bored to tears when I was still a teenager. I can understand the gut feeling about having a "professional Christian", but there's a reason for at least one person in the group to have a theological education. I've been in the self-taught groups and some of them just fall absolutely flat, because there *isn't* anyone who actually knows what they are talking about, either spiritually or intellectually (or worse, either one without the other).

I dunno, I kind of like church the way it is. :) But I agree that we often try to do too much, and get wrapped up in fundings, building campaigns, programs, office administration, etc.

Our small church did not have a full time staff person, but we were fortunate to find an older man with theological training and maturity to come and spend a month with us. Since we were all young married couples he spent a lot of time teaching on marriage.

I loved your comments regarding your dream church. I felt a little like I was listening to a preacher's version of John Lennon's "Imagine." I've often ask my congregation: "What is the bare minimum we must be to be a church?" I do that to try and draw us back to what is essential.

As to the first post...why pastors talk about attendance, etc. I believe it's because that's where the kudos are. How often have you ever been to conference to hear a small church preacher speak? How often do they get written up in the press? Bad motives yeah...but people tend to persist in things that pay off in some way...I think.

Preach--I know I'm not the first person to bring up the Quakers in these threads, but your piece does make me think you might enjoy taking in a Friends meeting if you've never been. You can find local ones on www.quakerfinder.org .

Just a thought.

OldPoet
(Someone from RLPs church)  Gordon,  we do have this thing you write about.  It is the Mystics and Cynics that embody this thing.  We could meet in my house and do everything really important to me about church and faith community.  Since that class started I have felt better than I have ever felt about church.  Adrian likes playing drums (and he ain't playing them here at home!), so I don't think we will quit coming to the Worship afterwards, but for me, I am well fed at 9:15 and anything after 10:15 is just dessert.   
Note:  Mystics and Cynics is a group that meets during Sunday School hour.  We are people that are well-versed in the Bible and things religious.  Several seminary degrees and long-time church members.  Two ex-pastors and one chaplain.  We don't need to read the Bible to learn what it says, although we do read it, we study our relationship to God and listen to what God says.  We use a variety of materials and sources.  (Mostly a devotional guide from Renovare).  Everyone takes turns facilitating the learning.  We strive to learn what God would have us do and be as we journey.  Sometimes we have called ourselves Mystics and Cynics and Pilgrims.  We are the people who annoy you at regular Sunday School.  We politely took ourselves out of that so we could be WE.  Nothing is off limits, no secret cannot be heard.  We argue and annoy each other.  We support each other always.  We have evolved into something we were not when we started and this thing is dear to me.  When we have an occasional visitor to the church and if they come into our room they generally never come back.  I am not sure what they are looking for, but usually they mutter something about  "We were expecting to study the Bible."  I am not sure what that means, but I think the digging around we do scares them witless.  Trust me, there is nothing more wonderful than the poems we looked at on last Sunday by Gerard Manley Hopkins and the walk we took in the prayer garden.  I brought the last fresh flowers from my garden.  We were fed.  We are not a closed group, though.  Others have joined us.  Just don't expect to sit and be talked to.  We are looking for something deeper.

Hi. Part One was beautiful, and I was going to ask, "In six years, have you tried to find any groups that were meeting with similar objectives?" Then I came here to Part Two, and I see that lots of people have given you resources to check out. So congratulations! :)

I know I'll never have enough time or life in me to check out all the little groups I keep hearing about. Still, all I can offer you is what I know, which is our little group in the DFW area.

Above all, I hope you find a home that's close to what you wrote on that card. It sounded pretty good to me! :)

Lord, bless our journeys...

Let me try that again:

Hi. Part One was beautiful, and I was going to ask, "In six years, have you tried to find any groups that were meeting with similar objectives?" Then I came here to Part Two, and I see that lots of people have given you resources to check out. So congratulations! :)

I know I'll never have enough time or life in me to check out all the little groups I keep hearing about. Still, all I can offer you is what I know, which is our little group in the DFW area
http://herobill.blogspot.com/2005/11/i-love-church.html

Above all, I hope you find a home that's close to what you wrote on that card. It sounded pretty good to me! :)

Lord, bless our journeys...

(why can't I login or use html here?)
I'm Herobill - URL given above.