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Upside-Down Assimilation: Moving People from Outreach Small Groups to the Larger Church Community
We may get invited by someone we know, but many make their way to church communities because of special programs, reputation of the church, or location of the church building. The entry point is typically the large group gathering. For that reason, we have put a lot of effort into making our worship services places that are welcoming to visitors who don’t already have a close connection within the church. For the most part, our worship services and large group gatherings have been the front door of most churches.
But what about when people find their way into the church community first through a relational small group experience?
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Misdiagnosis
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For some time my life has been an illustration of the ideas I’m going to share with you. I have struggled with a chronic illness for the past couple of years. Over that time, my symptoms have led to many different diagnoses. Most of which, unfortunately, were misdiagnoses. I even had times when my doctors all agreed there was a problem, but had no idea what the problems really was! It wasn’t until well after a year of this process that an accurate diagnosis and treatment was determined, one that eventually began to help my situation. The same can be said of small groups.Many small group communities can become chronically spiritually ill. But the symptoms don’t always lead to an obvious diagnosis.
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GROWING in Grace Together
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When Grace Community Church was birthed from Faith Missionary Church in 1991, over 400 people came to the first service. In a few months, 30 small groups were launched to care for the people of Grace and provide the best environment for them grow in Christ. From the beginning, philosophically small groups were to be critical to the growth of the church body. However, practically, church leaders struggled with those who were convinced that Sunday school was the way for spiritual formation to take place.
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Campaign Driven Growth
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Part of the recent growth in our small group ministry (and church) needs to be considered in light of our setting and context. We are a traditional New England congregational church founded in 1846. We are in the downtown area of an affluent suburb about a half hour north of Boston.
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A Church of “Free Market” Small Groups
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Lakeview Christian Center has recently decided to become a church “OF” small groups. This has been a cultural change among the leadership of this 86 year old Assembly of God church. God has challenged the congregation of Lakeview to begin to live out the commandment to “love one another” by jumping into small groups.
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More than Just Bible Knowledge?
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Our congregation is a 130-year-old congregation in a rural community of 700 people where we are the only evangelical church in town and, in fact, the only one in a 6 town “radius”. For a large part of our history (100+ years), we existed as what I would term a “family” church. One where most additions came through pregnancy. The small number of other additions came when people from our church heritage moved into the area and sought us out.
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Undaunted Courage
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PSC (www.parkstreet.org) is a unique historic (1809) city church with membership around 1700 and a weekly attendance of 2200. There are two morning services, very conservative, with a large population of older people. Evening services over the years previously attracted a couple hundred but has constantly decline resulting in only 30-40 in attendance in 1992. Evening contemporary service started fall of 1993 attracting hundreds of young people. The time was right for a small group ministry which began in the fall of 1994.
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Evolving Community Groups
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The origins of Central Peninsula Church trace back to 1965 when six Palo Alto families commuting to Peninsula Bible Church desired to have a ministry closer to home. They were encouraged by Ray Stedman and the church leadership to meet together as a home Bible study on Sunday nights. With assistance from PBC’s staff, the group grew and in 1967 called a pastor and began holding Sunday morning services.
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Getting from A to C
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We are small group ministry leaders of the Coffee Shop Connection (CSC, formerly the Coffee Shop Church), which is a network of small groups that serve as outreach opportunities for people seeking God who are skeptical about traditional venues like the local Christian church.
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Building Community in a Busy Community
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Being a small groups minister in a large church in the mid-south is an interesting challenge all by itself. The “bible belt” runs through the heart of our churches influence. The vast majority of our membership comes from some denomination, previous church experience or religious expression. They come seeking everything from anonymity to finding a spouse, from seeking a deeper relationship with Jesus to seeking a meaningful influence in the marketplace. You want it? We have it. They hear great preaching, perhaps three of the finest expositors in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region><st1:place>America</st1:place></st1:country-region>. They come for great worship, with moving music, dynamics lighting and comfortable seating. Church members and guests immediately recognize the excellence of the education programs for adults and their kids. Some may seek relationships through on-campus studies and gatherings, but thousands never opt for the excellent classes, studies and programs. They are quite satisfied with worship. Worship is “King Cotton” here.
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