A City Group is not just a Bible study, or a fellowship group, it's not just a social action club, or a support group, and it's certainly not just another weekly meeting. Yet a healthy City Group will include all of these things, providing opportunity and space to journey with others as we learn what it means to take on the Jesus' easy yoke and put into practice all that he taught us. At the heart of these groups is a commitment to follow and apprentice ourselves to Jesus.
One of the most galvanising ways for that to happen is over a dinner table, so from February through to April we plan to break down in to groups of six (or there about) and take turns as a six at hosting each other for dinner once a month. It can be really simple, you can cook, get take-away or even bring and share, the idea is to keep it simple.
The goal isn’t to impress others with your culinary skills or be the king or queen of entertaining (it’s not Come Dine With Me). The goal is to simply build our relationships as a team through the practice of hospitality.
We want to take seriously Jesus' invitation to 'put in to practice' everything he taught. Three times a year we invite our groups to focus on one of nine Practices based on the life style of Jesus, over four consecutive weeks. Each Practice includes teaching, guided conversations, and spiritual exercises, all designed to integrate the Practice into our everyday lives.
Over time our intention is that these nine Practices will become the core curriculum for our understanding of formation and the basis for us to form a church wide ‘rule of life’. To do this we are partnering with Practicing The Way.
