Life Groups

What Is a Cell Church?
What Is a Life Group?
Visitors
Finding a Group
Leading a Group

What Is a Cell Church?

Life Church is a cell church. In cell churches, in addition to attending Sunday worship services, the congregation meets in cell (small) groups during the week. At Life Church we call these life groups.

What Is a Life Group?

A life group is a group of 3 - 15 believers who come together for fellowship, accountability, and support. The group meets formally once a week and informally throughout the week. The main purposes of life groups are to:

Support members in their overall Christian walk.
The members of the life group will help one another cope with the everyday challenges of life through prayer, godly counsel, and loving action.
Support members in the work of discipleship.
The members of the life group reinforce for one another the goal of making disciples. In the life group members will be able to discuss their discipleship efforts sharing both their challenges and their victories.

Life Church expects members to commit to grow spiritually, and we will be developing a wide range of Life Groups (small groups) that will help people do just that. Some will be geared for new believers, some will be bible study based, some will meet every week for an extended period, others will meet for only a few weeks; some will be primarily focused on evangelism, some on service; we'll have women's groups, men's groups, co-ed groups, married couples groups, etc.. We'll have "seek" groups as well, for people who want to discover who Jesus is. Over time, with the Lord's help, we will have small groups to help people throughout all the stages and various facets of their spiritual journey. Life groups will be diverse but united in fulfilling the five purposes that Jesus has for his church, which are reflected in the Life Church Mission. For more information about different types of life groups see the table displaying types of groups below.

Visitors

Many of our life groups are open to visitors! Visiting a life group is a good way to get to know us better and find out if Life Church is the right church for you. We hope that you'll want to come back! We normally don't place any particular limit on how often you can visit an open group, but there are some exceptions:

If you are a member of another congregation, we will generally ask you to stop visiting after a month's time. This is because participating in our life groups places you under our pastoral care and this is not appropriate for someone who is already being pastored elsewhere.
If you are unable to submit to the group's leadership in the conduct of its meetings, we will ask you to stop participating.

Finding a Group

You can find a group to visit by:

Using our find a life group link to look up a group online.
Visiting our Sunday service and asking to speak with one of our life group leaders.
Contacting us by phone or email to request a visit.

Leading a Life Group

Are you interested in leading a life group? It's a privilege and a wonderful way to serve the Lord. You will find detailed information about leading a group on our Life Group Leadership Page.

Types of Life Groups

Life Groups - “gatherings of people to grow spiritually”

Characteristics	Description
Open Groups	Some groups are open to visitors and new members.
Closed Groups	Some groups have a limited number of participants. Some groups are closed for a season. Some are limited to members and/or frequent visitors.
The Word	Group participants apply the word to their lives personally. Some groups study the passage of scripture covered in the sermon and discussion questions. Some groups engage in bible study or focus on a specific curriculum.
Schedule	Most groups meet weekly, some meet every other week, monthly or on-line. Groups meet on various days of the week and at various times. Some Groups will be on going, some will have a specific duration. Groups will typically meet for 45 - 120 minutes; groups will take natural breaks.
Workload	Life group members share in the responsibility for group tasks.
Purposes	Life Group Leaders may focus on one or two of the five purposes of the church, based on where participants are in their spiritual journey. However, leaders will ensure that the five purposes of the church are balanced in the group over time.
Affinity	Groups may form based on common interests or affinities: Men, Women, Couples, Singles, Families with Children, Workplace Groups; Recovery Groups, Support Groups, Seekers, etc.
Meeting Location	Some groups will meet in homes, some will meet in public places, some will meet at church, etc.

[top of page]