Groups
Sending Communities
Groups can be found on the opposite side of the spectrum from Gatherings. Although a crowd has the capacity to chant and cheer, a Group is able to pay attention to the individual women, men, and kids who make up a crowd. It is in a Group that we are able to listen, coach, challenge, care, and understand. When we are in a Group we can mobilize quickly. A Group can get up and go to places where a crowd would be unwelcome or impractical.
Although most of us love the excitement of a crowd, all of us long to connect with others. All of us feel deeply the drive to accomplish something larger than ourselves. These two hard-wired needs are both addressed at once when we consider every ACTS Group to be a “Sending Community.” Within this understanding, each Group has the potential to become a Community, because it is made up of people who find that they are becoming friends. And it becomes a Sending Community, as people who belong to one another become energized and empowered to accomplish the mission that belongs to the local Church.
There is no one size or style of Group that fits all. But we find that our most effective groups somehow balance ALL of the components that make up ACTS: Adventure, Community, Transformation, and Sending.
