An Introduction
THE FRONT DOOR - WELCOME
Welcome to our website. We are glad you are here to check things out and hope this site will help guide you through the household that is our church. We'll start in the foyer, move to the living room, then the kitchen and finally the basement. Before we move into the foyer, let us introduce ourselves.
MERCYhouse was started in Amherst, MA eight years ago by Joe Greene and Robert Krumrey in cooperation with The Baptist Convention of New England. You may be thinking, "How exactly do you start a church?" Well, we wondered that too until September 12, 1999.
We started by getting the word out all around town and on the campus of UMass that a new church was starting up and that we would be meeting in the Lord Jeffery Inn on a Sunday evening to let people find out more. We prayed, we hoped, we prayed some more. The result was a jam-packed room of college students and other young adults who were hungry to know God, build a close-knit community, and turn all that knowing and growing into service to others.
From that launching point, our MERCYhouse family has grown to encompass students from seven area colleges (and we keep finding new ones) as well as people from our community. This year for the first time, we're even gathering at two different locations on Sunday mornings. We've been flooded with both people of faith desiring to grow deeper and those who have come to investigate what the Christian faith is all about.
Our hope is that MERCYhouse will be a safe place for people to grow like crazy in their passionate love for God and their active love of people. Read on to find out more!
THE FOYER - SUNDAY CELEBRATIONS
Welcome to the foyer of MERCYhouse, that is, the Sunday Celebration. We like to think of it that way because it's usually the first thing that people experience for the purpose of checking things out.
Our celebrations include singing, prayer, reading, and teaching. We also take communion during some services which is a rite that was instituted by Christ and has been practiced by the church for 2000 years. It is a way of remembering the core of the Christian faith--the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. If you are a Christian, you are welcome to participate in communion. If you are here seeking to know more about the Christian faith, feel free to use the time for prayer and meditation.
Our prayer is that celebrations will be a time for you to worship God in your own unique way. In singing or in silence, sitting or standing, kneeling or bowing, with clapping or in quiet reverence.
LIVING ROOM - HOUSE CHURCHES
Welcome to the Living Room. It's here that we hope you'll kick off your shoes and stay awhile. House churches are the place where you'll get to see up close and personal the spiritual life that is MERCYhouse. Read the following verses from Acts that describe the life of the early church:
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)
What we've found is that it is difficult to live out the life described in the book of Acts in a large group that only see each other on Sunday morning. We think that the organism of church that is described here finds its fullest expression in a small group with about 12 to 15 people.
This is why in addition to Sundays, we offer house churches that meet weekly in homes, in our main building, and on college campuses where life can be shared together.
This "life together" takes several forms - eating, talking, laughing, praying, learning, singing, playing. It's a little community committed to the devotions of the apostle's teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, prayer, and impacting our world (see Acts 2:42). It's where you go when you've experienced your greatest success or your greatest defeat. It's a community striving for Jesus' radical minimum standard of love for God and others.
While all house churches are a little different, they all have some similarities. The group usually eats together, talks about their week, prays for the concerns that people have, and engages in some kind of Bible study discussion (the discussion is based on a discussion guide that goes along with the Sunday morning messages). It could also include a time of singing or taking communion. Details about locations and leaders are found on this website.
People are encouraged to come and check out house churches at any time during the semester. There is complete freedom to come in for an evening and then say, "No thank you, this is not for me." Once people return again and again, there is an expectation to commit oneself to the group for the remainder of the semester - for instance helping with meals or doing weekly homework for Bible study. Part of what makes these groups so successful is the commitment level of those who participate.
THE KITCHEN - WAYS TO SERVE
Once someone has been in your home for a while, they develop a certain level of comfort like the freedom to steal food out of the fridge or let themselves in through the back door. They also start pitching in around the house.
It takes a lot of hands to accomplish all that happens in the course of one of our weeks and is going to take more as the ministry of our church expands throughout the Pioneer Valley.
Our goal is 100% volunteerism. That means that we want anyone who calls MERCYhouse home to role up their sleeves and pitch in at least one time during the course of every semester. We know different people have different availability but the vision of passion for God spilling over into active service of others cannot be realized unless we all "get to work." See this website for ongoing opportunities to serve in the church and in our world.
THE BASEMENT - MEMBERSHIP
Welcome to the basement. It's where we encourage everyone to come. It may sound strange since most homes try to close off the basement when guests arrive. That's just it, we don't want people to stay guests at MERCYhouse. We want them to become a host and that means working themselves down the ladder.
From very early on in the teaching of Jesus he made it clear that this life is not about us. It is about loving God and serving others. He stated it this way in the book of Matthew chapter 16 (see below).
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
It is the paradox of the Christian life that as you loose your life for God and others you actually embrace the life you were created to live. Selfish living never led to the fulfillment of anyone.
This is the view we take when talking about "church membership." Those who want to become members of MERCYhouse are saying that they agree with this vision for church and want to uniquely commit themselves to this body of Christ for the purpose of passionately loving God and actively loving others.
If this sounds like something that you are interested in , the first step is to attend one of our Newcomers Classes that are offered on Sunday afternoons a few times during the semester. In that class, you'll hear about the beginnings of MERCYhouse as well as the vision and beliefs of our church, be able to ask questions, and find out more about what it means to be a member of this local church. See you in the basement!
Welcome to our website. We are glad you are here to check things out and hope this site will help guide you through the household that is our church. We'll start in the foyer, move to the living room, then the kitchen and finally the basement. Before we move into the foyer, let us introduce ourselves.
MERCYhouse was started in Amherst, MA eight years ago by Joe Greene and Robert Krumrey in cooperation with The Baptist Convention of New England. You may be thinking, "How exactly do you start a church?" Well, we wondered that too until September 12, 1999.
We started by getting the word out all around town and on the campus of UMass that a new church was starting up and that we would be meeting in the Lord Jeffery Inn on a Sunday evening to let people find out more. We prayed, we hoped, we prayed some more. The result was a jam-packed room of college students and other young adults who were hungry to know God, build a close-knit community, and turn all that knowing and growing into service to others.
From that launching point, our MERCYhouse family has grown to encompass students from seven area colleges (and we keep finding new ones) as well as people from our community. This year for the first time, we're even gathering at two different locations on Sunday mornings. We've been flooded with both people of faith desiring to grow deeper and those who have come to investigate what the Christian faith is all about.
Our hope is that MERCYhouse will be a safe place for people to grow like crazy in their passionate love for God and their active love of people. Read on to find out more!
THE FOYER - SUNDAY CELEBRATIONS
Welcome to the foyer of MERCYhouse, that is, the Sunday Celebration. We like to think of it that way because it's usually the first thing that people experience for the purpose of checking things out. Our celebrations include singing, prayer, reading, and teaching. We also take communion during some services which is a rite that was instituted by Christ and has been practiced by the church for 2000 years. It is a way of remembering the core of the Christian faith--the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. If you are a Christian, you are welcome to participate in communion. If you are here seeking to know more about the Christian faith, feel free to use the time for prayer and meditation.
Our prayer is that celebrations will be a time for you to worship God in your own unique way. In singing or in silence, sitting or standing, kneeling or bowing, with clapping or in quiet reverence.
LIVING ROOM - HOUSE CHURCHES
Welcome to the Living Room. It's here that we hope you'll kick off your shoes and stay awhile. House churches are the place where you'll get to see up close and personal the spiritual life that is MERCYhouse. Read the following verses from Acts that describe the life of the early church:
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)
What we've found is that it is difficult to live out the life described in the book of Acts in a large group that only see each other on Sunday morning. We think that the organism of church that is described here finds its fullest expression in a small group with about 12 to 15 people.
This is why in addition to Sundays, we offer house churches that meet weekly in homes, in our main building, and on college campuses where life can be shared together.
This "life together" takes several forms - eating, talking, laughing, praying, learning, singing, playing. It's a little community committed to the devotions of the apostle's teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, prayer, and impacting our world (see Acts 2:42). It's where you go when you've experienced your greatest success or your greatest defeat. It's a community striving for Jesus' radical minimum standard of love for God and others.
While all house churches are a little different, they all have some similarities. The group usually eats together, talks about their week, prays for the concerns that people have, and engages in some kind of Bible study discussion (the discussion is based on a discussion guide that goes along with the Sunday morning messages). It could also include a time of singing or taking communion. Details about locations and leaders are found on this website.
People are encouraged to come and check out house churches at any time during the semester. There is complete freedom to come in for an evening and then say, "No thank you, this is not for me." Once people return again and again, there is an expectation to commit oneself to the group for the remainder of the semester - for instance helping with meals or doing weekly homework for Bible study. Part of what makes these groups so successful is the commitment level of those who participate.
THE KITCHEN - WAYS TO SERVE
Once someone has been in your home for a while, they develop a certain level of comfort like the freedom to steal food out of the fridge or let themselves in through the back door. They also start pitching in around the house.
It takes a lot of hands to accomplish all that happens in the course of one of our weeks and is going to take more as the ministry of our church expands throughout the Pioneer Valley.
Our goal is 100% volunteerism. That means that we want anyone who calls MERCYhouse home to role up their sleeves and pitch in at least one time during the course of every semester. We know different people have different availability but the vision of passion for God spilling over into active service of others cannot be realized unless we all "get to work." See this website for ongoing opportunities to serve in the church and in our world.
THE BASEMENT - MEMBERSHIP
Welcome to the basement. It's where we encourage everyone to come. It may sound strange since most homes try to close off the basement when guests arrive. That's just it, we don't want people to stay guests at MERCYhouse. We want them to become a host and that means working themselves down the ladder.
From very early on in the teaching of Jesus he made it clear that this life is not about us. It is about loving God and serving others. He stated it this way in the book of Matthew chapter 16 (see below).
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
It is the paradox of the Christian life that as you loose your life for God and others you actually embrace the life you were created to live. Selfish living never led to the fulfillment of anyone.
This is the view we take when talking about "church membership." Those who want to become members of MERCYhouse are saying that they agree with this vision for church and want to uniquely commit themselves to this body of Christ for the purpose of passionately loving God and actively loving others.
If this sounds like something that you are interested in , the first step is to attend one of our Newcomers Classes that are offered on Sunday afternoons a few times during the semester. In that class, you'll hear about the beginnings of MERCYhouse as well as the vision and beliefs of our church, be able to ask questions, and find out more about what it means to be a member of this local church. See you in the basement!
