Life Groups are the primary way we experience community at the Bible Church. Groups meet either weekly or bi-weekly for fellowship, prayer, and Bible study, and they also tend to meet just to have fun together about once per month.
With over 35 life groups spread across the Triangle, there's likely one near where you live.
We believe that spiritual formation takes place in community. More than two hours on a Sunday, church is about sharing together in the resurrection life in Christ. As the family of God, we slow down each week to know and be known by one another by eating together, praying for one another, and learning from Scripture together. We mimic the early church in Acts by gathering in one another’s homes where our kitchen tables and living room couches become sacred spaces of celebration and remembrance of our hope in the Gospel. We want our rhythms together to reflect life in the Kingdom and provide space for ordinary acts of love and service to one another in everyday life.
As disciples of Jesus in the Triangle, we want to be a community that lives counter-culturally in an ever-increasing individualistic, disembodied, and frenetic world. As we slow down to practice life with Christ we want our life together to be a witness of hope and joy to our neighbors and co-workers. By taking on the lifestyle of Jesus we better position ourselves to partner with God to see His Kingdom come and will be done in the Triangle as it is in Heaven.
At the beginning of the Fall and Spring semesters we will have a two-week period for members to join Life Groups. We are working to increase our space within Life Groups by raising up new leaders to start new groups. Because space is limited the staff will prioritize members and those in process to becoming members:
• FALL semester open enrollment period: September 8 - 22, 2024
• SPRING semester open enrollment period: January 26 - February 9, 2025
• SUMMER semester: a lot of Life Groups slow down with their normal meeting rhythms which will provide a greater opportunity to promote and cultivate parish life for members and guests to get connected
GUEST TRACK
If you are brand new or have been here a while but have not taken a step toward pursuing membership start your journey toward getting connected and becoming a member at CHBC by:
1. Joining the next Newcomers' Lunch to receive an initial meet and greet from the ministry leaders on staff to help you take a first step in getting connected at CHBC
2. Register for the next Foundations Class, which is our membership track that covers the vision, mission and values of CHBC. This class must be attended before applying to join.
3. Get connected to your Parish and begin engaging with fellow CHBCers that live in your area. Parishes are still in the early stage of development but the staff is currently planning a parish social event for mid-July to help you get to know those in your area. More info coming soon!
PARISH VS. LIFE GROUPS
CHBC is still getting used to the language of "parish." With parishes we are taking a first step in redefining "place" to help our members see “where they live” as their grounds for the work of ministry to be done, both to love one another at CHBC and their actual neighbors. The method of proximity is helping our members see ministry on a local level.
Parishes are not replacing Life Groups, but instead the leading edge of the parish concept is to establish a system of care, which Life Groups will be placed under. Parishes can be considered a "MACRO" picture of life together at CHBC through the collection of 50-100 local members in the same geographical area for our system of care to function efficiently. Life Groups can be considered a "MICRO" picture of life together through the collection of 5-15 local members gathering together around God's word, prayer, and fellowship. We have a desire to offer local Life Groups to anyone seeking community with the hope that proximity with other CHBCers will truly help the work of ministry and "doing life" with one another that much more viable.