Coming soon …
Seed Communities
Courageous obedience together for the sake of
a people or a place
After a season of experimenting with Big and Small Sundays we’re excited to be settling on a longer term form for small groups that incorporates what we’ve learned and responds to the leading of Spirit.
Seed Communities are agile small groups with a clear sense of missional purpose to plant seeds amongst a particular group of people or in a particular place, in order to reap a harvest for the Kingdom of God. Here’s a basic description of what they are and how we’ll transition, with much more to follow in the weeks to come!
A community with a common calling …
Some groups may be spread out geographically but have a common calling to share the good news and love of Jesus with a particular group of people, perhaps those struggling with debt or isolation, refugees, students struggling with their mental health, those experiencing grief, or marital breakdown.
Other groups will be made up of people who want to seek God’s kingdom in the particular place where they live. They may be stirred to pray for the last, the least and the lost in their area, or to grow in relationship with their neighbours and introduce them to Jesus, or to work to overturn an injustice in their community.
A flexible rhythm to community life …
Each Seed Community will be able to choose a rhythm that works for those in the group and enables them to reach those they’ve been called to.
The rhythm should include moments where the group can breathe in, seeking to grow in love for God and one another, and breathe out, stepping towards those they are being sent to in mission.
The rhythm should be sustainable, include moments that are accessible for kids if they’re part of the group, and can also include up to two Sundays a month where the group will meet together in place of coming to the central Sunday gathering.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10
Who is Jesus sending
you to?
This is a season to be wrestling with this question. How could you respond, alongside others, with courageous obedience?
In our current series, For the Sake Of … we’re looking at how the heart of God, which burns with fierce love for a hurting world, gives purpose to our hands. In the weeks ahead we want to equip our church to discern and begin to respond to their calling.
Clarity about your
Small Sunday
Each Small Sunday group will have time to discern whether to pivot into being a Seed Community with a shared calling to the place where they live.
On 6 Oct the leaders of each Small Sunday will share with their group whether they’re going to continue leading and help it to pivot, or to step back. Each person in the group will then have time to process whether to stay on, if it is continuing, or what to do next, if it is stopping.
A time of transition as we find our feet
The last official Small Sunday will be
on 3 Nov, then we’ll be returning to a weekly central Sunday service starting on 10 Nov.
The first Seed Communities will be open for people to join from 3 Nov and we have faith that many more will emerge in the months to come! Some of these will choose not to come to the central service once or twice a month and gather as a group instead.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
Questions you might have …
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If a Small Sunday has a vision to mobilise for mission in the area that they live then they can pivot into being a Seed Community.
Other Small Sundays may find that part of the group will share a specific calling and go after it together as a Seed Community, whilst the other part of the group who don't share that calling might leave to start or join other ones. And we anticipate that other Small Sundays will disband completely as people begin to discern and respond to who God is sending them to.
Although some Seed Communities will choose to meet together on up to two Sundays a month, after 3 Nov Small Sundays will no longer be an official structure in church life. We want to support everyone in this time of transition, please reach out if you have any concerns.
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Homes offered many people the chance to be known, loved and prayed for during the week. If your Small Sunday group currently meets on a Tuesday evening and you decide together to pivot into being a Seed Community, then you can keep doing so!
In each Seed Community's rhythm there'll be a moment to breathe in, with a focus on worship and community, and a moment to breathe out, with a focus on mission. Your group could incorporate a midweek evening into your shared rhythm as your breathe in moment. -
We're returning to a weekly central Sunday service! We want a consistent place where the curious and hurting can be welcomed and drawn into the life of our community, a place where the scriptures are preached, where a furnace of prayer is stoked, stories are told and the breadth of the body of Christ can meet together for encouragement.
We may need to bolster kids, youth and worship teams after a summer of fortnightly gatherings. Seed Communities will be free to meet on 1st and 3rd Sundays, enabling everyone to be together on 2nd and 4th Sundays where we’ll be able to share stories of what God is doing across the region. -
The first Seed Communities will launch on 3 Nov. Although we expect there to be space in these for others to join, there will be a period of transition whilst people discern and start new groups, until there are enough for everyone to join.
Our encouragement will be to not rush into a group but to use this time to discern through prayer and conversation with others, who is Jesus sending you to?
If there's a Seed Community full of people who share a similar calling then get involved there, but perhaps God is calling you and a few others to start something new? We have faith that an ecosystem of Seed Communities will emerge that seek Jesus' renewal across the region as we each wrestle with this question.
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Our hope is that many Seed Communities will have a desire to include and disciple kids as they pursue a common missional purpose, and will settle on a rhythm that seeks to do this. In some circumstance it may feel too difficult to include kids and so we’re expecting that when each group goes live it will have a note to confirm whether they’re ‘kid friendly.’ Alongside this we want to keep investing in our centrally organised provision for kids and youth on Sundays and during the week.
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Our hope for Seed Communities is that they feel like families on mission together. For them to thrive we believe that people will need to commit to investing in relationship with one another and with God through regular times of prayer and fellowship, as well as engaging in consistent relationship building and service of those they are called to reach. We expect this commitment will mean that many feel led to invest in just one Seed Community. However, if someone feels they have calling and capacity to commit to more than one then this will be an option too.
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We’d love to hear from everyone who feels God inviting them to take a risk for the sake of a people or a place - please get in touch using the form below! If there’s a few people with a similar sense of call we’ll help them to connect and get praying about how they can respond to this together.
Leading a Seed Community does mean taking on responsibility in the life of our church so we'll have a conversation together about vision, values and character. But we are confident that God places extra-ordinary power in the hands of ordinary people and he equips those who he sends, so we’re up for exploring leading a Seed Community with anyone who feels led to.
We also want to invest in and support anyone stepping out in this way. We'll ensure that each set of leaders has people who are committed to praying for them regularly. We'll also organise a monthly gathering for those leading Seed Communities where we’ll provide some input, share stories of risk, failure and fruit, and pray for each other.
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The origin of each group will be when one or a few people discern a clear call to a people or a place, perhaps with an emerging idea of how to begin. In each case, we'll spend time talking and praying together with the aim of crystallising this call and thinking through rhythm, budget, team etc. Then the group will go live on the website so that others in the church who feel a similar sense of calling can join in.
We want to set Seed Communities up to thrive whilst also giving them permission to risk, fail and evolve as they journey with God in learning how to reach the people or place they’ve been called to serve.
Got an idea for a Seed Community?
Get in touch.
If you feel God stirring you to step out in courageous obedience for the sake of a people or a place then we’d love to hear from you! You can also use this form to ask any questions you might have about Seed Communities.