REACHING OUT: Karen Wright opens the
door of her northwestern Shelby County
home to Martin Hnizdil (center) and Jon Knochenmus,
whose ministry she and her husband support. -
BILL MCCLEERY / The Star
Meeting in believers' homes, group members emulate early Christians
By Bill McCleery
Posted: November 22, 2008
While some Christian congregations have built multi-million-dollar "mega-churches" in recent years, others have opted for a different route.
Signs popped up this fall in parts of Indianapolis, Greenfield and New Castle announcing "Bible meetings." The talks, it turned out, are supported by a group of Christians who prefer to keep things simple.
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This group, unaffiliated with any religious denomination, owns no church buildings. Believers hold Sunday morning fellowship meetings in one another's homes.
Outreach meetings, such as those being advertised on the signs, are being held in such diverse settings as a United Auto Workers hall, a medical building and a banquet hall owned by another church.
The group does not even have an official name, with members saying they find no record of Jesus' followers taking any self-made name. They want to remain true to that example.
Martin Hnizdil, a minister involved with the group, recently answered several questions by e-mail.
Question: What's the basis for moving away from affiliating with denominations or having church buildings?
Answer: The basic foundation for our fellowship is the example of Christ and the church that he established. He came to fulfill the Old Testament with the temple of God as a building, but he taught souls to worship in spirit and truth. Jesus didn't ever promote a building program. We have no church buildings or church property. This frees us to gather in the homes without financial bondage.
Q: And your church -- this network of home churches -- does not even have a name?
A: We take no business-denominational name because we are not a business with property or budgets. We're simply seeking to live as Christians. We pay taxes as individuals and have no church tax exemptions.
Q: How long, to your knowledge, have members of your faith tradition been gathering in homes on Sunday mornings here in Central Indiana?
A: As far as I know, there have been fellowship groups meeting in the homes in the Indianapolis area since the early 1900s.
Q: How would you summarize your basic view of Christianity? Is there a certain strain of Christian belief with which people might be familiar that you would endorse?
A: Our strain of Christianity is based on the specific teachings of Jesus. We must be born again of the Holy Spirit and baptized by water. The ministry he sent forth -- ministers without homes of their own -- enables us to be free to live and keep the work of the church full time in our lives. The church meets in the homes of believers, with believers loving and caring for each other as a family.
Q: So your ministers, no matter where they work, essentially operate as homeless missionaries?
A: Yes, the main work of the ministry is to reach out and be available to help any who are seeking a fellowship with God and with others in the church.
Q: Who are the ministers for this group?
A: The ministry is made up of men and women who have committed their entire lives to the work of the Gospel. We are supported by individuals moved to share by the Holy Spirit. My co-worker Jon Knochenmus and I work together in the Indianapolis area, and we work in cooperation with others in the state and others across the world.
Q: Across the world? To how many countries has this nameless home-church fellowship spread?
A: I wouldn't know the exact number, but we're in most countries of the world.
