I want to do three things:
- Share some of my own experiences with house church via group video chat.
- Invite you to share, if you have experience with virtual house church gatherings, by commenting at the end of the post.
- Offer a form here where you can sign up if you want to find others who are interested in doing house church via group video chat. I make no promises that I will be able to connect you with others, but I will try. You can also use the same form if you already have your own group members but want some additional technical or practical help in doing a virtual house church
I have been meeting now with two different virtual groups and we are all learning.
Here are my thoughts so far.
I recommend 5 or 6 people as the maximum size. Moving conversation from one to the next takes some time and larger groups may become tedious. If you already have a larger group, you may want to divide it into two groups.
It is more important than ever to know the purpose of the group so that everyone has the same expectations and are on the same page. Is the group primarily to share in fellowship and be a place of prayer, care, and support for one another? Or is it primarily to provide an opportunity for discovery of the word of God together? Or is it primarily to be a base for planning and carrying out missions, works of compassion, and discipleship with an outward focus? Or a balance of all three?
Assuming that the modus operandi of the group is that all participate, it is important that there is a good facilitator who keeps the conversation moving, does not let one person dominate, and invites conversation from those who would, otherwise, remain quiet. The facilitator (who can rotate among the group, by the way), should be responsible to carry out the purpose of the group as mentioned in the previous paragraph.
In regards to technology, I have experience with Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, and Skype. There are pros and cons to each and there are others, but they all serve the basic purpose of getting you face-to-face virtually with others.
If you have been doing or just starting a virtual house church group yourself, please do use the comments section to share:
- What technology are you using?
- Are you incorporating worship? If so, how?
- What are some of the challenges you have seen?
- Benefits?
- Anything else that might be helpful to the rest of us?
Finally, as I mentioned already, I will try to assist you if you want to connect virtually with others and do not have a group. OR, if you have a group of people but could use a little encouragement on how to get started. Either way, you can communicate with me here and I will do my best.
