The Church Comes Home
I finished reading Wolfgang Simson’s Houses that Change the World. Even though I should start my reading for this fall (and I’m sure this post will come back to haunt me), I’ve decided to start reading Robert and Julia Banks’ The Church Comes Home. The opening chapters have been very interesting. The first chapter records several first person accounts of home church meetings – they were all dynamic and participatory. The second chapter recaps Robert Banks’ Paul’s Idea of Community. I have been looking forward to reading this book. Hopefully, I will be able to finish it before I have to start my fall reading.
The reviews on that book are mixed, but mostly good. I’d be interested to hear your take on this reviewer’s comment: “My problem with this book is the notion that house churches are the only place for real relationships to develop. The caricature that they portray of small groups in more traditional churches is full of generalizations and simplifications.”
I’ve just started reading the book, so it is probably premature for me to comment. If this comment is correct, then I would agree (supposedly with the Banks) that there is a difference between relationships that develop as part of a small church and relationships that develop as part of a small group within a church.