Hospitality, Evangelism And Relational Theology at Home

In addition to Sunday morning and Wednesday evening services, Farragut Fellowship also hosts evening meetings in the homes of various members of our church. These "small group" meetings are comprised of 10 - 15 people and are referred to as H.E.A.RT.H. groups. The acronym stands for: Hospitality, Evangelism, And Relational Theology at Home. These characteristics represent the principle goals of each meeting particularly, and of our HEARTH group ministry at large. HEARTH groups more fully express "Church Life" at Farragut Fellowship.

ACTS 2 Model
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.. .they gave to anyone as he had need. ..they broke bread in their homes and ate together, with glad and sincere hearts - praising God and enjoying the favor of the people. The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42-47)

At the heart of Church life is "relational theology" (The discovery and understanding of God through personal relationships) . This is based upon the following doctrinal position:

The whole of the Christian experience is based in relationships. God's intimate relationship with Adam and Eve started the process. Now, Christians have personal relationships with God through divine interaction with His son Jesus Christ. The Church has been established by the Holy Spirit so that individual Christians can together, harmoniously and more fully present Jesus Christ to the world.

The ability of individual Christians to more fully express (and personally appreciate) their relationship with Jesus Christ is greatly contingent on the development of personal relationships with other Christians. Jesus Himself spent most of His life in ministry building relationships with men (and women). The apostle Paul delelops this theme more fully in his epistles as he discusses the necessity and importance of church members growing together in relationship.

It appears the early church also understood and practiced the doctrine of relational theology. This is supported by the text in Acts 2:42-47 (above) which describes the activities of the early church as they met together in each others' homes, as well as the common gathering place for worship - the temple. If relational theology is the heart of Church Life, hospitality and evangelism are critical components of it (as demonstrated by the Acts 2 model).