Here at North Coast Church, Life Groups are the hub of our ministry. They’re the place where the real ministry of the church takes place as we study God’s Word while supporting and sharing our lives with one another. We believe that meeting together on a regular basis is time well spent.
Each Life Group session lasts 9 to 11 weeks. We have Fall, Winter & Spring sessions. At the end of each session, you will have the choice of staying in the same group, trying a new group or even taking a break. Most groups stay together throughout the entire year. Life Groups do not meet mid-June through August.
Most of the studies are based on the previous weekend’s message. These “sermon-based” Life Groups are built on what we call a “Lecture-Lab” model.
Imagine the weekend message as a lecture on Christian living, and the Life Group as a lab where you get to roll up your sleeves and discuss how the weekend’s message works in real life. Each week there will be a series of Bible passages and questions on the back of the sermon note sheet to study before the meeting. It will usually take 20 to 40 minutes per week to complete the homework.
Few things in life are free and Life Groups are no exception! The cost of Life Groups is the cost of commitment. During the first meeting, each group will review a “commitment form” together. This simple form helps each group discuss their priorities and commitment. Part of that commitment is the promise to attend each week and to complete the homework as well as to attend the quarterly social and do one service project for the year. You have the first three weeks to decide if your group is a good fit for you.
When you join a Life Group, you’re promising to attend and be prepared each week. It’s this commitment that makes Life Groups work. We realize it’s a big commitment, but it only lasts for 9 – 11 weeks. At the end of each quarter, you have the choice of recommitting for another quarter, trying a new group or taking a break from Life Groups altogether.
Life Groups are for adults only. (Exceptions can be made for nursing newborns, up to six months.) We leave it up to each family to work out their own child care. Sometimes it works best for families to share a sitter or to swap child care with another family whose Life Group meets on a different evening.
Before each Life Group quarter begins there are three ways to sign up for a group – online or at our weekend services. There are three sign-up weekends before the beginning of our Fall Quarter in September, and two sign-up weekends before our Winter Quarter in January and our Spring Quarter in April.