Leading without a Pulpit

One of the most common questions that Christians in house churches receive from people who are unfamiliar with the house church model is, “So does your church have a pastor?” 

The answer is usually much more complicated than a simple “yes” or “no” for most house churches.

For one, while some house churches use the term “pastor” to describe their leaders, others tend to use terms like “overseer,” “elder,” or just “leader.” That said, many of the terms we use come from the same idea of watching over the sheep. (Hoping for more information about that? Check out the etymology for pastor and the Greek terms’ biblical usage for shepherd, overseer, and elder.

For most house churches that prefer terms besides “pastor,” the language change is simply helpful to:

1. Trace the biblical roots in our English translations 

2. Remove the assumptions (and, sometimes, the baggage) that come along with the term “pastor”

That language difference often spawns the initial question of, “So does your church have a pastor?” Just as often, though, the question comes up because of the obvious practical difference in house churches’ gatherings compared to institutionalized churches’ Sunday services: there’s no weekly sermon.

For most house churches, it’s a foundational requirement that their leaders be able to teach (one of the requirements listed in 1 Timothy 3:2-7), but that teaching looks different.

For one, the teaching most often takes a different form. Typically, that form is open to, or even centered around, interaction and participation from the hearers. It also isn’t necessarily the center of the gathering times, or at least it isn’t the center of every gathering. (You can read more about what scriptural teachings may look like at a house church gathering in our article, A Glimpse into Gatherings: Approaching Scripture).

Beyond the difference in teaching styles and frequency, though, there’s also a difference in how the main roles of leaders play out in a house church, too. We’ve found that to be the most common language for explaining a leader’s role and responsibility, in large part from the Greek words mentioned earlier. The “watching over” language also stems from the biblical shepherding analogy, used in scriptures like 1 Peter 5:1-3 (ESV):

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

We’ve found the biblical analogy of leaders as shepherds to be helpful to define leaders’ roles. Most importantly, the roles of guiding the sheep to safe pasture and guarding them from predators, as in Acts 20:28-32 (ESV):

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

In most institutionalized churches, the majority of the pastor’s guiding and protecting is done through Sunday morning sermons (though there are often, naturally, extra care duties when one of the sheep falls ill). As we said, though, house churches often also use large-group teachings, though their format may vary widely. Sometimes, there may not even be teaching at all for extended periods of time. So what does guiding and protecting the flock look like outside of those teachings?

As we talked about in our article Choosing House Church: Known by Our Love, house church by its inherent design provides a more personal, relational foundation for Christian relationship and brotherly love.

Because of this, leaders in house churches often lead from a much more personal place than might be expected from those outside of the house church scene. 

Often, a leader steps in to guide or protect when they notice a concerning or confusing pattern in one church member’s life or words–or as a pattern across multiple members of the church’s lives or words. Particularly when a wider-reaching concern or confusion stems from some missing understanding of the scripture, they tend to lean on different teaching forms and adapt them to the church’s needs.

Other times, they simply talk to the member or members that they’re watching out for, whether to gather more information, to encourage them, or to rebuke them. The whole church also does this to a certain degree. Each member has a place to speak encouragement, edification, and rebuke into one another’s lives. That said, though, we’ve found a heavier responsibility on leaders as the ones who are “keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account” (Hebrews 13:17).

This way of leadership can seem odd and uncomfortable for those who are deeply ingrained in the unfortunate American ideas of faith as something that’s only “between you and God.”

We aren’t used to pastors having deeply personal oversight into the lives of their people. In the same way, we aren’t used to the whole church being connected in such a way that they can be “nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments” (Colossians 2:18-19). A pastor may certainly address a topic in a sermon because of something they hear in a dinner conversation with one church member or from being friends on social media with another. However, they very rarely know each of their members closely enough to address them on a regular and personal basis. 

That’s not to say that pastors are not caring for their people. Even pastors who solely preach sermons and who delegate counseling, comforting, and other “care”-based duties to others are often working faithfully to protect and care for their congregation. There is good reason that teachers are held to a higher standard (James 3:1) and that teaching ability is a prerequisite for being an overseer (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9). Though our teaching methods often look different, every house church that we know affirms these mutual foundations.

However, we believe that a more personal foundation allows for more effective and fruitful oversight–and for more effective and fruitful teaching.

No matter how passionate and tireless most pastors work for their people, the systems and cultures surrounding them most often (but not always) simply do not set them up for such personal relationships. For many, their congregations are simply too large for it to even be possible.

For still more, the numbers matter less than the expectation of the majority of the weight of church edification and growth to lay on the pastor’s shoulders. By removing the personal, brotherly love as the foundation, we lose sight of the whole church’s personal gifts and wind up with pastors trying to be the church body’s eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, and feet all on their own. All too often, this is a recipe for pastor burnout, loneliness, and depression, something we talked more about in our article Choosing House Church, Part 3: A Royal Priesthood.

All of this brings us to the most common follow-up question from “So does your church have a pastor?” which is, “So do your leaders have ministry degrees or certificates?” 

That answer varies depending on who you’re talking to. Many house churches were started by people who were pastors before they started or joined a house church. Many, though, were not. In those cases, house church leaders typically do not seek any sort of ministry degree or credential. For the most part, the reasoning for that is simple: most ministry degrees are built around preparing leaders for institutionalized church roles. While they certainly offer extra training in biblical literacy and sometimes in shepherd-like care, those focuses are often filtered through institutional contexts and the most relevant resources are accessible to those outside of seminary courses. 

That’s not to discount education, though–especially not education in biblical literacy specifically or education that encourages mature thinking. We know that Paul, an extremely well-educated man, called the Corinthian church to mature thinking in 1 Corinthians 14:20. Indeed, Paul’s own education opened doors for him to understand and preach the gospel to a variety of audiences. However, the power of Christ is also one that leads “uneducated, common men” to speak boldly, intelligently, and powerfully (as with Peter and John in Acts 4). 

As such, in house churches that are not led by ex-pastors with seminary degrees, we have found a deep respect for wise thinking. However, leaders are chosen more by their impact than by their credentials. That impact tends to manifest, at least in part, from not only care but also from mature thoughtfulness. Sometimes that thoughtfulness is developed through traditional education institutions, and sometimes it’s developed in a more self-taught way of learning.

Always, though, it comes with a renewal of the mind by the Spirit of God–then followed by sober self-judgment and a recognition of our need for other body members (just as Paul connects them in Romans 12:1-5).

We’ve found these foundations of personal oversight, shepherding, and thoughtfulness across all the house churches we’ve met. However, each house church’s leadership looks different, depending on the needs and maturity of their body members.

Have another follow-up question to what leadership looks like in a house church or why we might choose to lead in these ways? We hope some of the content we’ve linked out to is a helpful place to start, but please don’t hesitate to contact us to have a discussion or to make a suggestion for a future article!