Why Home Groups
‘Home Group provides a safe place to meet, explore & ‘do life’ together. ‘
Our Sunday meetings are the starting point, but they cannot by themselves lead to deep or long-lasting friendships, nor are they the place for exploring faith and working out its implications. For this reason, we firmly believe that Home Groups are absolutely vital to the health and wellbeing of our church family – our emotional, spiritual and social needs can be met in these groups (and, of course, food needs!) And…Home Group meetings and facilitated discussion are often where we learn the most, and most deeply about God’s word – from the study of the Bible, listening to God and praying for others. Here are words from the Bible that persuade us that meeting together as a community of believers is a Godly thing to do:
Heb. 10:24-25a: And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.
Acts 2:46-47: They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
In summary each Home Group should:
- be a place for Christians to meet together informally as friends
- be a smaller version of church, including elements of prayer, worship, teaching and pastoral care
- be a place where people feel comfortable to share personal concerns in total confidentiality and assured of a loving and prayerful response
- enable members to grow in their faith. This will be primarily through studying the Bible, but may include sharing, encouragement, and accountability
Our objective is that all members should form a deeper relationship with God and with each other, growing in faith and becoming stronger servants of the gospel. We encourage everyone to join a group!
Other groups are launched from time to time, and we will try to keep this list up to date.
Where and when?
Here is a list of the groups that are currently meeting:
Tuesday evenings – weekly (Led by: Kevin & Hazel Rayfield)
Tuesday evenings – weekly (Led by: Mark and Liz Paddon)
In More Detail
Tuesday morning: 10:30 to 12:00
“Coffee is served ready for a prompt start at 11:00. We generally start with a time of sharing and prayer for one another, followed by a short Bible Study, often using a Scripture Union LifeBuilder study.”
Tuesday evening: Starting at 7.45pm
Tuesday evening: Coffee from 7.50pm for an 8.10pm start
“Our desire is to grow in closeness to God and each other, caring and supporting one another in the ups and downs of life. After starting with time for coffee and catch up, we continue with worship or reflection, bible study and prayer. We stop promptly at 9.30pm for those who must get away, but you are welcome to stay after that time.”
Tuesday evening: starting at 8pm
Our group is shaped around four simple commitments: Welcome, Worship, Word and Witness. We begin with conversation drawing us into Gods presence. We then move into worship and reflection, dig into Scripture together, and encourage each other to live out our faith in the world beyond our front door”
Thursday evening: starting at 7.50 pm for a study at 8.10 pm
“On a typical evening – in no particular order: social, reflection slot (sometimes with music), study the Bible or a Christian book, prayer … and sometimes ending with quesadillas!”
Thursday evening: starting at 8pm
“Our vision for our small group is that it is a place where we can belong, support one another and grow in our faith in community with others. Our aim is to share life’s struggles and joys, learn more of God, and grow in closeness to Him. We study the Bible together or follow a series on a particular theme and pray for one another. We regularly have Sunday lunch together.”
Results from a recent survey:
60 people responded about the benefits of being in the Home Group
Sense of family, friendship and belonging:
‘I love the sense of family, getting to know new people, being able socialise together’
‘Being new to the church it has helped me get to know a smaller group of people better and I know there is support for me when I need it”
Studying God’s word
‘I love the opportunity to study God’s word together and pray with others’
‘I appreciate the opportunity to discuss with others whatever we are studying so as to receive new insight and different slants on any particular passage or topic.’
Support and care/prayer
‘Home groups allow you to deepen relationships with fellow Christians by learning about each other and giving and receiving support’
‘They provide the opportunity to pray for one another on a regular basis which is really valuable
Home groups offer ‘the chance to build relationships and hopefully support and encourage others, as well as being held to account’.