A Community Group is a gathering of Jesus-followers who are committed to living out the Gospel together within a specific context for the purpose of sharing their lives with others.
The key characteristics of these communities are that they are:
Missional
- Seeks to incorporate those not involved in church
- Not a Bible study or small group for church people
- They are church for people who do not attend church
Incarnational/Contextual
- Committed to living amongst the people they are trying to reach
- They find culturally appropriate ways of reaching people
- Want to know who is not connected to the Church and how those persons might be comfortable in gathering
Formational
- As communities form, the group begins to explore discipleship
- This can vary from formal learning in discussions to social learning inside the close proximity of life lived together, to missional learning that comes from serving others.
Ecclesial
- Not “ministries” of a church – they are the church