There is a stimulating discussion of the house church movement on the Christian Fellowship Forum where Spencer (Ozpen) sites Barna’s research begining with message # Msg # 116158.:
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Have you read the
latest research from the George Barna Group on the House
Church growth in the USA? See: http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrowPreview&BarnaUpdateID=241
You might be surprised
at what is happening in the house church movement. This is part of what Barna writes:
Projecting these figures to the national
population gives an estimate of more than 70 million adults who have at least
experimented with house church participation. In a typical week roughly 20
million adults attend a house church gathering. Over the course of a typical
month, that number doubles to about 43 million adults.
While many religious professionals say they are
unaware of such activity, it might be because the house church is in its “ramp
up” phase in the U.S.
One consequence is that millions of Americans are intermittently engaged in a
house church, alternating back and forth between house church and conventional
church. (For clarity, the survey distinguished between involvement in a house
church and participation in a small group that is associated with a
conventional church.) The Barna survey revealed that of those who attend a
house church, 27% attend on a weekly basis, 30% attend one to three times per
month, and 43% attend less than once a month.
Why might this be that
43 million adults visit a house church every month?
This article from Christianity Today indicates that there
are 60 million Chinese meeting in independent, illegal house churches: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/136/22.0.html
Sincerely,
Spencer
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