What is SMALL GROUP WEEKEND?

SGW = Small Group Weekend

What is "Small Group Weekend" (SGW)?

We SET ASIDE the FIRST FULL weekend of every month as SGW.
On SGW we do NOT have any corporate service but people meet in their small group only.
  • We have 17 extremely comfortable small group rooms with nice couches, chairs and TV's.
  • We still meet at all of our regular service times of Saturday 5pm & 7pm and Sunday 8am, 10am, noon & 6pm.
  • We have full nursery and children's church on SGW.

What Happens IN the small group on SGW?

The TV will be preset to show that weekend's worship and sermon and will start at the beginning of our small group time. The group worships and watches the sermon together. We guarantee that the entire service on the TV will be about half an hour. This leaves a second hour for the sermon discussion questions, to take prayer requests and build real community.

WHY do we have SGW?

We are so extremely thankful for how the Covid-19 pandemic reminded all of show much we need and miss true community in our church.
Almost everyone wants community but the stress of life makes it hard to find the emotional margins and the "EXTRA" time to visit small groups.
By having small groups at the "Regular Service Time" no one has to ADD anything to their schedule. This makes a huge difference for almost all of our people.

What about VISITORS to the Church SGW?

We have all our Pastors and Welcome staff from that service the front lobby greeting visitors on SGW.
These are 8-10 of the most cheerful, kind, encouraging people anyone could ever meet. They will warmly greet each visitor personally and explain our SGW.
  • If the visitor is open to attending a small group, the pastor will attend that small group WITH them, which builds warm relationships
  • If they prefer to not attend a small group the pastor will offer them a free drink from our coffee cafe and ask if they have a few minutes to visit and to hear their story. They will encourage them to come back on any other weekend of that month, when we regular sanctuary services.

Do Small Groups meet at any ADDITIONAL times?

The SGW gives each small group 12 great meetings a year with excellent attendance and participation. We give each small group the choice if they want to meet at additional times during the year.
Some of the small groups are content with those 12 SGW times a year.
For those small groups who want an additional meeting every month, they generally meet either before or after their service on the third weekend of the month.
Many groups have the 12 SGW times as their primary time and then they schedule 3-5 times for their small group to meet outside of churching the special times of fellowship.