[OBW]

Peter,

One of the blogs I follow is by a guy in the Orange county area who has had a small church in his home for several years. While he does not see this ending he has noted that, once the group is established, it does tend to want to grow. And then when you suggest splitting into two home groups, things are difficult. There are connections that they don't want being reduced to lesser connections or less frequent occurrences. While there is no preacher, per se, the guy with the blog (and the house) is their de facto leader. They aren't sure if any of the others among them are up to the task.

And so on. There is no magic in the home church. It is what it is. It has limitations, yet with connections to other home churches, some of those can be overcome.

Of course, the spread of the gospel is always an issue. If you expect new converts to join your group, then you will inevitably grow. If you are happy that they begin to meet with a group of Christians (where they meet is not an issue) then there are fewer issues.

The thing is that there is no special way to do it. Just do it. If going to the third service at a place that has 4,000 to 5,000 every Sunday is good for you, it is good. If being in Don Rutledge's living room is good for you, it is good.

And, as aron has said, while the thread suggests a way, he is more interested in finding ways, or patterns.