Childlike Faith Ministries was established in November 2018. A few years prior to that a small group of friends and family began to pray about how we could plant new churches without the great expense of the traditional church in America. We heard of Francis Chan’s story doing this very thing through the organization God birthed in his heart (WeAreChurch.com). 

In the summer of 2018, we felt led to leave the congregation we had been a part of for many years. We now believe God was using us to create this “house church". We began meeting in a space unused on Sundays, owned by a farming organization in downtown Maryville, Tennessee. 

As in all house churches, we have no church building or paid employees. We have no single pastor that preaches the sermon. We believe we are all ministers in the body of Christ and by studying God’s word together, the Holy Spirit preaches the sermon to each of us as a group and individually. 

We were thriving in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Due to one of our members being immunocompromised with a bone marrow failure disease and the government requesting churches to cease meeting in person, we temporarily paused our gatherings. We quickly transitioned to utilizing the Zoom platform to meet virtually each week. And as always, God worked it for good and we quickly began to gain new members. There were others who couldn’t go to their home church because of the shut downs. We also gained some members that weren’t attending traditional churches for several other reasons.

Once churches were allowed to open back up, we realized there was no turning back. We couldn't imagine saying goodbye and not worshipping with our friends who didn’t live close enough to meet in person. We also had some people who couldn't meet in person due to other health restrictions. We decided to continue our Zoom gatherings as long as we had members from far away places that wanted to be a part of our congregation. As of now we have members that meet with us weekly from several states in the US, Kenya, Nigeria and even a tiny island in the Indian Ocean.

What We Believe

About the Scriptures: We believe the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God and that men were moved by the Spirit of God to write the very words of Scripture. Therefore, we believe the Scripture was written exactly as God intended. We believe the Bible is without error.

About God: We believe in one God who exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus Christ is the second member of the Trinity (the Son of God) who became flesh to reveal God to humanity and to become the Savior of the lost world.

About Humanity: We believe that all people were created in the image of God to have fellowship with him but became alienated in that relationship through sinful disobedience. As a result, people are incapable of regaining a right relationship with God through their own efforts.

About Salvation: We believe that the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross, provides the sole basis for the forgiveness of sin. Therefore, God freely offers salvation to those who place their faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as sufficient payment for their sin.

About the Christian Life: We believe all Christians should live for Christ and not for themselves. By obedience to the Word of God and daily yielding to the Spirit of God, every believer should mature and be conformed to the image of Christ.

About the Church: We believe that the church is the body of Christ, of which Jesus Christ is the head. The members of the church are those who have trusted by faith the finished work of Christ. The purpose of the church is to glorify God by loving him and by making him known to the lost world.