1. Why we are called HOME

We weren’t always called HOME Church; for a long time, we didn’t have a name. We only named it because, over time, we realised we needed to call it something. HOME Church is a deliberate play on words—it describes who we are, our origin, our mission, our values, and our vision.

HOME Church honours where it all began—in someone’s home. For us, God started His work in a house setting, not in a church building. This is important because it illustrates what John 14:23 states: that God wants to make “His home” with us; that we don’t need a fancy building to lure God in, but that God invites Himself to where He is loved, including someone’s house.

HOME Church describes our mission. We want to make and mature disciples, and we believe that the most important context for Christian discipleship is one’s home. Home is where we are most authentic—most true to ourselves. Therefore, if we are not Christian at home, are we Christian at all? Christianity is an identity; it is framed around a relationship with Jesus, not around our actions. Our actions only matter to the extent that they are rooted in our relationship with Him. The home is the most challenging environment in which to live out Christianity and, therefore, in our view, the most important.

HOME Church describes the vision of the Church. We believe God is raising up a generation to dedicate their houses to the Lord—to give them to Him as places of meeting; that their homes would be a dwelling place for the Lord. This makes the home a holy place, bearing the fruit of the Spirit who dwells there. Such a house becomes the foundation of parenting, where children grow up in the presence of the Lord, being discipled in His house. It becomes a home where Christians can share a meal and see their dining table turned into the Lord’s table, where ministry comes alive as bread is broken and shared—not just between family members but with anyone who has been invited to the table.

HOME Church is rooted in John 14:23. This verse describes the gospel so powerfully—that God is the master renovator of our lives. He does not desire a manicured place but one He can make His own. When we offer our lives to God, we give them to Him as they are and surrender them, telling Him to make them His own and to do whatever He sees as good. HOME Church lives out surrender in all aspects of life—financial, occupational, relational, emotional, and spiritual. Everything is surrendered to God for Him to make His changes—for Him to make His home.

HOME describes our culture. Just as we can be ourselves when we are in our own home, so can people be themselves at HOME Church. We genuinely embrace and leverage our diversity, making our ministry and mission more effective than if we were homogeneous. We emphatically celebrate when people can be themselves—even “at church”—because they have finally decided to live one life, as one person, being the same whether at church, in the workplace, or at home.

HOME also describes God’s mission through our church—to bring people back home. HOME Church represents a place for those who are spiritually homeless to find community again and for those not belonging to a church to “be churched” as they interact with us. Often, HOME is described as the last attempt at belonging to a church, and for many people outside of HOME, the members of HOME Church are the only Christians they really know.

These are some of the reasons we are called HOME Church.