Life Group Ethos

St Peter’s Life Groups

We believe that people learn in all sorts of ways – some like to process on their own, some do better in a small group, some like quiet, reflective teaching and some like expansive visuals. Everyone is different! One aspect of community life, which is important in the life of St Peter’s, is meeting in small groups (link to Home Groups page 38) and this page is intended to help people understand something of the thinking behind the Life Groups at St Peter’s …

What Happens at a Life Group?

People often get worried about being in a small group and the fear is often about feeling trapped: trapped into being with people they don’t know, trapped into being forced to do things, say things and think things which they don’t agree with … and probably a few other fears as well! The aim of Life Groups is that they are all different and as a small community, they decide together how things work …

Each Life Group is different …

… and that is great, because it means the Group will reflect the people in it and also it means that we can try to find the right group for everyone in St Peter’s to join.

Why Do They Happen?

In Matthew 28:19/20, after being raised from the dead, Jesus left final instructions with his disciples and commissioned them for the task ahead: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” The instruction is pretty clear … “make disciples” (as opposed to “get people to come to church”) and “teach them to obey” . Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not just about coming to Church on Sunday and trying to remember what was said on Monday but a 24/7 life experience. Jesus’ own disciples (note the word) followed in Jesus’ footsteps day after day for around three years, watching, learning, copying, doing and simply living with him as a natural part of who they were as people, so that they eventually could carry on his work in the world, obeying what he wanted them to be doing. Being a disciple is about living out our faith … so the simple “definition” of what a Life Group is must be that it is a group of people wanting to encourage each other to live their lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Whilst the idea may be simple, few would say it is easy – that is why the word “discipline” is closely attached to the word “disciple”. The Gospels are full of stories of the disciples getting things wrong in their walk with Jesus and occasionally being told off for it – but constantly being encouraged by Jesus to persevere with it. That is why Life Groups are so important and why we want everybody in the Parish to be associated with one – because they help us to persevere and grow in our faith.

The ABC of Life Groups

All Involved.

In some forms of small groups, there is often a “leader” who is expected to know the Bible inside out and lead every session. This means that the others in the group may feel that what they think is not as important or not relevant. The aim in Life Groups is that the work of the Holy Spirit is happening in all of us – so all of us have something to offer! There will still be the need for someone to coordinate the group and there may well be one person who knows their Bible slightly better than the others – brilliant! They can help everyone to get to know their Bible better. But there will be others who have very important things to offer – like being able to ask the question that cuts to the heart of an issue or being able to see how it applies to people’s lives in practical ways. Or people who don’t say much but make a fantastic cup of coffee and love to show care for others. In Life Groups, everyone has a role and a job!

Becoming Disciples.

Becoming a disciples is not an overnight miracle. It takes time and each of us is on a path that has, over time (whether years, months or even days), taken us to different places where we have experienced different things that have shaped our relationship with God. Every individual’s experience and walk offers something to encourage and challenge others in the group. That includes the times when we have messed up – it is interesting to note that the stories of how Jesus’ disciples constantly messed up are features of the Gospels! Life Groups are aimed at helping us in Becoming Disciples … they are for every single person who wants to grow in their faith and their walk with Jesus.

Creating Community.

After Jesus returned to heaven (Acts 1), the Bible tells us that God sent the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) to empower Jesus’ followers to do the work he had commanded them to do … so make disciples (i.e grow the Church). One of the first things they did was to get into small groups in order to do this: “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere he arts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:44-47). It must have been a wonderful time to be a Christian and many of us would love to be able to go back to that time or somehow “recreate” it – the “problem” (!) was that the Church grew and changed. But what a sense of community – living out what Jesus had taught them, caring and sharing everything. Whilst it may look somewhat different to what it looked like in Jerusalem in AD33, we want the Life Groups in 21st Century Yateley.
to look and feel similar.

Doing Outreach.

We all know that the Church in the UK has struggled over the past few decades and it is increasingly hard to be a Christian in the secular world of today. “Outreach” is not about standing on street corners and waving a Bible at people, it is simply about reaching out into our communities with the love, the hope, the care and the Good News of Jesus’ death bringing us life. St Peter’s aims to “Live The Kingdom” with the aim that, day by day, as we live our lives, people will begin to see the reflection of Jesus in the things we say and do. This happens when we simply live out our faith amongst our friends, our families and those who live down our street or where we go to the club, or at the gym, or in the pub, building relationships and growing friendships. And Doing Outreach together as part of a Life Group is so much easier than doing it on our own!

Encountering Jesus.

If you have met someone in your life who has made a deep impression on you, it shows. It may have been someone famous, it may have been a relative or it may have been someone you met who changed you profoundly in one way or another. Encountering Jesus has an amazing effect on our lives and the aim of a Life Group is that, together, we are able to meet with him and let him affect us more and more. Jesus said in Matthew 18:20 “Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” The same Jesus said “I am the Life” (John 14:6). It stands to reason that if we want to know the life Jesus offers, we need to encounter him and he has promised to be there in the midst of any group that meets in his name.

Putting All of This Together …

The Vision we have as St Peter’s is for “St Peter’s to be a Church that is Rooted in Word and Spirit, Seeking God in Prayer and Worship, Reaching out in the Presence and Love of Jesus” Life Groups are a fundamental way in which we can grow as individuals and as communities so that we can do this effectively, so that Jesus, the Light of the World will be a beacon of hope and life across the whole of Yateley.

Would you like to be part of a Life Group in St Peter’s …. contact us  and we’ll do the rest!