A growing House Church Movement in North America and Around the World by Nate Krupp (For details of Nate & Joanne's ministry and more articles visit Radical Christianity )

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"Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert." - Isaiah 43:19 (NASB)

In January, 1966, I was scheduled to conduct several days of personal evangelism training for evangelical pastors from across the U. S.; to be conducted in Webster, New York, at the invitation of my Free Methodist pastor friend, Art Prouty. I arrived a day or two early. A snow storm blew in. The conference had to be cancelled. Art and I had several days on our hands. We discovered that we were both searching for answers: Does God have a plan for His Church? If so, what is it? Art and I spent those days fasting, praying, and searching the Scriptures together; seeking God for answers. By the end of the time we had reached very, very, radical conclusions: God has a plan for His Church; it is very clearly given in the Scriptures; and it is so radical, that we will probably never see it happen in our lifetime, especially in North America.

In 1986-87, Joanne and I were attending YWAM's Leadership Training School in Kona, Hawaii; and praying about our future. One day while I was in prayer, the Lord said to me, "Do you remember what I showed you about My Church in 1966?" I said, "Of course!" He said to me, "Now is the time!" Wow! What was I to do with this - now was the time!

Since 1987, in our travels across the U. S., we are seeing God do incredible things: people are leaving the institutional church by the thousands; they are tired of being an audience, instead of a body; they question increasingly all of the money that goes into buildings; they are tired of being controlled and manipulated; they long to use their giftings to serve God and to see "the priesthood of all believers" instead of "the clergy," and they long to see the Holy Spirit allowed to freely move instead of everything being controlled. Yes, we are right now in the midst of the early days of a sovereign, very radical, new move of God! He is leading His Church back to New Testament Christianity. In place of "church" as we have traditionally known it, with the building, the minister, the Sunday morning service, and all of the programs, God is sovereignly, in these days, raising up a massive, growing movement of people who are desiring to function like the early Christians in the Book of Acts. Believers are turning their backs on all of the programs and returning to their first love, Jesus.

They long for Him to be the Head of His Church. They are gathering in their homes for simple times of worship, sharing their lives with each other, studying the Bible together, praying for one another, having the Lord's Supper together - being a family, rather than an organization. They have an understanding that everyone can minister (1 Corinthians 14:26). Some groups meet in the same home every week, while others move to another home every week or once a month. Some groups are incorporating, while others are being led to have no official connection with the government. Some groups have given themselves a name, while others desire to have no name but His. The leadership styles vary, but most groups have an understanding of getting away from the clergy-laity practice, and look to several to give limited, shared, elder leadership. The groups vary as to their understanding of the role of women. They meet the needs of children in various ways, but generally agree that the training of children in the ways of God is a responsibility of the parents not the Sunday School, junior church, or kids clubs.

All of this may seem quite radical, but it is happening everywhere. Every week we hear from some new group or network of groups - Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, New York, Connecticut, Colorado, Rhode Island, Kansas, Arizona, Ohio, Texas, Georgia, Germany, New Zealand, Russia, etc.

Why is God doing this? We can only surmise: to prepare for coming revival (what a simple way to care for millions of converts), to see the Great Commission fulfilled (what a simple way to reach and disciple the multitudes), and to prepare for possible, coming persecution (depending on your understanding of what's ahead for the Church).

A Growing House-Church Movement Revised:11/19/2001 Copyright © 1996, 2001 Preparing the Way Publishers