We are in the midst of our first ever semester break for small groups at StoneBridge. Beginning the week of July 9th, we will embark on a new semester for small groups that will take us to the holiday season. Since May, Jason and I have taken a real hard look at how we view small groups, looking beyond the traditional Bible Study only model of doing groups. We are incorporating a couple of principles learned at the Buzz Conference in May, the most important one being that small groups should accomplish two main purposes: they should be relational and missional. With that in mind, we have some unique opportunities to expand our current small groups portfolio with the new semester begining July 9.
I will be starting a hiking small group where we combine local hikes each week with a 15-20 Bible study/scripture reading onsite. I am excited about this because we have many outdoors enthusiasts in our church, and many are not currently plugged into a small group.
This morning Jason mentioned starting a ministry-oriented small group that focuses in the short term on making follow-up visits to the 104 people that accepted Christ during CR06. This is a cool idea that will accomplish several purposes including building intergroup relationships, discipling new believers, and giving StoneBridgers a new ministry opportunity.
Two of our current groups are facing the urgent need to multiply, which will most likely take place in September. Our college small group is realizing that better community is realized and better Bible studies take place when there are 8-12 people in a group, instead of 18-23. I believe that they are seeing the need to multiply through their own eyes now instead of hearing about the need from me. Good stuff.
No comments:
Post a Comment