“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” - Romans 12:10

Growth Groups

Growth Groups are small groups of 6-15 people who get together regularly in the midweek at a member's home. We encourage every member of Christ Church to get involved in a group if possible. Growth Groups are a core part of the church. Their aim is the same as that of the whole church:
• For the group as individuals and together to ‘Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength. And to love our neighbours as themselves’ (Mark 12:28-31)
​• To do this by encouraging the growth of the group Upwards (closer to God), Inwards (closer to one another and to the wider church) and Outwards (closer to our community). 

The structure of Growth Groups:

  • Growth Group Notes are provided for regular meetings. These link into the Sunday themes –giving an opportunity to explore them further together
  • The Growth Group notes generally follow a widely used pattern of 4-Ws: Welcome, Worship, Word, What Next?
  • The notes are intentionally written to make them easy to use by any member of the group –without expertise or much preparation
  • Good practice is to share round the responsibilities for leading different sections on different weeks as much as possible
  • Encourage different people to have a go at taking turns in leading different parts of the meeting, but don’t pressurize anyone!
  • Try to avoid getting into ruts, by trying some of the different suggestions for welcome and worship, but don’t be bound by them
  • Try and involve everyone
  • Don’t try and answer all of the questions!!
  • Leave time to pray (or pray first... or spend a whole meeting in prayer!)

The Purpose Of Growth Groups:

We use five principles ‘A-E’ (adapted from ‘Cell Church’ by Phil Potter), which expand a bit on Up-In-Out:
  • All Involved (In)
    • Every member has a role within the group (hosting, leading worship) and contributing to the group
    • Helping one another discover and use their gifts Encouraging everyone to have a role within the wider church
    • Getting involved in the wider activities of the church (worship, prayer, social, evangelism etc)
  • Becoming Disciples (Up)
    • Deepening in prayer and worship together –including prayer for one another, as well as for others
    • Encouraging one another in their personal faith and relationship with God
    • Sharing personal stories of God and life.
    • Getting to know more of the Bible and how to put it into practice
  • Creating Community (In)
    • Meeting regularly (normally fortnightly)
    • Holding regular social activities for the group (maybe 3-6 a year), in addition to the fortnightly meetings
    • Ensuring everyone in the group is cared for and supported –including visiting or following up on missing people when appropriate
    • Having effective ways of communicating with one another – for encouragement, prayer requests etc
    • Caring for people ‘linked’ to the group, who can’t (or prefer not) come.
    • Increasing honesty and openness –sharing joys and struggles in a safe and loving environment, respecting appropriate confidentiality 
  • Doing Evangelism (Out)
    • Inviting friends and family to social events
    • Organizing a social event for the whole church & visitors at least annually
    • Supporting Alpha (catering, prayer etc)
    • Having links to external organization(s) for whom the group prays/supports (e.g. a school, relief organization, mission partner etc)​
  • Encountering God (Up)
    • Meeting fortnightly (or weekly) for meetings –dates agreed by the group and circulated
    • Following the church-wide Bible-based notes which link to the Sunday themes
    • Focused more on getting to know God than on knowing about God.
    • Praying and Listening to God 
To be involved in a growth group or find out more information, please feel free to email our church office with your enquire. Use the below button to send an email. 

Growth Group Resources

Growth Group Notes

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