Home Church
The idea of small groups meeting periodically in homes to share faith around the scriptures and prayer is not a new idea. In fact, it's how the church began. The book of Acts tells of a dynamic church that was on fire with the Gospel and the Holy Spirit; one that primarily met in homes. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost took place in the upper room of a house as they gathered together for prayer.
In the history of St. Matthias we have experienced home church meetings as a regular part of our activities. Before our building was constructed, virtually all of our ministry and committee meetings took place in homes. We also have experienced Christ Renews His Parish, Renewal, and Bible studies in a home setting. These were all good programs that helped us to grow spiritually and know each other better, but they eventually fell short of giving us the continuous support we need to connect our daily lives to our faith in the Lord Jesus and the gospel values we are called to live. That is why we have established small home groups who meet regularly, (normally twice a month) to connect their faith with their lives and to nurture a sense of belonging, learning together, praying together and reaching out to each other.
Around the country, these small home groups are called Small Christian Communities (SCC's). We have called them Home Church to convey the idea that the people are really the church, not the pastor and staff, or the building. Each Home Church has a facilitator, called a shepherd, who leads the group. Our Home Church Shepherds have been trained to facilitate the meetings and have made a commitment to meet monthly with our pastor, Fr. Ray. In this way, each Home Church is connected to the wider parish community. The parish is in turn connected to the Diocese by the pastor, and the diocese is connected to the universal church by the Bishop.