What is a Microchurch?
Rediscovering the Family of God
Imagine peeling back the soil of a forest floor. Beneath the surface lies an intricate, interwoven network where roots and fungi connect trees, sharing nutrients and information. This web of life allows even massive redwoods—despite their shallow root systems—to stand strong together against the fiercest storms.
This image mirrors the design of the Church. Jesus envisioned His people as a family, deeply connected and rooted together, able to withstand life’s trials through unity and mutual care (Galatians 6:10). Alone, we are vulnerable. Together, we are the resilient family of God.
WHAT IS A MICROCHURCH
At its heart, the microchurch is this extended spiritual family. It’s not merely a small group, program, or side ministry.
An extended spiritual family, led by ordinary people, living in everyday Gospel community, and owning the mission of Jesus in a network of relationships.
This definition is more than theory—it’s rooted in Scripture. The early Church functioned as microchurches: households transformed into missional communities, embodying the Gospel in their neighborhoods and networks (Acts 2:42–47, Acts 16, Acts 18).
Where small groups often center around content and community, microchurches center on identity and mission.
IDENTITY: They say, “God is our Father, we are His Beloved Children. We are family.”
MISSION: They ask, “Where is Jesus at work, and how can we join Him? How can we be disciples and make disciples? How can we make His Kingdom tangible together?”
Microchurches aren’t subsets of the Church; they are the Church in its most primal form. They worship, live in community, and join God’s mission together, embodying what the Church was meant to be.
HOW DO MICROCHURCHES EMERGE?
Unlike traditional models, microchurches emerge organically as the Gospel transforms relational networks—what the New Testament calls oikos. This Greek word, meaning household or extended family, represents the natural spaces where life happens.
As new disciples are made, these relational networks become spiritual families under the Lordship of Jesus. It’s not about planting churches but planting the Gospel. From this seed, disciples form, and microchurches emerge from disciple-making.
This approach mirrors the New Testament Church’s strategy: elevate and transform households rather than extract individuals to attend centralized gatherings and assimilate into programs. Microchurches thrive as they multiply within already existing relational ecosystems, turning earthly families into eternal ones on mission for God (Matthew 28:18–20).
WHY MICROCHURCH?
The microchurch is uniquely equipped to embody the essential functions of the Church:
Worship: Offering our whole lives to Jesus as an act of worship (Romans 12:1). Microchurches apprentice disciples to grow in obedience and lordship.
Community: Living out the “one another” commands of Scripture, from loving and bearing burdens to teaching and encouraging one another (Galatians 6:2).
Mission: Making disciples and Joining the mission of Jesus to bring good news, healing, and transformation to every corner of the world (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8).
These three functions—worship, community, and mission— are what we call the ecclesial minimum. They are the irreducible core of what it means to be the Church.
THE FAMILY BUSINESS
The Church has always been about family. And the family business is the Great Commission—bringing beauty, justice, and the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth. Microchurches aren’t about “going small” but being nimble and multiplying disciples who multiply churches.
“If you make disciples, you always get the church. But if you make a church, you rarely get disciples.”
Microchurches embody this truth, focusing on Gospel planting that transforms oikos into spiritual families, which then naturally multiply.
In the KC Underground, our vision is Gospel flourishing in every neighborhood and network of Kansas City. This can’t happen through centralized programs or heavy structures. It requires ordinary people—spiritual families—owning the mission of Jesus.
Microchurches are not a trend; they are a rediscovery of the Church’s original design. Rooted in mission and identity, they are the form best suited to house a mighty move of God.
So today, reflect: What is your place in the family of God? How is He inviting you to join in the mission of filling Kansas City with the beauty, justice and Good News of Jesus?