153 House Churches Network Approaches 50 Years of Ministry

Added: (Mon Apr 16 2007)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Pastor Ben Hunt carries on ministry founded by his father and lays a foundation for the ministry's future





In Sidney, Ohio, Ben Hunt, a minister at the 153 House Churches Network, serves a network of believers in partner churches that span the world.



In 1994, Hunt kneeled at the bedside of his dying father, Jack Hunt. The elder Hunt had begun the ministry now known as the 153 House Churches Network in 1958. Now he called his minister son to his side, spoke a blessing over him, and passed on the mantle of that ministry to his eldest child Benjamin.



The vision that Jack Hunt had received from God had been to have a house church in his home wherever he lived over the course of his life. Like Solomon with his father David, the younger Hunt completed the vision of his father. Unlike Solomon, however, he went on to seek the vision that God had for his own life, as well.



The Foundation Is Laid
God gave that vision to Hunt as he was pastoring in the mid-90's, and what God showed him was "a network of networks, a matrix." House churches connecting with others in house churches and in the institutional church, and then connecting with still others, until what would be left, God told him, was a Body of believers that would move as One in God�s Holy Spirit "like a school of fish, a flock of birds."



With his ordination and this vision in hand - and not much else - Hunt was led to move to Sidney, Ohio in 1995 with his wife Ella. They began a house church in their home on the city's poor south side. Within a couple of years, a handful of people would gather at their home for 15-20 hours a week, learning how to study God's Word in depth, how to apply it in their daily lives, and how to teach it to others.



Many of that handful of people now serve in leadership positions with the ministry, and the torch is being passed on to an ever-expanding generation of new believers. "Our Lord told me back in the late 90's that I wouldn't be old and gray when I went to sleep," Hunt shares with a smile, "and so I have been mindful to redeem that days that He has so graciously given me. I've sought to focus upon the importance of both today's work for Him and the laying of the foundation for those who will carry on the ministry after I sleep in Him."



Those to whom he will finally leave this work are an impressive group. Reverend Ron Hardin, Reverend Dr. Bud Ford and Reverend Michael Martin are just a few of the servant leaders that God has drawn together at 153 House Churches Network. Hardin, a gifted and mature young teaching pastor and assistant of sorts to Hunt; Ford, a pastor, educator and ministry leader of many years; and Martin, a minister with a special gift for illustrative and revelatory teaching, work with Hunt in equipping a varied group of believers to reach out into the harvest for Christ Jesus.



A Harvest And A Oneness
In the years since his father�s passing in 1994, Hunt has stewarded the 153 House Churches Network�s growth into an international network of house churches and ministries that focus upon the teaching and preaching of Biblically-sound doctrine, evangelism and edification, and a very public effort to see the manifestation of appropriate scriptural oneness among believers.



Hunt�s own church in Sidney, Ohio, has vibrant and involved connections with over 30 churches in his area of the country, and 153 HCN members regularly visit, worship with and minister with the members of many other denominations in their area.



Reverend Hunt and members of 153 HCN�s local, regional, and national eldership are well-known for their leadership of the 153 House Churches Network�s sound, effective ministry to the lost, the poor, to those incarcerated in correctional institutions, and to those addicted to drugs and alcohol.



Leadership Development
Hunt�s approach to �training down� leaders for positions of service within the Body of Christ has been heralded for its unique approach to considering each man�s own callings, personalities, and learning styles as they are being prepared for positions of servant leadership.



�Ordination and licensing are the lowest priorities in the development of spiritual men who will be faithful servant leaders,� says Hunt. �Those things follow the learning, application and living of the Biblical standard of Godly living for believers and then elders as clearly outlined in God�s Word.



All the men of God in positions of eldership within 153 HCN are ordained and licensed, but only after they have been taught in great depth and at great length to pray, to correctly study God�s Word, to live that Word as a light to their families, the church, and the world, and then how to teach and preach God�s Word in an effective, Spirit-led manner.�



"God gave His people a simple model in the book of Acts, chapter 2; together, we're to receive teaching from eldership, fellowship, break bread, and pray," Hunt states. "And 1 Corinthians 14:26 tells us that God has given something Spirit-birthed to every believer to share every time Christ's Body comes together. That's the model we've all been given. With God's help we learned, made mistakes, changed as individuals and as a Body, and saw fruit for the simple reason that God honors His Word. God didn't do anything because of us," Hunt shares, "in some cases He did it in spite of us.



"It's His Story"
Hunt has not forgotten the place from which he came. Born the son of a great Bible teacher and raised with God's Word, he - though believing that he was a Christian - never actually came to Christ until his early 30's. By that time, his life had digressed into a mire of drug addiction, alcoholism, pornography and habitual lying. In a hotel bed in Eureka, California, Hunt finally came face to face with who he was and reached out to Christ. The rest, Hunt would tell you, is not history, it is �His story.�



"It's not about me any more," Hunt shares. "It's all about Jesus. I deserved to die and go to hell for the life I had lived and for the damage I had done to so many lives," he says, "but I found Him and I received His forgiveness and I understand the price that Jesus paid for it. No matter how many days He has given me in this life, I am thankful for them all. I am a blessed man to know Him and to be used by Him to lead others to Christ Jesus, and to help them in any way."



Ministering to people who, in many cases have come from out of that same background of experience, Hunt has witnessed a profound outpouring of God�s mercy and grace upon His people. This reaping and growth at 153 House Churches Network has been of a genuine nature, coming from out the field of souls and not through a migration of present believers in other churches to 153 HCN. In fact, in the first 10 years of its existence, every believer who had been saved and was attending any 153 House Churches Network church was a first-generation believer.



Hunt lives in Sidney, Ohio with his wife Ella and their children Noah, Nehemiah, Charis and Ethan. Hunt has house church gatherings in his home several evenings a week. He travels locally, nationally and internationally to offer assistance to believers in the churches of the 153 House Churches Network and beyond, ministering the message of Christ Jesus in churches of many different denominations.







153 House Churches Network: Pastoral Biography_______________________________________________________



An ordained, licensed, former institutional pastor, Ben Hunt has served for the last 11 years as the pastor of the 48-year old 153 House Churches Network, now based in Sidney, Ohio, with over 150 partner churches worldwide in North America, India and Africa. Since 2000, the average 153 House Churches Network member leads 15- 20 people per year to a sincere conversion to Christ. The network�s ministries exist in many places and are carried out by many people, but are all characterized by a heart for the broken, lost, hurting generation of people among whom they live. The ministry in Western Ohio has special focuses upon addicts, young people, and the poor.



Hunt is the pastoral staff director at the Serenity House / Door Of Hope Christ-Centered Recovery House For Men. The house is a residential program from men grappling with addictions to drugs and alcohol. Assisting house director Larry Grieshop, the house has been fully transformed from a secular house to a Christ-centered program that receives no outside financial assistance.



At Wilson Memorial Hospital in Sidney, Ohio, Hunt serves as a staff chaplain, visiting patients weekly and has lead many to Christ in their hospital rooms.



Hunt serves as staff chaplain at Agape Distribution, a local, national and international food bank. Hunt regularly teaches Bible principles to the staff of Agape, as well as ministering to the needs of the disadvantaged and poor people whom they serve.



Hunt is a founding member of the Shelby County Ministerial Association's Transient Aid Project. The TAP teams with Agape Distribution and local participating hotels like Sidney Econolodge to provide overnight stays for verifiably needy people. The program also establishes a central, research-able database of information about aid provided in the county by pastors and their churches. Hunt is an active member of the Shelby County Ministerial Association (SCMA), serving on a number of ad hoc committees for the association. He also serves as the media liaison for the SCMA, writing news articles for the local media.



Hunt meets weekly with the Pastors' Prayer Group, local pastors who have been meeting weekly to pray for the Church at large, and for local, national and international needs. Overseen by Reverend Harold McKnight of Christian Tabernacle in Sidney, Ohio, the prayer group provides tremendous spiritual support for the pastors therein.



Hunt visits inmates at Madison Correctional Institution in London, Ohio and the Department of Correction�s Worth Center in Lima, Ohio on a bi-weekly basis. There Hunt will personally meet with an inmate, encouraging them both in their personal faith in Jesus Christ and in their witness to other inmates and the institution's staff.



Hunt works with the Good Samaritan Home, based in Greenville, Ohio. Assisting Dr. John Graham, Hunt has especially assisted the ministry's online efforts to minister to the poor, homeless and convicts.



Working with the Ohio Department of Corrections, Hunt was a founding member of the Citizen Circle Program in Miami County. The program seeks to assist ex-felons in their successful re-entry into society by providing mentorship through a "circle" of community members, including local pastors.



Hunt is a digital artist who exhibits some of his paintings at the Praisetown Art Gallery. Hunt primarily exhibits his work for the edification of others, but occasionally accepts commissioned art projects from private citizens who are interested in art with a Biblical, spiritual theme.



A prolific author of Biblically-themed books, devotionals, and inspirational writings, Hunt houses selected devotionals at his devotional website. Known for highly evocative Biblical writings, Hunt's work brings practical illustration and inspiration.