Across cities and continents, the Spirit of God is breathing fresh life into His church. And it’s not always through brand new forms – but by creatively weaving together the old and the new.
In recent years, a quiet shift has been unfolding: House churches, micro-communities, and simple gatherings are rising alongside more traditional congregations. This isn’t just a decentralization trend – it’s a diversification movement.
In the Anglican Church in London, they’ve begun to call this kind of environment a “mixed ecology” – a term written about by Ed Olsworth-Peter – to describe a landscape where multiple forms of church can flourish side by side. This mixed ecology might be one of the most hopeful signs of renewal in our time.
At Dwellings, our mission is to help people cultivate communities and house churches around the presence of Jesus. These expressions resemble the early Church in their simplicity. We’ve helped a lot of ordinary people find confidence and tools to lead new communities in their living rooms or local spaces – we are thrilled to see so many stepping into their identity as a part of the priesthood. But what has surprised us most is how many traditional church staff have come our way, also expressing a hunger for something new.
Pastors and ministry leaders are sensing a deep stirring – a longing for a simpler, more participatory, Spirit-led way of doing church, with more distributed leadership and deeper relational connection. In many cases, these leaders are exploring house church models quietly – planting new communities outside of work hours, or simply holding a vision that doesn’t yet have a place in their current role.
Whether you serve in a megachurch, a neighborhood parish, or a living room community, this moment is an invitation. Instead of being a time to defend “the way we’ve always done it,” it’s a time to dream. This is a moment to move past binary thinking and embrace a more creative, more nuanced vision of what you might not have considered as a possibility.
There are a few practical ways traditional churches can begin to engage this longing – not by replacing what exists, but by expanding what’s possible.
1. Launch Your Pioneers
Across the globe, entire denominations are beginning to embrace both traditional and house church expressions – not as competing strategies, but as complementary parts of a bigger vision. Baptists, Pentecostals, Churches of Christ, and many nondenominational networks are launching house churches alongside traditional congregations, often under the same organizational umbrella. Even the Church of England, with its centuries-old liturgy and parish structure, is planting house churches across the U.K. – a sign that new forms can emerge even within deeply rooted systems.
This growing movement is based on the belief that a mixed ecology – where multiple forms of church exist in mutual support – might actually be one of the most faithful responses to our current moment.
Zooming in, many local churches are beginning to live this out. In Australia, for example, congregations are planting house churches as extensions of their church family. These smaller communities stay tethered to the broader church’s identity and leadership but operate with significant freedom. They meet mostly in homes, scattered in neighborhoods or around shared missions, and occasionally rejoin the full church body for worship and vision.
This model creates space for a specific kind of person: the pioneer. These are the people in your church who are wired to start something new. They often feel like misfits in traditional structures – not because they’re rebellious, but because they’re built for building. They’re longing for deeper discipleship, more mission, and simpler gatherings that center the presence of God.
Instead of stifling their instincts – or losing them altogether – what if we released them on purpose?
My friend Bree Mills from Australia spoke of a phrase that captures this beautifully: the missional tithe. Just as individuals tithe a portion of their income to God, churches can tithe a portion of their people – especially their pioneers – to launch new expressions of church outside the walls.
This doesn’t mean you’re “losing” them to somewhere else. It means you’re sending them intentionally – commissioning a few families to start a house church, releasing a staff member to pilot a new micro-gathering, or backing a lay leader to reach a network that wouldn’t walk into a sanctuary.
The missional tithe reframes what looks like subtraction as multiplication. It’s not shrinking – it’s strategic sowing. It’s recognizing that what you give away often grows faster than what you try to keep.
Of course, this requires courageous leadership. Leaders who are humble and secure. Leaders who don’t idolize their systems or equate success with how many people are in the room. But for those willing to let go, launching pioneers can bring fresh vision and momentum – not just to those sent, but to the entire church.
And it’s not just theory. On a recent Dwellings cohort trip to London, we visited traditional parishes where renewal is happening in both the sanctuary and the living room. These leaders aren’t choosing one model over the other – they’re holding both.
For churches that are full on Sundays or feeling a bit stagnant, launching pioneers might be the best next step. It doesn’t require abandoning your current form. But it might help you recapture your missional edge – releasing people into the kind of leadership, discipleship, and innovation your city and church need.
2. Change Your Entire Rhythm
Some churches have taken things even further – by re-centering their entire rhythm around smaller gatherings.
At River & Way in California, the weekly structure shifted from a large weekly service to a model centered on house churches. Small communities now meet in homes three Sundays a month, led by trained leaders who serve communion, invite prayer, baptize new believers, and carry the spiritual weight of shepherding their group. Then, once a month, everyone gathers in a rented venue for a shared time of worship, vision, and celebration of all God is doing in the small.
The shift reflects a deep conviction: that discipleship – not production – should be the beating heart of the church. Scholars estimate Jesus spent over 80% of His time with His 12 disciples. Churches like River & Way are aligning their structures around that same priority – moving energy away from the stage and toward spiritual formation.
This more drastic shift requires prayerful discernment, robust leader training, and high levels of trust. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t come without cost – some people may leave. But others will lean in more deeply, drawn by a model that prioritizes presence, spiritual depth, and shared life.
This hybrid approach is especially helpful for churches sensing that God is inviting them into something more relational and sustainable. It can also be a lifeline for congregations navigating financial strain – offering a way to stay together while adapting to the reality of releasing staff, selling buildings, or reimagining overhead. For churches ready to realign their primary form, this model opens a powerful path forward: one centered on people, presence, and multiplication.
3. Interrupt the Ordinary in Small Ways
Not every church is ready to restructure or release pioneers. But almost every church can experiment for a week. One of the simplest ways to introduce house church expressions is to interrupt the ordinary – inviting your community to try something different, even just for one Sunday.
Imagine pausing your regular Sunday gathering for one week – or for a short stretch of time like Advent, Lent, or the month of July – and scattering your people into homes. It doesn’t require a structural overhaul. It just takes some vision, preparation, and a willingness to let people experience church in a different context.
We’ve seen churches call these House Church Sundays or something similar. These Sundays are framed as sacred experiments, not permanent shifts – giving people a taste of deeper community, shared meals, Spirit-led conversation, and simplicity. People who’ve never led before are invited to host. Less trained worship leaders have to rise up, and people realize they can serve communion or lead a Bible discussion on a Sunday morning.
This interruption allows pastors to model trust in the priesthood of all believers, even if just for one Sunday. Some churches provide a simple guide like our Gathering Guide – or they make their own. It’s participatory, relational, and powerful.
You might be surprised how many people come alive in this setting. For some, these smaller settings spark new relationships or even give birth to more permanent gatherings down the road. Others return to the large gathering with a fresh sense of vision and ownership.
Some leaders designate entire months – like July, when rhythms naturally shift – to scatter the church into homes, parks, and neighborhood spaces. Some churches open extra homes for people who aren’t in small groups, expanding connection points and giving people a chance to find belonging in a new way.
These kinds of “interruptions” aren’t just calendar decisions. They’re formational moments – where people get to experience a different kind of church and carry that experience forward. They help normalize alternative models without requiring everyone to adopt them. And they remind the whole church that we are the church, wherever we gather.
Interrupting the ordinary in this small way is helpful to churches who want to experiment without long-term commitment – especially those who sense that God is inviting them into something new, but need a low-pressure first step.
Conclusion
What if we didn’t have to choose one model over another – but could cultivate ecosystems where different forms can play their part? When we honor both the heritage and the hunger – when we make room for structure and spontaneity, tradition and innovation – we create space for something vibrant and Spirit-breathed to emerge.
What if we’re being invited into a moment where imagination gets to take the lead? This isn’t about abandoning the old or idolizing the new. It’s about weaving them together – faithfully, prayerfully, and creatively – for the sake of a church that’s alive, adaptable, and deeply rooted in the presence of God.
So if you’re a traditional church leader, consider this your invitation. You don’t have to overhaul everything. But you can try one of these three ways to begin incorporating the best of the house church model into your leadership – right now.
Because the question isn’t which form is right – but how can we all respond to what God is doing now?
