belonging – Kanisa la Christadelphian huko Anderlecht

What does it mean to belong to a church community

mars 27, 2024mars 25, 2024 par Marcus Ampe, publié dans ??? Questions asked, Behaviour or attitude towards others, Questions & Answers

Church community - ecclesia - church service - sermon - — Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com

Belonging to a church community means being a member of a group of people who share beliefs, values, and a common faith in a higher power.

It involves actively participating in the community through attending services, engaging in worship and spiritual practices, and forming relationships with other members.

Belonging to a church community also means supporting and being supported by others, participating in community events and activities, and working towards common goals and missions. It can provide a sense of belonging, support, and spiritual growth.

Whether or not you feel at home in a church

mars 21, 2024mars 8, 2024 par Marcus Ampe, publié dans Thought for today

In recent years there have been many people who no longer felt at home in the institutional church. A lot has gone wrong among Roman Catholics and Anglicans in recent years due to the many sex scandals. Unfortunately, many people have abandoned their faith as a result.

Yet here and there the voices in people have continued to call their heads and some have been attracted to lesser-known faith groups or denominations that have given them more confidence.

Many people have turned their backs on the large churches and found their way to smaller communities. In recent years there has also been a feeling that people want to belong. For many, social media gives this surrogate of togetherness, but in the end it does not bring the inner peace that many are looking for.

Some just want to feel their own way, while it is important for others to feel like part of a group. In the mastodon or megachurches, people are absorbed into the crowd and ultimately many do not really find themselves at home there. A house church or home church can offer a solution in this area. A house church will offer more opportunity to feel part of a group. People there are not just a number in the whole, but are a personally approachable person. People there are also more likely to be involved in the event. Being a church can be experienced more easily there, because everyone is more closely involved.

However, being more closely involved can be a deterrent for some. Certainly, it is something that one will have to get used to. Because in a house church, one cannot simply sit passively on the sidelines. A house church requests active participation.

Getting together in a small room, be it in someone’s home, or in a public building offers the advantage that there is more intimacy than in a large church building and that one can feel more closely connected.

While a classic church building can have something cold, one experiences the warmth of a house church because one can come to someone’s home as a visitor in a living room or living room. But it is not just any visitor, but someone who wants to be seen as a brother or sister. The house church has that family of brotherhood in Christ. Due to its homely atmosphere and security, a house church offers an attractive, warm environment, which a neutral church building cannot offer.

In the traditional church, the clergy also provides a distance that is not found in the house church. There, everyone is treated on an equal footing. The pastor is an ordinary member of the religious community, who can be the pastor at a certain point, but the next moment an ordinary fellow confessor or »parishioner‘. Several can thus take on the role of preacher in the community, while everyone will be a listening member at a certain point, while the next moment it can be a speaker who says his or her opinion about a Bible text or about the sermon being held.

While there may be a distant cold in the institutional church, there is that domestic feeling in the house church that is filled with love for each other and warmth.
In a large church, one can sometimes look at each other, and laugh at each other, but outside, the people close to you, there remains a distance between the others who are further away. In a house, you can talk to each other and be more informal. You can sit together, not only to pass the service, but to actively participate in it and also to feel truly connected together.

People will not easily be seen eating or drinking anything in the large church building during the service. There is room for that domestic event in the house church. You can eat and drink together, interact with each other and get to know each other better. The connection in a house church can be built up and felt much better than in a more distant church building.

But in this modern capitalist world where people live so individually, seclusion can be great. This may also deter many people from family or domestic life. In any case, it will take some getting used to for many to sit so close together and share their faith. Because sharing faith is essential for the proper functioning of the house church.

In the institutional churches few people are seen sharing their faith, but in the house church this is part of everyday life. However, in the house church it may also be difficult for many to participate in the preaching work themselves in the beginning. In the large churches one sees and hears little preaching work. In the house church, the Word of God is the greatest lump of the service. As it were, it is offered there at an early age.

Sometimes it can seem as if church life is bleeding to death at home and beyond. In general, the churches are, as it were, bleeding to death. But in addition there are living germs, vibrant with enthusiasm.

This enthusiasm can be further fuelled in the house church. What can originally start as a small flame has the opportunity to expand further in that home port and cause ‘larger candles’ to flare up. That is one of the beautiful points in a house church, that everyone fuels each other to build a life of faith more deeply and consciously that one is not afraid to express. In the future, this walking fire can ensure that people outside the house church tell people about those familiar surroundings and dare to invite people to visit the community. This will allow the fire to spread further and the small religious community to grow further into a larger house church.