The vast majority of Churches and congregations are public and very open to visitors. In fact, almost everything they do is to make visitors comfortable. This has changed many churches from being oriented to discipleship, to focusing on evangelism and member transfers. In other words, the more people who come to the services, the better and more successful the church is considered. So, churches build bigger buildings and add more staff and work very hard to reach people for the Lord and to attract Christians from other churches to join them.

We are different – not better, just different. We are more like a family, who belong to each other and who relate to each other according to Biblical instructions. We meet to first to worship God, second to become more completely discipled in the Word of God, third to become closer and more interdependent with each other as a “community of faith”, and finally to settle relational disputes that arise between us so that we can maintain the unity that God commands between ourselves and other believers. We do this in the context of an extended family approach that uses relationships rather than programs to accomplish our spiritual growth.

This means that, rather than a visitor to a business, who may come and go anytime they please as long as the business is open, you are actually an invited guest. The person who brought you here is responsible for you. In the same way that a visitor to a home is most often another family member or a friend, so we tend to limit visitors to guests who are known by one or more of our members and who can introduce them to us and us to them. And, just like a guest in our home, you will be welcome each time you are invited. But the home is designed for our comfort, not yours. As a result, some of what we do or say may be very strange to you. Your host (the person who invited you) will try to answer your questions, but this guide will introduce you to our furniture and family habits.  Continue Reading >