Ministries

Community Groups

Building our faith, together, in authentic, Christ-centered relationships

What’s a Community Group?

At Bridgeway, we believe God created people to be together… to have relationships with each other. We believe this is true in our spiritual lives as well. It’s God’s desire that we live out our faith together, as a community of believers.

One important way we do this at Bridgeway is through Community Groups. A Community Group is a group of about 6-12 people who agree to regularly spend time together. Our intention is to build authentic, loving relationships with each other and to grow in our faith together.

What does a Community Group do?

A lot of things. We want to build real and deep relationships with each other, to get involved in each other’s lives and we want those relationships to help us grow our relationship with God and to help us reach out to share God’s love with others.

We find that this kind of thing happens naturally when we choose to invest in each other’s lives in this way. At the same time we recognize that authentic, God-centered relationships take work. There are 6 areas that we intentionally focus on in Community Groups. These areas represent the foundational activities we believe God calls us to participate in and where He wants to grow us.

Love

Love is expressed in a variety of ways in group life. We express love to God through prayer and worship and by giving him praise. We express love to one another as we serve one another, care for one another in our group (John 13:34-35), and forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32). It is Christian love that makes our groups distinctive. Real loving relationships are formed as we give and receive love to each other.

Learn

We all have questions about spirituality and God. Learning about Christ and about His will for our lives is a key component of group life. We look to the Bible to find answers to our questions and proclaim the Gospel to each other as the transforming power that both justifies and sanctifies us. As members of a Biblical community, we will assess our own development in Christ and confess our areas of struggles. We will set goals for our growth in Christ, and through the year we will share our progress and encourage one another in our pursuit of Christ-likeness.

Serve

Service and good works are part of any vibrant, healthy community group. We ask each small group to serve in two ways:

By contributing to the work of the church. In other words, group members will be encouraged to volunteer in such areas as children and youth ministries, hospitality, ushers, greeters, worship, and follow-up care.

By extending compassion. Each group should plan at least 2-3 ways they are going to express Christian love to our community during the year (i.e. a community event, a service project, etc.). Group members should also commit to constantly encouraging one another to serve others in our day-to-day lives, as Christ did.

Reach

We know how important real relationships and community are, and we desire everyone to be a part of it. Groups must make decisions that ensure the group’s purpose and visions are carried out. That means there is a strategy of reaching others for Christ, and inviting them to be a part of group life is very important.

Pray

We spend time in prayer together, humbling submitting our requests to God. There is power community prayer. We should also commit to daily prayer for each other, our families, our church, our neighbors, our city, and our world.

Worship

Simply praising God together is a form of worship, reminding each other who God is and what He has done, encouraging and helping each other to bring glory to the LORD in all things, helping each other learn to worship Him in everything we do.

Is there a group for me?

We hope that everyone who comes to Bridgeway will find a group of people in our church they can connect with. There are lots of Community Groups here. If you are interested in being part of one, or even if you’d just like to try it out for a while, you are absolutely welcome to do so.

If this sounds like something you’d like to look into, please let us know. Get in touch with one of our pastors, with a community group leader, or just ask somebody who’s been at Bridgeway for a while. We’ll do everything we can to get you connected to a group.

(You can also drop us an email at community@bridgewayofames.org if that’s more your style.)

Community Groups FAQ

Why do you call them “Community Groups”?

Lots of churches call them lots of different things “small groups”, “home groups”, “fellowship groups”.

We call them community groups for a very simple reason. We want to build the kind of Christ-centered community Jesus calls us to as His followers. The name helps us remember why we take the time to build these relationships.

So, what actually happens in these groups?

Each community group at Bridgeway is as unique as the mix of people who are in it. At the same time, every group shares a common commitment to building authentic, deep relationships between people and growing in our faith, together.

This means spending time getting to really know each other and be involved in each other’s lives. It typically involves some kind of group discussion (usually based on a study of the Bible) and, it almost always includes spending some time praying together. Groups often look for ways to serve the community or meet a need in the church. And, of course, building close relationships also means having fun together.

Who coordinates these groups?

Every community group has a leader. The leader facilitates meetings and coordinates group activities. Many people also rely on their community group leader as an important connection to Bridgeway’s leadership team.

We have a Community Groups Team that helps to coordinate between all the groups. This team also helps people who are interested in community groups to find a group to connect with.

Can I try out one of these groups?

Sure. Every community group leader at Bridgeway is committed to helping people get connected with a group that’s a good fit for them. This means you can try out a group for a while to see if it’s the right place for you to be. You won’t hurt anyone’s feelings if you decide it’s not.

Do I have to be an “Evangelical Christian” or have a church background to try out one of these groups? Do I have to be married? Have kids? Have freckles?

No. We have no prerequisites. Community groups at Bridgeway are open to everyone.

Our only requirement is that you be seriously interested in becoming involved in the kind of community we’ve described here (ie. interested enough to try it out). People in our community groups are genuinely seeking authentic and deep relationships and sincerely desire to connect with God. This is always a challenging pursuit and one in which we frequently have to abandon our comfort zone. If that sounds like something you’d like to check out, then we encourage you to try out a community group.

Ok, so how can I try out a group?

If you know or meet a community group leader, ask them about it. They’d be happy to help you get started… maybe in their community group. You can also talk to one of our pastors about it or drop an email to the community group team community@bridgewayofames.org.