Community Life Groups

Community Life Groups are small groups consisting of 8 to 12 people that meet weekly, typically in someone’s home for fellowship, Bible study and prayer. The fourth component is a service ministry where at least one time during the semester individual gifts are used with the other group members to serve others in the church or community. Community Life Groups are for adults of all ages, stages of life, and spiritual maturity.

Married Couples

Community Life Groups comprised of married couples. Some groups will be in the same stage of life (couples without children, with children, and empty nesters) and others will be multigenerational.

Men’s and Women’s Bible Studies

Men and women can join same-gender Bible study groups of various stages of life groups (married, single, divorced, widowed).

Singles

Men and women can join same-gender, singles-only groups (single, divorced, widowed).

Starting Point

Starting Point is a 10-week conversational small group where people can explore faith and experience community. These groups are comprised of men and women of all ages and stages of life (single, married, divorced, and widowed).

Starting Point groups contain both singles and married couples together. Some of the married couple groups (listed under ‘type of group’ in the groups’ catalog) may have only one spouse attending the group for any of a variety of reasons.

Our co-ed groups are the married couples Community Life Groups and Starting Point groups.

Our groups generally meet Sunday through Thursday evenings, with some meeting on Fridays and Saturdays from time to time. Most married groups meet in the evenings, while men’s and women’s Bible study groups meet mornings and evenings. Most groups meet in a consistent location (the home of a group member), however some groups prefer to take turns meeting in different members’ homes.

Most groups meet weekly, and we encourage all groups to do so. We believe relationships are best developed and sustained when people are interfacing on a weekly basis.

Each group determines the length of time they will meet. However, most groups meet for an hour and a half to two hours.

Though each group is different in how they do things, many groups have a social time in the beginning, transition to a time of Bible study with a life application focus and conclude with a time of praying for each other. At the very beginning of the semester the whole group decides how much time they will spend on social interaction, Bible study and discussion, and prayer time (as well as the order in which they take place).

Community Life Groups are set up on a semester system. During the course of a calendar year there are 3 semesters: fall, spring and summer. Each semester ranges from 10-14 weeks. All Community Life Groups last for one semester at a time. All the participants in a group can continue into the next semester but need to sign up during group promotion month.

There are 3 semesters of Community Life Groups during the calendar year. The fall semester begins in September and goes into the beginning of December. The spring semester begins in late January wrapping up at the end of April. The summer semester begins in June and goes until mid-August.

All group leaders are encouraged to be training an apprentice to be the leader of their own group. An apprentice may stay with a leader for 2 or even 3 semesters before leading their own group the following semester. The apprentice (after becoming an approved leader) will invite some of the current group to form the core of the new group.

Each group chooses their own curriculum to study with the guidance of the leader and his/her coach. (A coach is a staff member who meets with 3-4 community life group leaders each semester.)

During group promotion month, you can sign up on the website, at the groups table in the church lobby, or by using the connect card.