Ep. 31 | Microchurch: A different way of thinking about church w/ John Pritchard
Microchurch. House Church. No matter what you call them, chances are you may have heard something about this model of church over the past year during Covid. Of course, this isn’t a new way of doing church; it literally goes back all the way to the first churches. But it’s a model that still feels unfamiliar to many of us in North America. Over the past year, however, there’s been a growing interest in microchurch as a model due to the public health restrictions we’ve been living with.
In this episode, Mike Mawhorter from our Church Lifecycles team has a conversation with John Pritchard, one of the founders and leaders of The Edge HC, a network of house churches that began in Calgary and has expanded all across Canada, from BC to PEI.
If you’ve ever had questions about the microchurch, or house church, model, you’re definitely going to want to listen in as they talk about why the microchurch model is such an intriguing one, what it looks like, and what it takes to start one.
Interested in learning more about microchurches or possibly starting one yourself? Check out the resources below and contact Mike Mawhorter at mike@febpacific.ca to keep the conversation going!
Resources mentioned in this episode:
BOOKS:
Underground Church: A Living Example of the Church in its Most Potent Form (Brian Sanders)
Microchurches: A Smaller Way (Brian Sanders)
The Rabbit and the Elephant (Tony and Felicity Dale, George Barna)
The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community (Hugh Halter)
Contagious Disciple-Making: Leading Others on a Journey of Discovery (David and Paul Watson)
Spent Matches: Igniting the Signal Fire for the Spiritual Dissatisfied (Roy Moran)
From Megachurch to Multiplication: A Church’s Journey Toward Movement (Chris Galanos)
WEBSITES:
The Edge HC | A Canadian House Church Network
JOHN PRITCHARD
John is passionate about leaders staying on the edge of what Jesus is doing in His Kingdom and in this world.
He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from Mountain View Bible College and his Masters Degree in Christian Leadership from CREST Leadership Development. He is the founder and leader of the Edge House Church Network which was established in 2006.
John has also functioned as the Lead Facilitator for CREST Leadership Development since 2015. The house church movement and the five-fold ministry together have given him a new perspective on being the Body of Christ and he is spending his life helping other leaders explore the unlimited potential of following Jesus. John lives in Calgary, AB.