Cell Groups and Cell Group Leadership at CTK

Purpose of Cell Groups: Cell groups live out the core CTK value “Together in Life” by sharing joys and burdens, practicing spiritual disciplines, and enfolding others into the Family of God.

Role of a Cell Group Leader:

• Facilitate Community 

  • Lead discussion time (with script provided)

  • Model “sharing joys and burdens” and “practicing spiritual disciplines”

  • Express interest in and care for those in your CG

  • Let clergy know of any pastoral concern

  • Invite CTK newcomers into your CG (contacts provided by Karisa)

  • Bonus (not required but encouraged!): reach out to folks who haven’t come in a while, consider ways the group can meet needs that come up

• Practice Hospitality

  • Make sure the group has a hospitable environment to meet in (a home and decent food), opening up your home if needed

• Organize Logistics

  • Organize locations and food and communicate those to the group in a timely manner

  • Send a reminder/groupme event early on in the week of CG to get RSVP’s

Notes about Cell Groups at CTK:

1. LOGISTICS

1. The schedule will generally be…

   1. 6:00-7:00 (or 6:30-7:30)—Arrival, Dinner and Conversation

   2. 7:00-8:00 (or 7:30-8:30)—Evening Prayer and Discussion

   3. Refrain from starting later to accommodate late arrival. If lots of people are arriving late due to work or traffic, consider moving the start time to 6:30pm or later.

2. Dinner

   1. Most groups find it works best to have the host provide the main dish and others provide the sides, but feel free to do what works best for your group.

   2. Dinner time conversation has the goal of developing spiritual friendships. These go past generic/surface level updates and dive into deeper questions 

3. Hosting

   1. Ideally homes rotate for two reasons

      1. Weget to know each other better by being in each other’s spaces

      2. This creates more buy-in

4. Evening Prayer

   1. Try to involve the children in prayer

   2. Keep it audible and understandable 

   3. Evening prayer is provided in cell group scripts but may occasionally need to be shortened 

   4. Goal: to train families to say evening prayer

   5. Rotate families who are leading this if possible

   6. Consider setting goals as a cell to memorize certain Collects or Canticles. 

5. Discussion Time

   1. The second week of the month, discussion time is called “Prayer and Community”

      1. Less focus on study/spiritual disciplines and more on “sharing joys and sorrows”

      2. One person will share a 10-15 min testimony

      3. There will be specific questions aimed at getting to know and understand each other on a deeper level

      4. Opportunities for more extemporaneous prayer 

      5. Sometimes will split men and women

   2. The fourth week of the month, the discussion time will be focused on study/spiritual disciplines/training

      1. Primary goals:

         1. to give people tools and skills for spiritual discipline, often called ascesis. (Different types of prayer, bible reading, fasting objectives, study, celebration, etc.)

         2. To follow the liturgical year 

      2. Secondary goals:

         1. to expose people to the church fathers 

         2. To create a shared culture and like-mindedness on certain issues, or at the very least a healthy environment for discussing them, even when opinions differ

6. Children

   1. Children under 13 should participate in dinner and evening prayer but not the training/study portion. We strongly prefer if you have kids under 10 for them to have a babysitter.

   2. Young Adults (13+) should participate in everything the adults do, unless they are watching the children, in which case they should rotate so they can normally participate.

7. GroupMe

   1. We know it’s not everyone’s favorite form of communication, but small check-ins/updates/prayer requests on groupme go a long way to keeping the whole group in the loop on something and feeling like they’re a part of the community

   2. Urge people to voice needs on the GroupMe and make sure they are responded to in good ways.

   3. Older folks will usually need specific in-person help with downloading/using groupme

      1. Some of these people who continue to struggle with it will still need a personal invite to anything posted in the groupme 

1. CARE

   1. We try to use cell groups as the front lines of care for folks in the church who are sick, hurting, or in a tough spot

   2. We also prefer cell groups to host baby showers, bridal showers, etc. on behalf of the ladies fellowship (or just cell group parties) for those in your group celebrating big milestones

   3. Try to acknowledge birthdays of those in your group (ask Karisa for a list)

2. DELEGATION

   1. We strongly encourage you to delegate any of these responsibilities that are not your strength to others in the group! 

   2. Sharing hosting, food, party planning, meal delivering, cell group member check-ins, etc. will lead to a much stronger, healthier, and more committed group than you doing it all yourself! 

Cell Group Testimonies

Goal: To grow closer in community and to be spiritually encouraged through the sharing of stories.

What to expect: 10-15 minutes per person (married couples should share individually) where someone shares the story of God’s work in their life. 

What to consider including in a testimony:

• A very brief overview of your life (where you’ve lived, what you’ve done, etc.)

• How did God meet you and/or grow you in these various seasons of life?

• 2-3 key moments, struggles, or seasons, and how they shaped you, your understanding of God, and your understanding of the Church… how did God reveal Himself to you during those times (if you feel you have that insight)? 

• If you had to pick 1 or 2 main themes of God’s work in your life, what would they be?

• How can we pray for you given the current path God has you on? 

Try to avoid:

• Going longer than 15 mins

• Needing to wrap up everything in a nice bow or to fit in a perfect story arch

• Gossip

• Too many generalities — be specific when possible