Community Groups
We believe that the basis of Community Groups (CGs) is found in the good news of the gospel: Jesus's glorious death and resurrection to make sinners His righteous children. But the gospel goes further than that—it does not leave us to work out our salvation alone! Because of Jesus, we are "no longer strangers and aliens," but have been given a new identity, and placed into a family where we are "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God". (Eph 2:19)
Find a CG near you
Most of our CGs meet weekly to study a passage of the Bible together closely and encourage one another in our faith. We worship, pray, and fellowship together in these times, and we strive to deepen our relationships by caring for one another throughout the week.
Let us know in the form below if you’d like to visit a CG!
Why we value gathering in CGs
Because of what Jesus did on the Cross, the Bible tells us that we are "no longer strangers and aliens”, but "fellow citizens (in) the household of God." Community with God's people is one of the beautiful gifts of the gospel.
CGs are one of the primary ways this gospel reality takes shape. We cannot do the Christian life alone: God has gifted us to one another for the purpose of spiritually building one another up.
At CGs, we want to anchor ourselves in the Word and remind one another of the hope we have in Christ. We don't just want to enjoy one another's company or have comfortable friendships, but to be deeply invested in one another’s spiritual growth. We encourage one another, rejoice and weep together, and guard one another from sin. While any Christian friendship is a gift, CGs are unique because they sit within the life and leadership of the local church, intentionally shaped by its teaching, pastoral oversight and shared mission so that the whole Body grows together in the same gospel direction.
What we desire our CGs to be
At RHC, we generally don't organise Community Groups around life stage or gender because we want our groups to reflect the life of the church itself: our primary identity is not found in demographics, but in our shared union with Christ. Whether young or old, single or married, student or retiree, God uses our unique experiences and gifts for our encouragement and growth. In fact, we might find that He shapes us through the lives of brothers and sisters we never would have chosen for ourselves. It is this sort of counter-cultural love for one another that willingly crosses natural boundaries and seeks the good of others that exemplifies the love of Christ to a watching world.
One of our church values is being a community on mission. Our love for one another is not only for our own good, but is also meant to be a visible witness to the gospel. In this regard, we want to grow together in living out the gospel in both our private and public lives, and to intentionally invite others into our community so they can taste and see the goodness of Jesus. Because of that, our CGs don't exist simply to become comfortable communities that stay the same forever. We want to cultivate a culture of making room for others by welcoming newcomers and planting new CGs, so that more people can find life in God's family.
Because Community Groups are the church learning to live together as one body in Christ, we shouldn't be surprised when that life together is sometimes messy. There will be times when you are disappointed by your CG (or when you disappoint others!), but these moments are often the evidence of real relationships, where people have moved beyond polite distance to truly know and be known. So, be encouraged! Rather than seeing friction as signs that something has gone wrong, we can lean into them and see them as opportunities for Christ to shape us into a people who forgive, bear with one another, and love deeply, so that His reconciling grace is put on display.
FAQs
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We highly encourage visitors to choose a CG that is convenient to get to weekly. This is because being consistent and committed to showing up for CG realistically takes time and energy. Being able to have a shorter commute to and from CG helps! If the nearest CG is full, don't worry, just let us know and we will be happy to help you find the right fit.
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CGs are communities where we invest ourselves within the larger church to live out the gospel. We desire to intentionally cultivate relationships within our CGs to know and be known, to speak the truth of the gospel in love to one another, and to practically support one another. This happens both during and outside of CG and thus requires time and care. As such, for a meaningful CG experience, we recommend you choose one community and devote yourself to it.
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Typically, we encourage visitors to visit not more than 3 CGs before making a permanent commitment to join a CG. We find that most people can happily settle into a CG they are comfortable with after this number of visits. It is also helpful to visit a CG at least a couple of times before deciding whether to stay. We do try to prevent a culture of prolonged “CG hopping/shopping”—after all, there is no perfect CG and only Jesus can and should meet all of our needs! Our CGs often have limited spaces and we also want to allow other visitors the opportunity to visit.
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Each CG varies, but typically most are between 10-15 people.
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All our RHC CGs are open to anyone, as they are not divided by age or stage in life. We recognise that there are benefits to having others of the same demographic in a CG, but at RHC we believe that the primary lens through which we view one another is not through demographics, but through the fact that we all belong to the same family of Christ. Through the gospel, God has saved us into a family with a diversity of backgrounds, life stages, genders and ethnicities. We believe this diversity is God’s gracious gift to us, and we deeply need and are needed to strengthen one another’s faith. The gospel cuts across every life stage and season, speaking to core longings and fears, and it is in diversity that we see the richness of the gospel..
However, while we do not formally organise CGs according to demographic, it might be the case that a CG for a season has incidentally drawn many people from a similar demographic. Therefore, any specific demographics within our RHC CGs are formed organically.
Outside of the CG context, RHC does have demographic-specific ministries like our Family Ministry.
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Most CGs meet weekly and are encouraged to take a break once per month (usually on the last week of each month). A typical CG session involves studying a passage of the Bible together closely, and from there applying these biblical truths richly to our day-to-day lives. We worship, pray, and fellowship together in CGs, and we strive to deepen our relationships by caring for one another throughout the week.