Our guest speakers were John and Barbara Porter from Clemson, South Carolina.
In addition to sharing their labor of love with us, they also provided a helpful reading list.
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House Church Book Recommendations
Very Readable
The House Church Book – Wolfgang Simson and George Barna
Relational Revolution: 5 Shifts for Rediscovering Church as Heart-to-Heart Connection – John C. White, Toni M. Daniels, et al.
Rethinking Church: A Guide for the Perplexed and Disillusioned – Ron Highfield
More Technical and Academic
House Church and Mission: The Importance of Household Structures in Early Christianity – Roger Gehring
More “Radical” with Great Information and Insight
Being Church (New Monastic Library: Resources for Radical Discipleship) – John F. Alexander
Spiritual Formation
Forming: A Work of Grace – David Takle MDiv
The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows – James Bryan Smith, Arthur Morey, et al.
Joy Fueled: Catalyzing a Revolution of Joyful Communities – John C. White, Toni M. Daniels et al.
Joyful Journey: Listening to Immanuel – Dr. E. James Wilder III, Ms. Anna Kang, et al.
The Other Half of Church: Christian Community, Brain Science, and Overcoming Spiritual Stagnation – Jim Wilder, Michel Hendricks, et al.
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John and Barbara were both baptized as college students in the early 1980’s. John was studying Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University and Barbara was a student at Harvard Law School. After graduating, they entered the ministry in 1985. Barbara was part of the Toronto church planting and John served as the leader of the church in Clemson, South Carolina. While still single, they went as missionaries to Mexico City in 1987 where they were married in 1988. Shortly after their wedding, they moved to Sāo Paulo, Brazil to work with the newly planted church. They lived for a total of nine years in Sāo Paulo, and both their children, Joseph and Jacqueline, were born there. They have served in several churches in Florida and also lived in the Miami area for more than 10 years, training ministers and missionaries. After being in the traditional ministry for 30 years they decided to step out on faith and do ministry in a different way. Their new ministry is focused on developing a house church model. Since 2016, Barbara has been working for HOPE worldwide. John works part time as a bookkeeper, but his passion is devoting the rest of his time to developing this model, training others and providing resources for those interested in planting churches in this way through his nonprofit, From House to House (fromhousetohouse.org). John and Barbaa currently live in Clemson, South Carolina.
