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Originally Posted by countmeworthy
Uhh... I left around 1978/79 and we had already started home meetings in San Diego. We met at the main meeting hall once a month. The home meetings were ok..but I did not like that we were assigned where to meet. I felt I could only fellowship with those in my area.
...Carol
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Wow - you were "assigned where to meet!" I think the hallmark of the LC home meetings were a lot of control. Although I get the idea in some localities that control was not as strong. But eventually, LSM can't seem to help but come in with a heavy hand . . . One of the key characteristics of the genuine home ekklesia is the freedom from any ministry and oneness with all believers. Once man's regulations and control comes in, I think the Lord takes a back seat and then things start to get divisive.
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Originally Posted by Awoken
Anyway, I also feel like we should all remember even this is "church". Christians dialoguing with Christians openly and in spirit/following the Spirit, even just via text online, is still church. And if anyone here is looking for a home church or Christians to meet with in their locality/area and needs prayer, please send me a message, I'd love if we could pray with/for each other. I agree with Sons to Glory that house churches... I mean, during this pandemic, it just kind of makes sense. In the Local Churches such a huge deal was made out of "taking the ground", but I don't know why my wife and I can't just break bread on a Sunday and have a home church time (if we don't have others to meet with yet, which would be better) or join others via Zoom and do the same. Jesus didn't exactly lay out a huge bunch of rules regarding how to do the Lord's Supper, it was just "do this in remembrance of Me"...
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I haven't actually been practicing the house ekklesia in Scottsdale. Our gatherings are pretty small any way, and it is quite open . . . like a family really. Plus I meet with a handful of brothers for intimate fellowship and prayer weekly (and maybe go out to dinner), and a little larger group of us of around 15 meet for fellowship and breakfast weekly. I also frequently do church maintenance on Saturday with a different handful of believers, and the fellowship and singing beforehand is always sweet. Much of this is centered around our church property buildings, but I sorta feel like we have a taste of the home church idea already. (and we also get over to one another's homes from time to time) I know we could move into a total house-to-house mode without much effort, if the need arose.
And I completely agree with you that there aren't a bunch of rules for doing this! No reason you can't just break bread and remember what He has done for us - the simpler the better I think.