Homegroups have been at the heart of St Luke's Church for nearly 30 years, with over 100 people attending our current Homegroups. They find the groups tremendously helpful in developing their understanding of the Christian faith, making friendships and finding help and support.

The challenge is to make the Homegroups more effective and encourage more people to attend.

HOW JESUS SOLVED THE PROBLEM

Jesus had a problem. Early in his ministry so many people came to see him he had to get into a boat to teach. On another occasion the only way a sick man could reach Jesus was through the roof! The numbers problem meant many people heard him, but it was all too superficial. He spent a night in prayer and the solution he found was to pick a small group of 12. They lived and worked with him. They discussed his teaching and went out on missions. They became the core of the future church.

Small groups remained at the heart of Christian mission through the early years of Christianity. They have also been at the heart of renewal movements. St Luke's may only have 400 members, but that causes a similar problem to the one Jesus faced. And the solution is the same - form small groups of up to 12 people who can share their lives, grow in faith and reach out in love.

New Model

What makes this new model of Homegroup different from the old? Two important features are:

Evangelism -The group becomes the primary mission base for evangelism. The vision is to grow the group from people within or linked to the group - by personal contact. Every member is involved in evangelism, making it a shared ministry with other group members, not a special activity for the chosen few.

Teaching - The group seeks to apply the teaching of the Sunday Sermon to their daily lives and help each other live out what they have learned. An important question is 'What difference will this make to my life this week?'

The inspiration for the New Homegroups comes from the Cell Church movement. Throughout the world, where the church is growing in an amazing way, you generally find it is based on small groups of Christians meeting together. It is called a Cell, because cells in the body grow and divide, and this is exactly what happens to these small groups.

Tony Hardy of the Church Pastoral Aid Society describes a cell church as:

A CELL CHURCH is a church built upon, and organized around, small group community life. It is a church of small groups rather than a church with small groups. These small groups or cell groups are not just something church does as a part of its programme, these small cell groups are church!

The larger, more traditional gatherings of congregation are of course important for celebration and teaching, and they express the local church in the local community. Much of what has been traditionally done in the large church and organized centrally is done through the individual cell groups within the cell church.

But the group is much more than evangelism and teaching; it is all about sharing our lives together in a loving and caring group; it is about discovering our gifts and using them to help others, it is about meeting God and discovering the abundant life he has for each one of us.

New Homegroups are where the key values of the Christian life are worked out. The A - E key values are:

• All involved - every member of the group is involved in the ministry, not just the leaders.
• Becoming Disciples - a process by which cell members learn to apply and to adapt God's word in their own life.
• Creating Community - cell church is not just about attending meetings, but sharing our lives within the group and building firm relationships.
• Doing Evangelism - not just talking about it!
• Encountering God - meeting with him and expecting a release of his presence and power.

WHAT HAPPENS IN A HOMEGROUP?

Each Homegroup will develop its own character and no two groups will be exactly alike, but they will all grow from the five key values. They will also have a similar structure but each evening will be different. The Homegroup will last two hours and will normally be weekly, with breaks for the holidays. Each evening will have four sections:

• Welcome - a chance for everyone to relax, have a cup of tea or coffee and begin with an 'icebreaker'. This is a question with a light-hearted edge that helps lead into the programme, such as: 'What is your favourite time of day and why?' It's surprising what you learn!
• Worship - a time to unwind, come into God's presence, listen, praise and pray, eg listen to music, read a psalm, look at a picture.
• Word - a time to understand the Bible and discover what it says to our group and our individual lives. The focus is on application and helping each other to live out the truths we discover.
• Witness - a time when the group looks outwards, both in practical service and in praying and planning for our family and friends. This might involve inviting them to a meal or going out together. It is a constant reminder that the group is here to grow and multiply. The Homegroups become the building blocks of the church.

If you would like to learn more about the new Homegroups, please fill in a reply slip and put it in the box at the back of church. One of the Homegroup Leaders will give you a ring and arrange a time for a chat. There will be no pressure to join!

There are reply slips in Church, or you can download a copy in one of the following formats.

• Rich Text Format (.rtf)
• Adobe Acrobat portable document format (.pdf)
• Webpage (.html)

January 2002
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