History and contact information

Our church began meeting in 2004. Due to increasing numbers, we multiplied into two groups that now meet in separate locations: one in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the other in Roslindale, Massachusetts. The Cambridge location is about one block from the Porter Square T stop on the Red line. Street parking is free on Sundays. The Roslindale location is a bus ride away from the Forest Hills T stop on the Orange line. Street parking is also free. If transportation is a difficulty, please contact us and we can probably arrange for someone to pick you up. You are welcome to visit one of our gatherings, which are in either location every Sunday. Contact information for directions or other questions:

	Cambridge	Roslindale
Meeting time:	Every Sunday at 1 pm	Every Sunday at 10:30 am
Contact person:	Finny Kuruvilla	Rob Cheriakalath
Email:
Phone:	617-497-4310	617-686-3303

Beliefs and practice

We are a group of Bible-believing Christians who embrace the historic doctrines of the faith such as the inspiration of the Scriptures, the trinity, the virgin birth, the atonement of Jesus' death, his bodily resurrection on the third day, and the future resurrection and judgment of all people.

We seek to fully obey God by applying his word to our lives individually and in community. Our community meeting pattern is informed by the model of the New Testament church. For the first three hundred years, Christians met in house-churches. In the fourth century, the church began to adopt the forms of government and revert to the structures of the Old Testament priesthood. In so doing, several important elements of the New Testament style of meeting were lost. For the sake of honoring Christ and his word, we seek to recapture those lost elements in our gathering.

• Meetings of the early church were family-centered, included the sharing of a meal, and did not resemble a lecture or performance. Consistent with this, brotherly and sisterly dynamics mark the feel of a house-church, not vertical relationships or restricted formality.
• The Lord's supper was originally a full meal (see 1 Corinthians 11:17-34). It was meant to be a time of honoring the Lord's death and expressing love toward other believers, hence Jude's description of it as a "love feast" (Jude 12). Moreover, this meal stands between two other meals of salvation history, the Passover feast and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. In accordance with this, remembering the sacrifice of Christ's death and anticipating the joy of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, we begin each meeting with a full Lord's supper.
• In addition, Paul describes the early church by saying, "When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation." (1 Corinthians 14:26, ESV) In the typical modern church, people line pews and watch a few leaders on the podium perform or speak. Except for singing, chants, and silent prayer, people are generally spectators and do not interact with each other during the meeting. In a house-church, everyone is encouraged to contribute and edify one another, during the Lord's supper and consistent with 1 Corinthians 14:26.
• True accountability and church discipline become possible in house-churches. One cannot anonymously slip in and out of a pew. While potentially a frightening thought, this is actually a wonderful opportunity for spiritual growth, friendship, and purity. The bible exhorts us to not meet with those who claim to be Christians yet are "sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler" (1 Corinthians 5:11, ESV). For structural reasons, this is essentially impossible in the typical modern church. For the sake of helping each other and honoring the Lord, we seek to take this command seriously.
• We have no paid clergy, staff, or overhead expenses. Believers are encouraged to give directly to people in need or to reputable Christian organizations. Instead of having salaries, mortgages, and insurance, we are freed to give much more to those in need in our community and around the world.

For an excellent and short essay about the merits of house-churches, click here.

For a second piece on the biblical basis for house churches, click here.

Back to home