Christian faith rooted in the family and home

Some more thoughts from my dissertation entitled 'An investigation into home based mission in South Wales using historic and contemporary examples; could these examples show a way forward for the welsh churches in the twenty-first century?'

Martin Holland

Christian faith rooted in the family and home

‘ How could a small Judean sect… expand its ranks steadily for more than two centuries in the face of often sporadic and local, sometimes consistently legislated, opposition?’¹ There are many possible answers to this question but interestingly, Joseph H. Hellerman in his book, The Ancient Church as Family, gives a number of characteristics of voluntary associations including churches in the ancient Roman world that led to successful growth. These characteristics, including ‘common meals, social inclusiveness, exclusive allegiance and familial emphasis’² are seen as part of the reason for the associations’ success and particularly the churches emphasised them for their own benefit and growth.

A look through the New Testament sees a powerful expression of Christian churches as family. Words such as brother,³ sister, ⁴ family,⁵ home⁶ and brotherhood ⁷ abound in the New Testament. This emphasis can be seen as one that underpins much of the life of the New Testament church and one that can also be seen in periods of Welsh church history. Commenting on Howell Harris, the famous 18 ^th century revivalist, the historian Geraint Tudur says, ‘like many other lay preachers in the Evangelical Revival, he began by conducting meetings in his own home in which he was joined by his mother, his friends and neighbours.’⁸ How mission would be different if the majority of missional activity started this way.

Therefore there is a challenge to be faced as much of current Welsh ecclesiology is focused on religious meetings in religious buildings conducted by religious leaders. This emphasis has led to the Christian message being separated from normal, everyday life and rooted in a meeting dominated church structure. Others believe that this should not be the case. ‘ We believe that church should happen wherever life happens. You shouldn’t have to leave life to go to church.’⁹ The family, in its various forms, is surely an ideal environment as a base for church and missional activity. Seeking to re-route church life back into the home and family would require significant changes in leadership, ministry and training, as well as the need to think through how communion, worship, discipleship, teaching and other aspects of church life would take place.

-------------------------

¹ Hellerman, Joseph H., The Ancient Church as Family, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 2001, p.1
² Hellerman, Joseph H., 2001, p.6
³ Acts 9:17, Romans 14:15, 1 Corinthians 16:12
⁴ Romans 16:1, James 2:15, 2 John 13
⁵ Act 7:14, Galatians 6:10, Ephesians 3:15
⁶ Acts 18:26, Philemon 2, 
⁷ 1 Peter 2:17
⁸ Tudur, Geraint, Howell Harris From Conversion to Separation 1735-1750, University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 2000, p.64
⁹ Cole, Neil. Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens. Jossey Bass, San Francisco, 2005, p.24