experiencing community at Calvary Church

community: (n) a place where you belong;

a place where you develop relationships with others

and do life together; a place for praying, growing

and caring.

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Sanctuary

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Why community?Our goal at Calvary Church s is to see every believer always engaged in worship and continuously experiencing authentic Christian com-munity. While these are not the only things Christians should be do-ing, these two should be consistent and ever-present in our lives.

To help make this kind of community accessible to everyone, we are launching lots of new Community Groups at Calvary. There is a group for everyone! Neighborhood groups will be meeting in homes throughout the area. Family groups are intended to help entire families experience community together. Global groups are new and will have a focus on living a missional life. Monday night Bible study groups meet here at the church on a weekly basis during the school year. And we continue to have a myriad of groups for Women, Men, Young Adults and Seniors, along with a number of Support Groups.

Registration forms are available with details about launch dates and times, or you can get more information on our website, calvarygr.org. We want everyone to experience the caring and growth that can come from being part of a Community Group at Calvary. This brochure con-tains a few stories about some of the groups we have already formed. Join us as we all grow together in community.

Questions? Contact any of us in Calvary Community at 956-9377. We would love to talk with you about community and help you find your place here at Calvary Church.

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sWhy should I join a Community Group?

Community is a place where you belong; a place where you develop relationships with other believers and do life together. We believe that authentic Christian com-munity is the ideal place for sustained growth to occur.

What kind of a commitment would this be?

Most groups meet every other week for 1 ½ -2 hours. Each group decides the elements of group meetings, but they should include a time for prayer and fellowship as well as learning from God’s Word. We ask for a commitment to meet together at least eight times. When you attend a launch event, you will be placed with a group that best meets your needs.

How can I become a group facilitator?

To be a facilitator of a group, you need to have a heart for people, willing to serve, have a teachable spirit and be a seasoned believer. We ask that you be (or are willing to become) a member of Calvary Church. You do not need to have all the answers, do all the talking or do everything perfectly. For more de-tails, please contact us in Calvary Com-munity (956-9377). We would love to meet with you.

How can I sign up?1) Go to our website, calvarygr.org, to fill out an online registration

form for the type of group that interests you.2) Pick up (and turn in!) a registration form at the Information

Center (at the back of the Sanctuary) or the Connection Point (in the hall next to the Chapel). Volunteers in either place will be happy to answer questions too!

Information Center

Conn

ecti

on P

oint

Neighborhood GroupsMy wife, Jonda, and I have been members of Calvary for more than ten years. We have been in small groups in several churches in the past—sometimes as participants and sometimes as leaders. Each of those times has been a very rewarding experience, so we decided to attend the Spring Community Group Launch this past May to join a group to study God’s Word and fellow-ship with others within the community of Calvary Church. At the Launch we divided up into groups by areas of Grand Rapids, and we ended up with a great eclectic group—college aged to retired, married, widowed, and single. We volunteered to be the facilitators and hosts.

Our Community Group has met three times now and we are having a great time getting to know one an-other! We have chosen to study Time, Patience and Waiting on the Lord and have been blessed with much interaction and sharing. It seems that everyone is waiting on the Lord for something! It is such a privilege to make new friends and share each others’ lives. After our study time, we have light refreshments and a time of group prayer.

One night instead of meeting at our house, we decided to all sit together to hear Ed Dobson at the church during the Sunday night service. Another Sunday evening we had a picnic barbeque, which included venison burgers, ribs, and boating.

Community Groups are a great way to meet new friends and to find Christian caring and encouragement. We highly recom-mend participating in the upcoming Community Groups this fall. You will be blessed!

life {together}Neighborhood Groups: (n) meet in

homes throughout the metropolitan

area, usually once a week or

every other week.

Fam

ily

Gro

up

sOur family means the world to us. Everything we do impacts it in one way or another. One year ago we real-ized that we wanted a community of other Christian believers with whom to travel the road of growing a strong Christian family. We had five children under the age of eight and realized that the most important years were now. We did not want to lose any time with the children God blessed us with, but we didn’t always know how to do this.

At that time, God led us to begin a small group with other families to focus on His design for our families. We wanted to be intentional Christian parents and walk alongside others with the same goals of impacting their children for eternity and equipping them for a godly life. The time at church each week is not enough for parents and their children to see and form relationships with other Christian families. Our hope was for our children to begin to see Calvary as “their commu-nity” as well.

We formed a group with five other fami-lies including 22 kids! It seems impos-sible, but doesn’t God say what is impos-sible to man is possible to God? God paved the way for our group. We met once a month as adults to study and once

a month with our families for fun family nights with a purpose to worship, pray,

teach, and grow together. Over time, we have seen our children become more con-fident in sharing their faith, more excited to be at church, encouraged to grow spiritually, and more willing to share their struggles.

The time we committed to our family nights was life changing for our children and the time we committed to our adult nights was life changing for the adults. The busyness of life at times makes it difficult to make such a commitment, but God blessed us in more ways than we could have imagined.

It is important to recognize that what you are willing to bring to your group is what you will get out of your group. Think more about how God may be leading you to be there for other families and walk alongside them in the difficult journey of parenting. What you will real-ize is that by doing that, God will bless you and your family in more ways than you will ever imagine!!!

Family Groups: (n)

intended to help entire

families experience

community together,

usually meet twice a

month.

Monday Night Bible StudyMonday Night Bible Study (MNBS) is a place where men and women come together to pray, have fellow-ship and be strengthened and encouraged through the study of God’s Word. We will meet every Monday evening from September through April.

The evening begins with men and women meeting in separate small groups to discuss the week’s lesson and pray for one another. Then everyone meets together in the Chapel for a lecture on the lesson. A $5 donation per semester is requested to cover the cost of the study. This fall we will be studying Nehemiah: A Man with Heart, written by Nancy Samra. No pre-registration is needed and new members are always welcome throughout the year. If you are unable to attend on September 12, you can register when you come. Women register in Room 114 (lower level across from the choir room) and Men in room 211A (upstairs near the Chapel). Sorry, no childcare is available. For more information, please call Carol Spencer (women) at 942-4743 or Dave Thrasher (men) at 243-6603.

A small group leader writes: I started attending during a very difficult time in my life. I knew I had to be in God’s Word in order to find strength for my days. I had no joy and very little hope. It was heartwarming to hear people in my small group pray for me. I met people who have become special friends and God always seemed to have just what I needed to hear in the lectures. I don’t know what I would have done without MNBS to walk me through those hard times. That was over ten years ago. I’m still attending the Bible study and know that there is nothing like getting together with people who you can have fellowship with, pray with and study God’s word together. I am so thankful for how God continues to use MNBS in my life.

Another participant writes: My husband and I wanted to find some-thing we could share together. MNBS was just what we needed. We could work on the lessons together during the week and even though we didn’t share the same small group experience (men and women have their own groups), we could sit together during the lecture and be able to discuss the scripture and how it affected our lives. We each made new friends that we could share our burdens with and know that we were being prayed for during the week. God really used the lessons and the lecture to draw us closer to Him.

Monday Night Bible

Study: (n) meets here at

the church on a weekly

basis, studying Nehe-

miah this year. can join

at any time.

Contact any of us in Calvary Community at 956-9377. We’d love to talk with you and help you find your place in commu-nity. You can also find helpful informa-tion on our website, calvarygr.org.

Lee Content Pastoral Staff, Calvary Community ext. 5085 | lcontent@calvarygr.org

Karen VanHolstyn Assistant Director, Calvary Community ext. 5173 | kvanholstyn@calvarygr.org

Brenda Neher Administrative Assistant,

Calvary Community ext. 5650 | bneher@calvarygr.org

Calvary Church 707 East Beltline NE | Grand Rapids

616-956-9377 | calvarygr.org