The House Church Book: reviewed

Another book finished on one of my numerous plane rides this past month was The House Church Book by Walfgang Simson. It originally attracted me as I saw it somewhere billed as a “how-to” followup to Houses That Change the World. And a “how-to” manual it did honestly feel like — one that was both enjoyable and easy to read.

The book itself opens with “15 Theses Toward a Re-Incarnational Church” which then set the stage for the rest of the book. These theses were good reminders (things like, “Christianity is a way of life, not a series of religious meetings”, and “Stop bringing people to church and start bringing the church to the people”) and lead well into the rest. I felt like Simson did a good job of fleshing all of these out through the remainder of the book.

As one who actively participates in a house church network (and is in the process of moving across the sea to do it full time), I found this to be quite a helpful read. There was lots of food for thought. It also speaks to the value of the book that my wife was able to pick it up and find it easy to read and enjoyable as she normally is bored to tears with the books I read. I give this 5 out of 5 stars and would encourage any one participating in (or just interested in what the fuss is about) house churches to check it out. And I plan on interacting more with specific segments over the coming weeks.