COMMUNITY GROUPS
A PLACE TO BELONG
Being in a city of 8 million people doesn’t cure loneliness. Neither does attending a church service. We all long to belong. We long for a relational “home base.” We long for friends who go from being our contacts to being our context. A church family is a place to overcome the anonymity of a large city. It’s a place to develop relational buy-in, safety, and continuity. When we say our mission is to connect people with God and each other, community groups are a big part of what we have in mind.
A PLACE TO GROW
We believe other Christians are God’s way of providing counsel, care, challenge, encouragement, and growth. How does this unfold? Through community groups, where circles of 3-9 men or 3-9 women meet weekly to follow Jesus together as an expression of the church. New members can be added anytime, and once a group gets to 10 people, it multiplies into two groups and begins again. Through our community groups, every church member is cared for as they reflect on these core questions each week:
Spiritual Engagement: Have I led myself toward God this week?
Confession: Have I led myself away from God this week?
Mission: Have I led someone else toward God this week?
A PLACE TO COMMIT
We’ve strategically linked community group life to church membership for one simple reason: commitment builds trust, and without trust, no community can thrive. Also, the New Testament describes every Christian as having an identifiable church home, living life alongside other Christians under the leadership of local spiritual guidance. Because of these two realities, joining a community group and joining the church itself go hand-in-hand at Mission City. This ensures that on the first day you show up to a community group, there is already a shared set of beliefs, habits, and intentions in place, making it possible to begin building the trust needed to navigate life together.