Armando Padovan em April 8, 2008.

Acts 2:46-47 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

 Objective: Our objective is to expand and multiply our love through meaningful relationships in our homes, providing a safe place to connect with God and with each other.

 Who we should invite: We are inviting and encouraging members of Grace Community Church. We also want to minister to our neighbours, friends, relatives, and family members. We also aim at people who are not going to church.

 Language: We are going to use any language that is more comfortable for the whole group. Our primary language is Portuguese, if there are people who don’t speak Portuguese we have to provide translation or just talk in English.

 Subject:

We are going to use the same theme as the Sunday’s sermons or any subject that the community group leader and his group members will pick in agreement with Pastor Cary. We want to apply that message in our lives in a very practical way.

 The 4ws Format (recommended):

Welcome (15 minutes) – Just a very simple icebreaker.

Worship (15 min.) – Whatever is available to the group. Prayers, Psalms, CDs, DVDs.

Word  (45 min.) – A very brief reminder of the Sunday sermon and its application. We will concentrate at the application.  Let people share and comment the Word.

Works (30 min.) – We are going to pray and minister for specific needs of people in the group.

 Place: Our suggestion is that we keep the same place for a month. This is an opportunity to invite some neighbours. We discourage rotating every week. The next house has to be from a volunteer request, not imposed.

 Children: If they come they will participate at Welcome and Worship, and then they will be looked after by a different couple every week. That couple will receive material and activities to pass on to the kids.

 Food: We strongly suggest keeping this part very simple (coffee or tea, water or juice, some crackers or biscuits). The small group might have a potluck or a pizza party every month. 

 Leadership: Each group must have a facilitator and an intern. The facilitator’s role is to make sure every aspect of this meeting is going to work (4 Ws). A facilitator is not necessarily the host. A facilitator is not a teacher. A facilitator is a shepherd for that Community Group.

 Training: There are classes available at Grace to those who are potentially leaders and want to grow in their Christian lives.