How to start a church

When you say the word ”church” people usually think of a certain building where people gather on a Sunday morning to sing some songs and listen to a priest. However, this is not how the Bible defines church, and I believe that this false image hinders many from actually starting a church.

How does the Bible define church?

First of all the Bible never talk about church as a building. The word of God talks about church as something living and organic. This does not mean that the church cannot meet in a special building, but the building is just a building and has nothing to do with actual church.

In 1. Corinthians 12 Paul is teaching us about the church. Here he talks about it as a body consisting of many parts connected to one another. None of the members are more important than the others but all the parts serve a special purpose.

1. Corinthians 12:12
For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.

1. Corinthians 12:14-18
For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.

1. Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.

The church is simply people connected by the confession of Jesus as the Messiah, the living Son of God - were and on what day they meet is not important.

Matthew 16:15-19
He said to them, But who do you say I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, You are blessed, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but My Father in Heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give the keys of the kingdom of Heaven to you. And whatever you may bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven, and whatever you may loose on earth shall occur, having been loosed in Heaven.

When people with the confession of Jesus as the living son of God connect together, they become a mighty force that even the gates of hell cannot stand against. They don’t have to have a building, a certain day of the week when they meet or a priest. What makes them strong is the revelation given to them by God.

They are not strong because of how clever they have organised themselves or because one of them is a really good priest. What makes them so strong is that they are connected together through a mutual revelation – the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Messiah. They are not strong because of who they are, but because of the Holy Spirit living inside of them – the same Holy Spirit that gives them the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

This connection of people with the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Messiah is how the Bible defines church – not as an organisation or a building.

The church made up by people

If we understand that church is not about buildings or organisations, it becomes a lot easier to start a church. You don’t have to have a building, choir, youth work or start an organisation – what you need is people.

Church is about people meeting together to worship God and study the Bible in order to grow spiritually.

The Bible gives us very few guidelines when it comes to how a church service should be organised, and I believe this is because God allows a lot of freedom when it comes to this issue.

Through Paul’s rebuking of the church in Corinth we get an idea of how not to do things. Reading his rebuke we understand that communion should be a part of the gathering. We get some insight in how to use the spiritual gifts in the gathering and how not to use them.

I think one of the clearest verses in the Bible when it comes to how to organise a gathering is 1. Corinthians 14:16.

1. Corinthians 14:26
Then how is it, brothers? When you come together, each one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be for building up.

Therefore, we see that a church gathering should be a place where we all can contribute, with the goal of each one of us being built up in our faith.

So what do I do to start a church?

Well, the short and simple answer is: “Start gathering people with a confession of Jesus Christ as the Messiah”.

It might be nice to have a building to gather in, but it is not a requirement for starting a church. Actually the only church buildings mentioned in the Bible are normal houses.

It’s true that the Bible says that the Christians also gathered in the Temple, but for people in Jerusalem the Temple was not a church. The temple was where Jewish people gathered in those days. Today we might say that the pedestrian street, a café or another public place equals the Temple.

If we study Paul’s mission trips, we see that he often started in a new place by first going to the synagogue. The people that came to the synagogue were people who were already seeking God because they where Jews or proselytes (gentiles that had converted to Judaism).

If this pattern was transferred to today’s society, we might say that he was looking for the “spiritual seekers” - the ones that were open for spiritual talks. I guess there might be many reasons for him to do that, but one advantage would clearly be that these people already
believed in the same God. He just had to convince them that the God they both believed in had sent Jesus as the Messiah.

I think it’s safe to say that when Paul entered a new city he sought the places where people gathered. When someone received the message, they started to gather in that person’s home because that was a practical place to meet. Then the people who regularly gathered in that home became a church.

Conclusion

So, to start a church simply start by gathering people with the agenda of worshiping God and study His word. Let there be room for everyone to participate and let everything be done for the edification of the people gathered.