Our meetings are designed very deliberately to help us grow as disciples in genuine community that reaches out collectively and individually to our neighbors without adding distractions and programs that can get in the way of real life.

Gatherings

When we come together as a full congregation, we sit shoulder to shoulder and receive from our leaders and offer worship and praise to our God with one voice.  These meetings are important — a pastor/elder whose heart is broken before God and committed to shepherding his or her flock can bring powerful words from God to the heart of God’s church.  There is also excitement in the ‘critical mass’ as we see our friends and can encourage one another and then be sent into the world renewed to follow the Holy Spirit who leads us to love our neighbors.

• First Sunday Gathering – As the name implies, the First Sunday of every month we gather for worship, teaching and empowerment to “Go and Be” God’s people in our world.  (Click the link for location, maps, and more info.)

• Third Saturday Gathering – Again, as the name implies, the Third Saturday of every month we gather to share a meal and the Lord’s Supper together.  Often there is a devotional talk, updates on missional activities, worship and/or prayer.  (Click the link for location, maps, and more info.)

House Churches – Heart of the Church

Every other week (normally alternating with our larger gatherings) we gather in smaller groups in homes.  This face to face interaction is the driving force in our growing community and discipleship.  Through intimate worship, study of God’s Word, the Bible, and serious prayer, we come to truly live life together.  Not everyone speaks, and no one is put on the spot, but everyone present matters, and participates at the level of his or her own comfort.

• House Churches – Life & Friendship – Presently we have two house churches meeting regularly.  Life Church in Greenwood meets every other Thursday, and Friendship Church in Franklin meets every other Tuesday.  Guests are welcome and members can join either, alternate or both!  (Click the links for more details, maps, locations and contact info.)

Pilgrimages

There is only one Church, and we alone are not it!  All of God’s people from every tongue and tribe and nation are together the Church, and we are committed as one small part of that to stay close to our brothers and sisters from other congregations.  Several times a year, we connect with another church family, spend a month or so praying for them and looking forward to joining them in worship.  God has never failed to show up, and we believe we honor Jesus’ prayer (John 17) that we would be as one, just as he and his Father are one.

• Pilgrimages – Click the link above for more info on our next Pilgrimage or to learn about the people with whom we’ve connected so far, and what God has done as we joined our hearts with others in his Kingdom.

Other Meetings

• All Church Prayer – From our beginning, we wanted to be a church who prayed, and every month those of us who can join together to pray deliberately for each other, our congregation, our community and the world.  (Click the link for details and contact info.)

• Children’s Church – Jesus loved kids, and so do we!  Although children are a welcome part of each of our gatherings, once a month we set aside an evening to focus on them especially.  (Click the link for details and contact info.)

• Youth Group – Our next generation is coming soon, and we have a responsibility to train them up with God’s help as best as we can.  Once a month our youth spend a Saturday afternoon together, building relationships, working through difficult questions, praying, and even having fun.  Occasional other activities are planned throughout the year for fun and to further develop their relationships with each other and their Creator.  (Click the link for more info.)

• Community Service & Outreach – We are committed to our community, especially the poor and hurting.  We’ve developed several opportunities to serve alongside others who are trying to meet real needs in our neighborhoods to bring the church to those who need it most.  (Click to read about some of our current projects and how you can get involved!)

Deliberate Relationships

Although it isn’t a meeting, per se, one of the most important things we do, and a key to the way we’re organized as a church is all about building deliberate relationships with people around us.  It is easy to live life anonymously, but that isn’t the only way to live.  Who is your neighbor?  Really – the person who lives next door!  Do you know them?  We want to have time to invite our neighbors and co-workers over for dinner, to befriend them for who they are, church-goer or not.  We don’t meet them with a hidden agenda to invite them to “come and see” what we’re doing at our church.  Our only agenda is to share God’s love with them by offering them real friendship — to “go and be” the church who brings God’s love where it is needed most.

Sometimes this is serving a family member — one of our members goes almost daily to a nursing home to bring her own and God’s love to her mom; another provides childcare once a week for a granddaughter.  Sometimes this is bringing a meal to a family who has someone in the hospital, or sitting and talking (and listening) to someone who is sick or hurting.  Often, this is deliberately reaching out to a neighbor or co-worker, having coffee, taking in a game, watching the kids splash in the pool… being a real friend who is really interested in the other person.

Truly all of our other meetings build us up, grow us, prepare us and then send us to bring church with us wherever we go to whomever we meet.  Our most important meeting is probably the one we never scheduled at all.  Go and Be!