Why_Shepherd_Groups.pdf

This Spring’s Thoughts Aimed at Next Fall’s Commitment

Fresh off this past week’s attendance at the (1) annual springtime appreciation dinner for shepherd group leaders on the South Campus, as well as (2) the latest gathering of the 10-member shepherd group my wife, Karin, and I joyfully belong to, here is encouragement for you to join us in actively participating next Fall in Bethlehem’s small group ministry!

What are Shepherd Groups?

According to our recently published Vision and Values booklet, which describes the 10 life-shaping realities at Bethlehem, Shepherd Groups (i.e., small groups) are home-based, regular gatherings of six or more adults who are “led by qualified leaders and overseen by elders in order to build caring, faith-sustaining, lasting relationships that are marked by transparency in relation to life’s challenges and struggles.”

Further, they reside at the epicenter of our ... “Corporate commitment to pursue a life together in sacrificial, faith-sustaining care for each other in loving relationships at every level of youth and age, joy and sorrow, comfort and crisis, health and brokenness.”

Where do Shepherd Groups fit with our biblical understanding of “doing church”?

For us as a very large congregation, shepherd groups are an essential setting for the more personal, “house-to-house” application of God’s word that balances our more general, public, and congregation-wide (and therefore less individual) ministry of the word. The Apostle Paul sounded this balance in Acts 20:20, declaring, “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house.”

It is also this small-groups dimension of “doing church” that Hebrews 10:24–25 clearly has in mind when we are exhorted, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Why talk about Shepherd Groups now when we are just heading into the summer?

We have several good reasons to draw your attention to this ministry right now, all pointing toward your pastors’ deep desire to “ramp up” both the Christ-centered, maturity-producing quality of relationships experienced in our shepherd groups and dramatically increasing the quantity of active participants among our covenant members and regular attenders.

• For those already in a shepherd group, this is a crucial time for your group to begin thinking about making its plans for the Fall.
• Also, existing shepherd groups are the “proving ground” for additional future leaders. Together with those already in leadership, “consider” (again, as Hebrews 10:24 commands) the “someone else” in your group (or perhaps not yet in it) who should pray through the summer about receiving initial training to begin a new group in the Fall.
• If you aren’t yet in a shepherd group, may I encourage you to open Bethlehem’s Vision and Values booklet to the section on Mutual Care, and ask yourself, “Isn’t this the kind of community of faith I want to help populate and perfect?” Pages 8–9 contain 16 thought-provoking (and, hopefully, heart-attracting) aims. They await your exploration and possible visible expression if you will again “consider” clustering with some others to come to a Shepherd Leader Training seminar to learn how to get started.

When are the Shepherd Group Leader Training seminars going to be held this summer?

(Note: The scheduled training seminars listed below include these topics: How to Lead a Bible Study, Praying for One Another, Doctrinal Foundations, Soul Care, and Counseling.)

August 26–27 North
(5151 Program Ave, Mounds View 55112)
Friday, 7:00–9:00pm, and Saturday, 9:00am–Noon

August 29–30 Downtown
(720-13th Ave S, Minneapolis, 55415)
Monday and Tuesday, 6:30–9:00pm

September 9–10 Downtown
(720-13th Ave S, Minneapolis, 55415)
Friday, 7:00–9:00pm, and Saturday, 9:00am–Noon

September 12–13 South 501 Building
(501 E Hwy 13 Suite 110, Burnsville, 55337)
Monday and Tuesday, 6:30–9:00pm

How about hearing testimonies of what happens in a Shepherd Group?

Here are three stories fresh from among the 34 leaders at our South Site leaders’ appreciation dinner:

• “Shortly after our group started I heard from some members that they really felt like they were now in a good place where they were thinking about their relationship with God more intentionally and seeking to grow. Praise God!”
• “A dear brother of ours never prayed during our sessions because he found it too difficult to express his prayers publicly. Well, last week, he prayed with us—I was truly moved. He has come a long way, and I am truly blessed to witness his growth.”
• “A high point for me recently was when a woman in our study said that small group felt like church to her. I think that’s a great sign that our group was serving its purpose.”

May our Lord Jesus turn these springtime seed thoughts into a harvest of clustered fruitfulness this Fall!

David Livingston
Pastor for Shepherd Groups & Adult Ministries; Campus Pastor, South Site