AFFINITY  HOUSE  CHURCH  NETWORK

A new ministry of the N.C.C.C. is the networking of the rapidly expanding house church ministry across America.  Catching up with the rest of the world, churches in homes or office locations are becoming the leading method of spreading Christianity in our secular culture today.  We have launched a complete related system of accountable house churches, connected to the Affinity Church Network Providers national council. 

Vision

The vision is for an accountable national pattern of local house church networks, all across the country. It is flexible new wineskins for the development of leadership, focused on being spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers, duplicating themselves within reach of each other. The new churches will be small, relational, and evangelistic, with deliberate multi­plication a standard practice.  These high impact house churches do not need an ordained minister to start, but as they grow ordination and credentaling is built into the growth pattern.

The individual churches will look like and behave like families or teams, many with common connections and others with no commonality, allowing the Holy Spirit to establish new relationships. They will meet in homes, offices, coffee shops, barns, work places and other everyday locations where people live their lives. It is to present the church as everyday people, not a physical place or building.

The participants will become like brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, by making their team a high priority in each of their lives. There will be a focus on every person maturing in their faith, their family relationships, their financial affairs, and their physical fitness and well-being.

Concept

The concept of being the church on an everyday basis is portrayed in the Second Chapter of Acts.  It is an entire league of related affinity teams, each with their own identity, personality, habits and experiences, and having their own coach. The basis of the ministry is the Affinity Church, meeting weekly or more often, as small interactive growth modules, raising the bar of their individual life experience.

The smallest dimension of the concept is the cell, which is only 3 or 4 individuals or couples who do things together, but are a part of a local Affinity Team. Cells typically get together to study the Word, care for children, work out at a gym, home-school their children, play golf, go fishing, or just hang out together. They are or are becoming genuine friends.

As new churches or teams are commenced in a town, they remain related to the parent church through networking and meeting together frequently. This local network becomes the Affinity Church at that city (by name). The objective is to have 12 to 20 Affinity Teams making up the Affinity Church at that city. These will be viewed as autonomous churches. With an average of 15 per team, with 8 teams making up the church at the city, there will be a congregation of 120 people, plus relatives. God will supply a pastor for that congregation, who will relate to other pastors of traditional program based churches in the same town.

Further, there will eventually be enough city churches to assemble regional gatherings, such as Christian concerts, special evangelistic celebrations, training seminars and week­end encounters. This will require some less formal or less permanent regional leadership

To prevent radical doctrine or unbiblical practices from emerging from folks with an independent spirit, all of this pattern will submit to or report to the National Council.  Just as the church of the first century looked to the church at Jerusalem and the church at Antioch for leadership, counsel and direction, so it is important to have apostolic leadership that has the success, health, safety and salvation of every house church and every cell and every individual at heart.

To provide the legal interface with government and society, the National Conservative Christian Church will serve as the chartering and credentialing service for the entire network. Each church at a city will be chartered by the N.C.C.C. and pastoral leadership will be commissioned, licensed or ordained by the N.C.C.C.  Chartering and ordination adds credibility to the work and the assurance that the business activities of the network are operating ethically and legally.

Ultimately there is the solid rock foundation of Jesus Christ and his Word available for our instruction, edification and personal maturity. Every attempt will be made to have our personal and ministry behavior, teaching, mentoring, practices and recreation line up with the Word of God.