432. About Multiplication
Our annual members’ retreat finished last Sunday. Our guest speaker, Pastor Eric, spoke about the importance of generosity, unity, and dying to ourselves to reach our VIPs. It was pretty evident that many of our members felt challenged, and some have committed to attending the HC lay-leader seminar.
I’ve been involved in house church ministry for over a decade, so I’m well-versed in the principles of house church ministry. But this time, I was challenged to emphasize the principle of “multiplication” to our church members. For those unfamiliar, once a house church reaches 10-12 members, it is required to appoint another shepherd and multiply into two separate house churches.
When Jennifer and I were leading our house church in its early phase, our mentality was to serve as many students as possible until we could no longer help but multiply. Even though the principle says we need to multiply at 10-12, it was because many of our members didn’t have a place to host, even if they volunteered to serve as a shepherd. However, I believe we have reached a point where we must take this principle seriously and follow it faithfully. Even in a house church with mostly young members, all house church members should earnestly seek God’s wisdom on how multiplication can happen, instead of assuming it cannot occur. Serving in difficult situations creates testimonies that encourage other house churches and provide a chance to witness God working miraculously.
The primary reason a house church needs to multiply on time is not to increase the number of house churches. Here is the main reason: Delaying multiplication hinders the primary church mission, which is “to save the lost and make disciples” of Jesus. Once the number reaches more than 12, members become too comfortable with each other, and because they feel there are enough people already, unconsciously, they don’t think about bringing their VIPs. In many cases, when a house church fails to multiply at the right time, its attendance often declines, as people find it challenging to share deeply and feel that their house church is becoming more like a social club than a missional community. Eating and sharing lives feels like an act of evangelism when a VIP is present. But without VIPs, it feels like a mundane act of socializing pretty quickly.
As one famous pastor said, the default mode of any organization is “complacency”, not “urgency”. What enables this sense of “urgency” in HC is the goal of multiplication. When multiplication happens, a disciple is made (a new shepherd), and the house church becomes primed to reach more people. (Now, two house churches can reach VIPs, instead of one.) When multiplication happens, we are fulfilling the great commission given by Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20)
Multiplication feels like “dying” to the already-formed relationships that feel too precious. But when a seed doesn’t die, it remains as a single seed, and it is good for nothing. When we are willing to die to what we feel comfortable with, God always multiplies our joy with new relationships and a greater number of lost souls to serve.
Here is the summary of multiplication guidelines all of us should know:
- The best time to “prepare” for multiplication is when regularly attending members are 6-8.This is a good time to start praying every week for multiplication and for a new shepherd to arise.
- The best time to “multiply” is when regularly attending members are 10-12.
- When multiplying, it is essential that there are at least 3 couples (for a house church with all married couples), or 4 people.However, even with lower number, if there are too many children, if the house church feels stagnant, or if there are many potential VIPs who can attend, multiplication can occur.
- The best way to multiply is to appoint someone whom everyone considers to be the next shepherd. As long as they have the desire to serve and satisfy the minimum qualifications, they can volunteer. Once their shepherd and the lead pastor approve, multiplication can proceed.
- When no one steps up to be the next shepherd, an anonymous vote can happen. Members vote for who they think would be the best next shepherd. However, if the person with the most votes declines, another option is to invite someone from another house church to become a shepherd. They can spend 3-6 months building relationships and then multiply.
