Our practices are influenced by Francis Chan (Letters to the Church and We Are Church), Total Church, as well as local house churches we've had the opportunity to be part of in the past.
The only prerequisite for a worship service is worshippers. The typical worship service, with a rehearsed song list, instruments, worship leader, etc, can be helpful, but it can also be a distraction.
The greatest commandment (and, hopefully, our greatest desire) is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. So we spend the first part of our gathering in worship — an informal time where we pray, sing and share from the Bible as the Spirit leads. Sometimes the Lord’s Supper is included in this time (other times it is included as part of a meal).
Jesus’ New Commandment is to love each other like He loved us, the love that led him to the cross. This kind of devoted love is why the church is often described in family terms (brother, sister, father, mother), and why the church is promised as a new family for those who have been disowned by their natural family (Mark 10:30).
It is difficult (if not impossible) to build deep, family-style relationships in large meetings. That’s why we’ve decided to make our small meeting in the home our primary, weekly meeting. If we grow too large, our plan is to split into multiple groups. Not that we’re against meeting in a larger group from time to time, or joining together with other groups, but these will be secondary (probably monthly or every-other week), and the small meeting in the home will be primary.
That said, even in a small group it is not a given that we will build family relationships and sacrificial love. We need to work at intentionally inviting each other into our lives (1 Thess. 2:8) and loving deeply. This is counter-cultural, so please be patient with us as we grow in this.
In order for a body to function properly, all the parts need to work together. We believe everyone has at least one gift and that every person is indispensable. So we are serious about working with each person to discover how God has gifted them, and to find ways we can support them and make opportunities for them to use all of their gifts.
We believe our money should primarily go towards taking care of needs in the body, so that there is no one needy among us. We don’t collect money regularly, but when we become aware of a need, we work together to make sure it is met. Meeting in a home and having everyone volunteer in the work of the ministry frees up money for what is closest to God’s heart: caring for the orphans and widows of our day, those who are truly alone and unable to provide for themselves.
We also encourage people to support missionaries and to provide relief for those who are suffering in third world countries, but (at this point, anyway) we do this individually.
We believe that the body is built up most effectively when everyone’s gifts are engaged. So for us, the “sermon” is our two-chapters-a-day Bible reading plan. Instead of waiting until the weekend to be fed, we are fed during the week in our time with the Lord as we read, pray and seek Him. When we come together, we are both feeding others (with what we have received from the Lord) and being fed by them.
We do have longer teaching times on occasion, but our primary goal in our weekly meetings is for everyone to have an opportunity to minister to others and to be ministered to.
We believe that Jesus calls us to proactively bring the good news to the world, so we are intentional about building relationships with unbelievers and sharing the gospel — and our lives — with them.
We work together at this, encouraging each other, praying for each other, inviting unbelievers to lunches & get-togethers where they can be introduced to our believing community, and teaming up to get involved in secular communities or interest groups. Again, this is something we’re growing in, so please be patient and jump in where you can to help and to brainstorm.
We believe prayer is more effective than work, and that regular, earnest prayer is absolutely essential. If we’re not putting our roots down deep and abiding in the Lord, then it doesn’t matter how busy we are; we won’t bear real fruit. We believe that the Lord responds to prayer (and to fasting) by providing direction, revealing sin in our lives and empowering us in the Spirit.
So we are committed to prayer as a major part of our meetings; we take time to be in the Lord’s presence and to seek His face together. We also encourage each other to grow individually in our prayer lives and we respond to crises in each other’s lives by praying, fasting and seeking the Lord together.