When I became the Lead Pastor of South (2 months ago) I had a vision for helping people connect with one another. I desperately want South to be a place where people live life together and where new people can easily get connected to the community and life here. So, I decided that I wanted to start a small group program. As I sought the Lord as to how many we should start, I felt like a goal of 20 new small groups was what he wanted us to shoot for. Last night we had our first training and had about 35 people show up! Not all of these folks will be leaders, but I was really encouraged by the way that people have responded and the excitement that is there; not only to connect with other people, but to help new people connect to South.
One question I got (that I thought was a great question) was, “Why are we calling them life groups?” Let me take a moment and explain:
- We are calling them life groups because we believe that term best communicates what we hope comes from the group. We don’t just want people to connect with people relationally; we want people to connect in a way that feeds life to their soul. We long for people to find others in life groups that they can walk with through the joys and the pain of life.
- Our goal in life groups is not so much the transfer of information, but the impartation of life.
- We moved away from the term small group because we are not sure how “small” the groups will be. We want to leave freedom for grops to grow and develop, and some of them might not be all that small.
We are praying that many connect in life-giving community at South in the coming months. We are grateful for what God is setting up here and anticipate Him doing great things!
