Date

4-25-2023

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Chair

Jason Mitchell

Keywords

house-church, Christian leadership, church planting, community, spiritual formation

Disciplines

Religion

Abstract

This action research thesis project engaged non-professionally trained Christians who worked through the early stages of Christian leadership development and house church planting. The project utilized a six-week training program in which participants hosted a prayer meeting, chose a confession, led a Bible study, designed an outreach ministry, hosted a worship meeting, and drafted future house church resolutions and a community rule. The participants engaged in a weekly targeted spiritual discipline to foster spiritual formation. Data were collected through journaling, entrance and exit questionnaires, activity guides, post-activity questionnaires, and participant-observations. The research indicates that organic leadership training inspires confidence in emergent leaders and is valuable in developing leadership competencies. The research also indicates that Christian leaders in the early stages of their development benefit from a small, personal environment like a home and support and encouragement provided by an experienced leader. The program was designed with participant experimentation in mind illuminating unique solutions to house church planting challenges. This approach also fostered greater self-awareness of the participant's leadership style. In conclusion, organic leadership training combined with the simple ecclesiastical environment of the home offers an excellent strategy for competency development, leadership assessment, and low-cost, low-risk church planting.

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