Life Groups
The heartbeat of our congregational life together is our emphasis on small groups, who study, pray and serve together while building authentic relationships and providing deep caregiving for one another, This is what we believe the Bible truly means by "fellowship."
Some small groups meet for a designated time period to examine a particular portion of Scripture or topic while others meet in support groups or for other various reasons.
Other small groups of 8-12 people covenant to being together for the duration of each particular study with the hope that afterwards the group will remain together to share their lives.
For the Fall of 2010 most small groups will be involved in the study that accompanies CBC's sermon series based on the book, The Hole in Our Gospel. All of the existing small groups are open to anyone who would like to temporarily join them for the duration of this study. Each group will meet 6 times over the course of 12 weeks.
Last October a group of CBC small group facilitators attended Willowcreek's Group Life Conference 2009 via live satellite in Port Charlotte. The theme, "This Changes Everything" was based on the fact that authentic community does change everything! Spiritual growth in groups is what we're striving for and this training event helped us all get better at engaging Christ in community. Anyone interested is welcome to join us for this year's Group Life Conference October 23rd.
The Fellowship Team, staff and session are seriously examining the characteristics of a "Church of Small Groups" vs a "Church with Small Groups"
Resources
You may find these organizations helpful as well:
Willow Creek
Serendipity House
Nav Press
Zondervan
Walk Thru
Moody Ministries
Christianity Today
Crown
Barna
Small Groups