What to do about giving?- How one house church sent out 8 people to 9 countries while helping start over a dozen house churches at home

When we started the adventure of house church 4 years ago there was a question of what to do with our finances. We wanted every one to pray and ask the Lord what we should do. Every one in our house church agreed that our giving should first and foremost go to me. The joy every one was getting from supporting me was humbling. It began with a small percent of a salary and within six months our one house church was giving me as much as 60 % of a salary. My ministry had already expanded way beyond our house church to coaching and helping others start house churches. Tina, my wife, and I felt that our personal giving should not go back to the same pot from which my salary came and we began to pray about where to give. There were opportunities for giving to the poor and those needing funds for counseling and other ministries. We had faithfully put our 10% in the offering plate with some sense of satisfaction all our Christian lives. Now, a sense of excitement began to take the place of mere satisfaction as we committed to sending our portion out. Once we began giving directly to people, we experienced more deeply than ever before that it is more blessed to give than receive. As for the whole group, when some one had a personal need, or was going on a missionary trip we found our selves giving beyond our normal portions. We found ourselves talking about how to come up funds, even selling things to help support the need/trip. Beyond giving me a good portion of a salary, helping each other and giving to the poor, we helped support 8 people to go to 9 countries for total of 28 weeks. All of this was in about 18 months. We were the missionary church. I remember thinking to myself that we could not have done this when I was pastoring a church of 120 people. I am still supported financially and this has allowed me to be a catalyst to over a dozen house churches in the Denver area. Meanwhile I have had the privilege of being part the Denver network of housechurch planters as well as having a role in seeing three different networks of housechurches from around the state. Not to mention a trip to Kenya training brothers and sisters that has resulted in 100’s of housechurches starting in the last 15 months. For more on information on Kenya click on http://www.simplechurchescare.com/reports.html. Lastly, because of being supported, we have been able to launch The School on the Way. School on the Way is a New Testament household community model of Education. We offer a high level of scholarship in a Hebrew style of dialogue and interaction with an emphasis on listening to and obeying what the Spirit is saying. At present we feel this is very strategic time for training others in the spontaneous expansion of housechurch. For Courses and more information – www.newwinecommunity.org It is simple math that when you reduce the expenses of running a church to zero, you have a ton of money to give directly to ministry and needs. Not only is this the New Testament model but it is a wise use of money.

Learning as we go,

Jan Cowles – House Church coach

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Come one, come all to the next Colorado House Gathering!

Some background…
House church network leaders from around Colorado gathered this week to share what God is doing in our lives and our churches. We rejoiced at a variety of stories from the revolution, stories of the kingdom of God at work here in Colorado. It was truly breathtaking.

We also marveled at the amazing encouragement and fellowship in our last gathering. It seemed good to us and to the Spirit to get another such gathering on the Calendar!

As always, we seek to keep the Head of the Church (Jesus) at the head of our gatherings, but are the general details

5pm: Sharing a meal around the tables. Bring your own meal.

5:45pm: a few songs from the worship team

6pm: “World Cafe” We will have some key questions prepared about what God is doing in your house church, obstacles for growing healthy churches, and more. Around our tables, we will share with each other from our hearts and experience. Call it eavesdropping on the Spirit of God, it is going to be an awesome time of sharing.

7:30pm: worship through some amazing music. If you were there last time, you will remember how wonderful it was to be in the midst of 100′s of brothers and sisters praising the Lord. We are going to sing until people don’t want to sing anymore. So stay as long or as short as you want!

The location is the same: Hillside Community Church, 103 N Ford St, Golden, CO
However, we will be in the big room this time to avoid standing room only like last time!

***Have suggestions of questions you want us to discuss? Leave a comment to this post with your ideas!

Look forward to seeing you there!

Last year, my network of churches in Lakewood began meeting every 8 weeks with a network from Golden for mutual encouragement and celebration. More recently, we have begun meeting with the leaders of networks in central and east Denver. Out of this flowed a combined Celebration on October 20th which included worship, sharing and vision casting for our city. It was a packed night and some people were standing for over two hours as people shared from house churches all over Denver Metro. We had people all the way from the Black Forest area in the south to Ft. Collins in the north. There were over 100 people from at least 20 different house churches.

This is just wild, not only how many there are and how we are connecting and but the spontaneous growth that is happening among them. There was an excitement of the growing numbers of HC’s… guessing 70 or more in the Denver area. For the next gathering we may need to get a room about 4 times the size. There is a new website and we are trying to get all the house churches on the map. www.coloradohousechurch.com

Our vision of a house church within walking distance of every person in Golden/Lakewood… Denver ….Colorado… North America… is beginning to spread.

Does that make you want to be part of a HC …and the HC movement… and then join to help and/or start one after that?

Living for so much more and it is too exciting,

Jan Cowles
Lakewood, Colorado

jancowles[AT]comcast.net