Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Fellowship Group Sample 2015
Fellowship Group Sample 2015
Fellowship*
Group*
Handbook*
A Manual for Leaders and Coordinators
Version 2.1
1999
Editor’s note:
This manual was created in 1999 at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Our fellowship
group ministry and methodology has changed in the years since this manual was
written, but we are continuing to make this document available since it has been
helpful to other churches in formulating their own approach to fellowship or
community groups.
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Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Fellowship Group Handbook:
A Manual for Leaders and Coordinators
Version 2.1. 1999.
1. INTRODUCTION TO
FELLOWSHIP GROUP MINISTRIES 7
The Redeemer Vision: Core Values and Beliefs 8
Fellowship Group Summary 12
A Vision for Community 15
2. FELLOWSHIP GROUP
STRUCTURE 21
Redeemer's Fellowship Group Structure 22
The Ministry Community Meeting 25
Multiplying Groups and Leaders 29
Coordinators Guide: Visiting and Diagnosing Groups 36
Leadership Job Descriptions 41
Fellowship Group Leader’s Qualifications 44
Leadership Training and Help 47
Forms and Reports 49
Additional Resources 54
3. FELLOWSHIP GROUP
DYNAMICS 58
Agenda for a Healthy Fellowship Group 59
Understanding Group Dynamics 62
Stages in Group Life 66
Developing Group Loyalty 69
Intergenerational Groups 72
Worship in Small Groups 77
Study: Reading and Interpreting the Bible 80
Study: Using Curriculum and Asking Good Questions 83
Fellowship 86
Prayer in the Group 91
Mission: An Overview 96
Misison: Evangelism 98
Troubleshooting: Common Problems 101
Troubleshooting: Following-up Those Who Fall Through 104
the Cracks
Troubleshooting: Referral of Troubled and Troubling 107
People
Table of Contents, continued
6
PART ONE:
Introduction
to Fellowship
Group Ministries
7
1.1
GOSPEL POWER
1. The “Third Way” The gospel means “good news”. It is the basic message that: “God made [Christ], who
of the Gospel had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (II
Corinthians 5:21). The gospel says that we are so sinful, lost, and helpless that only the
life and death of the Son of God can save us. But it also says that those who trust in
Christ’s works instead of their own efforts are now “holy in his sight, without blemish
and free from accusation” (Colossians 1:22-23).
The gospel tells us that our root sin is not just failing in our obedience to God but relying
on our obedience to save us. Therefore, the gospel is a “third way”, neither religion nor
irreligion. The religious person may say, “I am doing the right things that God
commands” and the irreligious person may say, “I decide what is right and wrong for
myself”. But both ways reject Jesus as Savior (though they may revere him as Example,
or Helper). Both ways are strategies of self-salvation — both actually keep control of
their own lives. So the gospel keeps us from legalism and moralism on the one hand, and
from hedonism and relativism on the other.
2. The Gospel’s The gospel is not just the “A-B-C” but the “A-to-Z” of the Christian life. The gospel is
Power for Change not just the way to enter the kingdom, but is the way to address every problem and is the
way to grow at every step. If we believe we can find our own worth and meaning through
performance, then we will become either proud and disdainful of others (if we reach our
goals), or else discouraged and self-loathing (if we fail our goals). But the gospel creates
an entirely new self-image.
First, it tells us that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and
accepted in Christ than you ever dared to hope—at the same time. In fact, if the gospel is
true, the more you see your sin, the more certain you are that you were saved by sheer
grace and the more precious and electrifying that grace is to you. So the gospel gives us
enormous power to admit our flaws. Then secondly, the knowledge of our acceptance in
Christ makes (for the first time) the law of God a beauty instead of a burden. We come to
use it to delight the One who has enriched us so mightily—instead of using it to get his
attention or win his favor. The first way makes the moral and sacrificial life a joy; the
second way makes it a burden.
Therefore the gospel changes everything. It brings down racial barriers by melting away
racial pride OR inferiority. It brings down psychological problems by melting away self-
inflation OR self-hatred. It brings down personal facades, for we are free to admit who
we are. It effects the way we do everything at Redeemer—how we motivate people, how
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1.1
we help them work through counseling problems, how we worship, how we take
criticism.
3. The Gospel Creates The context for a gospel-centered life is never merely individual. The gospel creates a
a New Community new community, a unique community. “One of the immediate changes that the gospel
makes is grammatical: we instead of I; our instead of my; us instead of me.” (Eugene
Peterson, Reversed Thunder). This kind of new community is not an optional thing, an
“extra” for the Christian; instead it’s part of the overall purpose of God’s kingdom.
A new community is both the end of the gospel and also the means of spreading the
gospel. God’s promise in salvation is to create his “holy nation”, a people that dwell with
him forever. “I will be your God and you will be my people.” (Lev 26:12, Jer 30:22). So
Christians, who are eternally united to Christ, are therefore eternally united to one
another. We all are ministers of the gospel for the sake of one another. Since our culture
knows very little about true community, we will have to work hard at following a biblical
vision.
What is the biblical vision, what does true community look like? We are to be:
1. an accepting community that reflects the grace we’ve been given from Christ.
2. a holy community that urges one another to live God-pleasing lives.
3. a truth-telling community that is free to repent, and free to allow others to repent,
because of the gospel.
4. an encouraging community that builds one another up.
5. a sacrificially generous community that spends its life and wealth on the needs of
others.
6. a suffering community that loves and forgives others even when it harms us.
URBAN OUTREACH
4. A Love for the City Redeemer is an urban church—not by default, but by design. We seek to be a church for
urban people in particular, and a church that adapts to the conditions of the city as well as
a church that serves and challenges and changes the city. We encourage our people not
to:
1. despise the city (withdrawing, like a turtle), nor
2. reflect the city (blending, like a chameleon), nor
3. use the city (for their own purposes), but
4. love the city, live here, and serve it as good neighbors.
On the one hand, the city needs us, because it has many problems, and Christians must
use their resources to “bring peace” to the city (Jeremiah 29:7). On the other hand, we
Christians need the city, for it humbles us and calls us to use the gospel to critique our
own culture while appreciating others, and to trust the gospel to bring healing to
brokenness.
5. An Outward Face At Redeemer, evangelism is not simply one department of ministry, but it permeates
everything we do. We treat non-Christians with respect, remembering what it is like to
not believe. We treat non-Christians with hope, remembering what a grace-miracle our
own faith is. We consider virtually every public event to be something we do “before the
nations”, and we expect to be “overheard” by many friends who do not believe or who
don’t know what they believe. We seek to equip and motivate every member into an
evangelistic life-style.
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MOVEMENT MINDSET
6. A Movement of Redeemer exists to be an incubator and catalyst for hundreds of new churches and
Churches ministries. We expect to mother, sponsor, and other wise help establish scores of
congregations in and around NYC. Therefore, we encourage entrepreneurship and
creativity and lay leadership. We discourage “turf consciousness” and desire to serve the
whole body of Christ. We’re not just a church, but a movement of churches.
7. Social Healing We aim to show the world that the gospel will transform neighborhoods through
Christian community development, by “reweaving” an area through ministries of word,
mercy, and justice. We aim to show that the gospel lifts up the poor, and reconciles the
races and classes who otherwise could not be able to live together. Christians must learn
to respect, learn from, and partner with the poor as well as show them love and
compassion. We’re not just for personal healing, but for social healing.
8. Cultural Renewal Christians often either make a wholesale retreat from culture or create a Christian sub-
culture which mimics mainstream values and trends. Rather, we call our people to
theological reflection, to work with excellence in their professional fields, to
collaboration and networking of Christians within vocations, and for respect and service
to the whole world through their work. The goal is to show the world alternative ways of
being human as we serve through the arts, business world, government, academy, etc.
We’re not just for personal help, but for cultural renewal.
REDEEMER’S PURPOSE
Taking all seven of those core convictions together, we can now define Redeemer’s
particular purpose as a church. We urge you to carefully study, understand, and maybe
even memorize the following purpose statement:
As a church of Jesus Christ, Redeemer exists to help build a great city for all people
through a movement of the gospel that brings personal conversion, community
formation, social justice, and cultural renewal to New York City and, through it, the
world.
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