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Structure |
HOW ARE COMMUNITY GROUPS STRUCTURED?
Community Groups are uniquely structured on a quarterly calendar system to maximize flexibility and provide adequate seasons throughout the year for growth, discipleship, evangelism, prayer, service, missions, retreats, and rest. Each quarter will consist of “Life In” (6 weeks) followed by “Life Out” (4 to 5 weeks). This respect for the rhythms of the year take into account the things that affect family life, such as the start of school and seasonal holidays.
Life In - Community Groups meet weekly for 6-7 weeks with an emphasis on building the group and one another. These events typically include prayer, Bible study, worship, meeting one another’s needs, discipleship, etc.
Ongoing curriculum choices during these weekly meetings will be provided. These include a variety of Bible studies, a review and discussion of the previous Sunday’s sermon, as well as options to take an Equipping YOUniversity class as a group, serve a ministry of the church, or serve an organization in the community.
Life Out - This time of 4-5 weeks will emphasize “living out” life together in a much more unstructured way. It will be a time for:
Fellowship events and outings. (Bridge Events)
Relationship-building at a Community Group retreat.
Serving and growing on short-term Missions experiences
Participating in community service events.
A time to serve and support an existing church ministry or community outreach effort.
During this time, the Community Group may or may not meet weekly, may meet in different places, or at different times. Each group’s creative planning and living out their Christianity as the Holy Spirit leads them means that each group’s activity may look very different – from another group's or from previous quarter’s “Life Out” activity.