Currently, our church has one mid-week group which meets weekly in one of our homes. These meetings are known by some with names like small groups, fellowship groups, or kinship groups. The purpose of these mid-week groups is to help individuals foster their personal relationships with God in a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere. Mid-week groups are where relationship building really starts. Building a relationship with God and with each other is what these groups are all about.
Interested in what our mid-week groups are like? Well, on most weeks we come together to discuss God's impact on our lives. However, we also believe it is just as important that small groups members build strong relationships with one another. For this reason, we also spend approximately one meeting a month doing something fun together. These fun nights help bring mid-week group members together and keep the atmosphere of the meetings comfortable for everyone.
Generally, our gatherings start by taking some time just to find out how everybody is doing. Sometimes we will start off with an ice breaker or conversation starter such as 'What's one of your happiest memories when you were in elementary school?'. Sometimes it is as simple as 'How's your week going?'. It gives everybody an opportunity to be heard and to find out about others. Often times we will find out that we are all in this together.
After the short conversation starter and a little bit of chatting we will start worship. Worshiping God is very important to us because not only are we expressing our love to God for what he has done for us but because it also helps us refocus our thoughts on Him. So, shortly after getting started we spend time worshipping God through song; generally we'll sing two to four songs.
After worship we go into the discussion time. This discussion time may mean going over a book of the Bible. It could also mean working through a book such as The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg. Other times it may be working through a thematic series, like the Kingdom of God. No one person is the leader. We really strive to get everybody involved, everyone should be a part of the church. For this reason, we take turns with who leads the discussion, although leading is strictly voluntary. Really though, the discussion leader justs gets the ball rolling. Good discussion involves everybody and is dominated by nobody.
We wrap it up with prayer. Doesn't everybody need prayer? I know I do. I need prayer for things I'm struggling with, relationships that are strained, job issues, you name it. So we pray for and with each other. Really, it is pretty cool. We are simply going to God with our concerns. He loves to hear it too. In fact, he tells us to come to him with what's on our minds.
We regularly take times to have a evening of just kicking back and having fun. We may do nothing more than grilling and playing backyard games such as blongo ball (ladder golf). Regular breaks are a part of healthy living and are needed just as much as worship, discussion and prayer. We try to do somthing like this about once every four to six weeks.
Where we meet changes approximately on a monthly basis. You'll want to check the calendar [0] to find out where it is.