Many churches have small groups of people meeting weekly as part of their programs, does this mean they are cell churches? No, not really. The following test questions by William A. Beckham help differentiate between a cell church, and those with similar structures and terminology but very different dynamics;

" The institutional test: Is the church a living organism or an organisation? If you were to do away with the Sunday morning meeting and the building would the church survive?
" The cell test: Is a small group considered the church in nature, purpose and power? Does the church see the small group as the basic Christian community? Do people cringe at calling the small group 'church'? Paul himself had no problem calling groups in the homes churches.
" The photocopy test: Can the church replicate itself? Will the model transfer? This is not a numerical test, but a test of nature and life.
" The simplicity test: Is the church complex in its constitution and structure? Does it take a full time person to make it work? A cell church will continue to operate through simple cell leadership even if the governing administrative framework disappears.
" The multiplication test: Does the church show hope of multiplying? Or is the strategy based on just the addition of new members? Cells can systematically multiply because the point of growth takes place at integrated cell level.
" The adult test: Does the church reach new adult converts?
" The persecution test: Would the church survive if forced underground? Could it manage without its institutional cushion? The cell church will survive through New Testament principles no matter what happens politically, socially, economically, or internally.