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<title>1BC House Church</title>

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**1BC House Church:**

The Rubens Gh*nov Bible study at 1BC (First Baptist Church of Perkasie) was more or less independent at some point. Around 2002, Mark Allard, a well-spoken ex-addict and former club DJ took over the Bible Study.

I heard conflicting stories on whether the groups were sanctioned or just using the 1BC facilities. Either way, they were functionally their own group. Later, 1BC sanctioned multiple parallel Bible study groups for young adults. I got involved with Tim Bergey's young adult Bible study which became independent when he left 1BC. No one there was offended by him leaving 1BC. We all stayed.

Later, the hosts of the Bergey group were having another child and could no longer host (Late 2005 to early 2006, according to Mike Baum). Some of us started going to the Mentzer group also under 1BC, then later the Davis group also under 1BC and starting around then. Mentzers also ran a Bible study that ended around that time. End of Jan 2006 Mike went from the Mentzer Bible study to the Davis Bible study.

When I found out that Rubens would host a Bible Study and Tim Bergey would lead it. I started going there. It was independent of any Church. Mark Allard lived next door. You see, he and his wife, along with Rubens and his wife, moved to Germantown in attempt to essentially be missionaries to Philadelphia.

After attempts to help the community, Mark discovered that people viewed his path as "white knighting."

Rubens and Lynne moved away so Rubens could get a job teaching art to troubled teens in Rhode Island. Mark and Jen stayed in Philadelphia but their marriage fell apart. Neither of them seem interested in Christianity at this point. Mark is essentially not able to be contacted, even by his family.

What can we say about these magnetic personalities we admired? Some gave up on Christianity, essentially seeing it as fake. I saw these Churches as fake but found my loyalties lay with Christ and my friends. I did what I could with them and then found new friends who would get out of these dangerous situations before they kept repeating.

Even up to that point, I only knew of home meetings ("small groups," "Bible studies," "community groups," etc) that were essentially copies of a larger meeting. One person would talk. I now believe that the role of monarch is only a temporary role for the purpose of planting churches, and that no such role is valid. For example, people in the Bible like Timothy and Titus were not pastors. The books named after them in the
Bible explicitly state for Timothy and Titus to stay a little while longer until the house churches were able to self govern. Also note that even when people met at the temple, that was for public ministry.

They still met in homes even then before persecution to do a full meal
which was essential to the Lord's Table which the modern church has
left behind in that form.
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