GCI has many resources on the Faith Avenue and connect groups. Check them all out here.
Below are just a few we hope you find helpful.
Connect Group Facilitator’s Guide
From the On Being series, the Being the Church curriculum
Discipleship Pathways, select the “Believe” tab
Read on for examples of what it can look like in the local church.
Richardson, TX, US
We believe the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are in a divine relationship and this relationship is foundational to our understanding of God’s nature and how God interacts with the world. I believe that we can experience this aspect of God’s kingdom here on earth when we are in relationships, and it is easier to relate in smaller gatherings. I believe connect groups are a key to staying healthy as a church.
Our face-to-face community connect groups are currently following a curriculum, called Rooted Network. One group meets weekly on Tuesdays in a member’s home; the other group meets bi-monthly after Sunday services. We found that food adds excitement and fun, whether assigned or potluck.
The members of the group have a copy of the study guide to follow with personal daily devotionals. When the group meets, someone is assigned to facilitate. The strongest impact has been going through a guided personal daily devotional. We meditate on them and journal in our quiet time, and then share in a safe group, celebrating together our experiences and encounters with God with a common theme. The regular devotionals and group sharing enhances so much the awareness of God’s reality in us. We are able to feel God and to affirm each other of our experiences. This enhances our worship, our personal disposition, how we relate to others, and how we interact in our communities and workplace.
Jared Santibanez, Faith Avenue Champion
Richardson, TX, US
Steele Creek, NC, US
In June and July, Pastor Dishon Mills and I facilitated the Bearing Fruit small group with members of Grace Communion Steele Creek. We convened over Zoom, and five members who live near one another gathered and dialed in from one member’s home.
Pastor Dishon taught the group how spiritual formation involves bearing inward fruit through the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), how we bear fruit in community through the gifts of the Spirit (Romans 12), and outward fruit through the activity of the Spirit (Acts 2:42-27). The outcome of inward, outward, and community fruit development is equipping for ministry and mission, a new humanity, and jubilee.
We discovered our spiritual gifts by taking a gift assessment and reading about our gifts in Discover Your Gifts and Learn How to Use Them by Alvin J. Vander Griend. We also learned spiritual practices like Contemplative/Imaginative Prayer, the Examen of Consciousness, and creating a Rule of Life
Psalm 1:3 says that we who love God’s teachings are “ . . . like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither — whatever they do prospers.” This team-based, pastor-led expression of healthy church equipped members as the Lord’s orchard. We spread the aroma of his kingdom, and the fruit we bear in and through him allows our neighbors to taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).
Afrika Afeni Mills, Faith Avenue Champion
Steele Creek, NC, US
Pasadena, CA, US
We have two virtual connect groups that meet over Zoom every week, and this started during COVID. One participant said her trust in the Lord has grown as we continue studying who Jesus is. Others have said we wish we could have this connect group every day because this is life truth that we need to be reminded of every day because we tend to forget. We observe participants changing the way they think and diligently studying God’s word.
If this is the fruit of Zoom meetings, I trust that face to face will have an even greater impact because we can extend fellowship, pray, and bond in person. Our congregation is praying that God may send us new contacts and start building relationship and from there, have another in-person connect group.
There are many opportunities, so we need to be ready where God will lead us and be intentional in sharing Jesus who the world needs to know. My husband, Saddie, and I are on-site managers for a housing complex with almost 40 residents. We are hoping and praying to have a connect group here in the fall. Please join us in this prayer.
Angie Tabin, Pastor
Pasadena, CA, US
