Cell Groups
Each group is named after a key biblical site. So we have Bethany, Bethlehem Babes, Cana, Galilee groups. Groups consist of about 8 to 10 people and decide their programmes themselves. All groups are open to new members. Contact tarvinimp@tiscali.co.uk if you would like to find out more. Some thoughts on cells / housegroups by Steven Hildreth 1. Many people think that cell groups ? or house groups- are one of the most important developments in the growth of the church over the last 30 or 40 years. I will talk about the significance of just what we call them in a moment. 2. The early church had meetings in homes ? see Acts 2 vs. 42-47 and Jesus himself was part of a small group. 3. So what can cell groups or house groups actually do? 4. Firstly they can foster fellowship. That important New Testament word is in Greek "Koinonia". It is usually translated as fellowship but it means much more. It includes the flavour of sharing and joint contribution. And the word means so much more than saying "hello" at a meeting every week or having an occasional cup of tea together. It involves knowing people and caring about them. Those of you who have studied languages will know that many languages of the world have two different words for knowing. There is one word for knowing a fact as in-- I know that two and two makes four. But there is often a different word for knowing as in-- being well connected with someone. It is that second sense that we mean here. 5. I think we may be surprised at just how much this group has learned about each other over the past couple of years helped in part by the various ice breaker exercises that we have done. We have got to know each other better ? appreciating all that we are and I suppose sometimes also seeing each other "warts and all" as they say. 6. So a cell group can move beyond the superficial to a deeper relationship with more trust and where we do not always feel we need to wear a metaphorical mask. I do hope that our meetings are places where it is safe to try to be open without making a fool of ourselves. I am sure they are. And the meetings need to be a place where we know that confidences will be kept. 7. The second thing that cell groups can do is that hopefully they can be a place where we both give and receive pastoral care as we learn to share one another's burdens and encourage and support one another. Moses got tired when blessing the people and needed Aaron and Hur to hold his arms up! You do not have to be a professional expert to pray for someone, to give a listening ear and to show concern. I know that all the members of the group already do this in their day to day lives but a cell group can provide something of a more definite setting. In this context I am always careful to say that this is in no way intended to undermine the clergy. David is very keen on cell groups. But of course there will be times when we want to go to him and that is quite understood. 8. The third thing that cell groups can do is to help each other to grow in the Christian faith as we learn together from the Bible, from praying together, and what others share of their experience in the Christian walk. I have learned very much from all of you ? your valuable insights, your joys and your difficulties. We all have important and valid perspectives with our differences of age, gender, background, church tradition and so on. Groups can be a great encouragement at their best and perhaps sometimes they need to be a challenge where our understanding is currently shallow or superficial or un-thought ? out. So it needs people to be prepared to speak out in group meetings. And it is vital to stress that everybody belongs equally and everybody's contribution is important and valid. 9. The fourth thing that cell groups can do is that we can encourage one another in acts of service and outreach. We are all doing things already ? helping with old folks, running busy families, doing church cleaning, coping with disabilities, encouraging others, choir, M.U. etc. etc. And there may ? sometime, and if it is right ? be something we could get involved in together as a group. 10. There is a phrase which has been going around in Anglican and Methodist circles for a few years ? namely fresh expressions of church. It is concerned with the form of church for our changing culture and expressions that are primarily for the benefit of people who are not yet members of any church. [By the way, those who drafted the relevant report were at pains to stress that the opposite of fresh expressions was mature and not stale.] 11. This is where there may be a real place for cell groups ? inviting friends, family and other contacts as we feel it right to join us for some particular meeting or event. This could be made to seem more natural and low key than inviting someone to a formal service in the church building who might not have been for years and who might have made some inner vow never to go again! 12. This is where the word cell comes into its own. Those of you who remember Biology will remember that cells are the smallest unit of life and the idea is that they grow and multiply. We always need to be thinking about this. I remember a very challenging sermon where the speaker said that Christians need to be pilgrims and not settlers. But don't worry?that does not necessarily mean a literal move?it is as much to do with our mind set. 13. And it all links in with the whole idea of encouraging us to be thinking more that church is not something or somewhere that you go to rather it is something that you are ? learning to be the family of God together. Steven Hildreth July 2007Several cell groups meet on a monthly basis. These groups meet in homes around the parish. They have strenghtened the fellowship of the church. 