Community Life Groups
Christ Church offers three types of groups to meet the needs of people in different seasons of life and phases of spiritual growth. All groups incorporate three key elements of our life together: community (belonging to a group where you are known), mission (serving those in need in Jesus' name), and formation (growing in becoming more like Christ), but each type of group has a primary focus.
Neighborhood Groups
Neighborhood groups focus on building community among Christ Churchers who live in the same part of Austin. We define “neighborhood” loosely as a region of the Austin metro area. These groups meet weekly or every other week. Groups with families of young children might alternate weeks with men meeting one week, women one week, and all together another week.
Group time together could include gathering around a meal, sharing prayer requests, and growing deeper in relationship with one another. Each group meeting spends a portion of its time in Scripture to grow in formation.
Neighborhood groups also find a need in their area that they could meet through a simple project once per semester. This mission project might be a park clean-up, a project for a nearby school or non-profit organization, organizing a neighborhood food drive, or something else.
Formation Groups
Formation groups dedicate most of their gathering time to the study of a formation curriculum or a focused Bible study. Groups will meet weekly for 10 sessions this fall (with a break or two for special parish-wide events/services).
Formation Groups build community through events like potlucks at the beginning or end of the semester, group members connecting to share prayer requests between meetings, or meeting to grow friendships between semesters.
Formation Group members are also encouraged to incorporate mission into their lives through serving the community in some way. This might involve participating in a service opportunity with one of our local engagement partners or engaging in serving on their own.
Mission Groups
Mission Groups meet weekly, incorporating formation and mission as a community. These groups prioritize a rhythm of study and action, engaging both content for growth as a community and service opportunities in the community.
Mission Groups engage formation material together twice a month and serve together in mission twice a month on an every-other-week basis (or another combination). These groups will meet 12 times this fall, with a break or two for special parish-wide events/services.
Mission Group members build community through potlucks or other gatherings, sharing prayer requests between meetings, and members growing in friendship outside the group time.