Evangelical Free Church - Growth Group Covenant

GROWTH GROUP COVENANT

Leader(s) ______________________ Phone # ______________

Host(s) ______________________ Phone # ______________

Small groups thrive on participation! The purpose of this covenant is to help you to discuss and clarify your group’s goals, expectations, and commitments.

GROWTH GROUPS: THEIR PURPOSE

Growth Groups exist to promote spiritual maturity and personal growth through meaningful Christian relationships and study of God’s Word (Romans 8:29; Hebrews 10:24, 25). We’ll do this by focusing on three primary activities each week:

1) SHARING (each week we’ll take time to share what is happening in our lives);

2) STUDY (each week we’ll study a section from God’s Word that relates to the previous weekend’s sermon or an appropriate personal growth topic in order to learn how to live out our Christianity in everyday life); and

3) SUPPORT (each week we’ll learn how to take care of one another as Christ commanded [John 15:9-13]—this care can take many forms, such as prayer, encouragement, listening, challenging one another, and meeting real needs).

FIVE MARKS OF A HEALTHY GROUP

For our group to be healthy, we need to

1) Make spiritual growth our number one priority (Romans 8:29);

2) Accept one another (Romans 15:7);

3) Take care of one another (John 13:34);

4) Treat each other with honesty and respect (Ephesians 4:25—5:2), including especially maintaining appropriate confidentiality; and

5) Keep our commitments to the group (Psalm 15:1-2, 4b).

GUIDELINES & COVENANT

1. Dates: We’ll meet on _____ nights for _____weeks. Our final meeting of this session will be the week of __________.

2. Time: We’ll arrive between & and begin the meeting at . We’ll spend approximately minutes in study/discussion, and minutes in prayer/sharing.

3. Children: Nursing newborns are welcome provided they are not a distraction to the group! For other children the group has decided to make the following arrangements (if necessary):

4. Study: Our studies will focus on the same topic covered in the previous Sunday’s sermon. Our goal is to learn how to live out our Christianity in everyday life.

5. Prayer: We will pray for one another, both at meetings and during the week.

6. Homework & Attendance: Joining a Growth Group requires an _____ week commitment to attend each week and to do the homework ahead of time. Obviously, allowances are made for sickness, vacation, work conflicts, and other special events—but not much more! If we cannot come to a meeting, we will call __________________________.

7. Desserts -

8. Social & Service Project(s) -

9. Other -

We agree together in Christ to honor this covenant.

(To be decided by each person on or before the third week.)

1. ___________________________ 10. _____________________________

2. ___________________________ 11. _____________________________

3. ___________________________ 12. _____________________________

4. ___________________________ 13. _____________________________

5. ___________________________ 14. _____________________________

6. ___________________________ 15. _____________________________

7. ___________________________ 16. _____________________________

8. ___________________________ 17. _____________________________

9. ___________________________ 18. _____________________________