New Covenant Church: Holistic Discipleship through Small Groups

New Covenant Church: Holistic Discipleship through Small Groups

The NetCare small group system of New Covenant Church offers one effective discipleship model. With thousands of members spread over an extended geographical area, small groups are the primary way that members develop personal, discipling relationships. After completing the New Member class, members are encouraged to join NetCare-small groups of 8 to 20 that meet twice a month in members' homes for fellowship, worship, prayer, and Bible study. All the groups share a common format and study curriculum written by the pastor, so that Sunday services can build on what each group has focused on in the previous week. The NetCare groups are organized into zones, with a "zone minister" responsible for training and supervising group leaders. Most groups are intended to be inclusive of families, but some "specialty" groups have emerged - Mother's Care groups, NetWork groups that meet in a place of employment, morning groups in coffee shops, and a group that meets in a prison.

Laronda (not her real name), a zone minister, explains that the purpose of NetCare groups is to empower its members for service: "God touches us, and we touch others." Each NetCare group is expected to look out for the social and emotional needs of the group members and to serve as the first line of defense in times of crisis. NetCare leaders reported that their groups assisted one another with financial needs, food, transportation and car repairs, youth mentoring, job searches, furniture, and funeral costs. "I have seen people come into a small group broken and hurting," Laronda testified. "Now we have seen the 'after.' It's such a blessing to know our ministry has made such a difference in their lives."

In one dramatic example, when a church family's home burned to the ground, they called their NetCare group leader. The leader came to the scene immediately to assess their needs, and then called the zone minister to organize their strategy for response. Within four hours, the family had clothes and food. Within a week, they had to tell the congregation to stop giving because they had all the furniture and supplies they needed. The church helped the family recover financially as well. The pastors were not involved except when the zone minister later reported their actions to the pastors for their approval. In such a large church, the pastors could not possibly take care of every crisis, and so the NetCare system ensures that the congregation's needs are met without burning out the pastors.

Small groups provide a structure that can serve a dual purpose, nurture and outreach. The NetCare groups are the primary way that New Covenant "reaches out to the lost, evangelizing those the Lord brings to us," particularly the people in members' relational networks. "One of my personal testimonies is my husband," says a NetCare group member. During the meetings at their home, her husband "wouldn't come downstairs, but he was upstairs and he heard the prayers being prayed for him. And as a result of that he was saved. Having the ministry in the home empowers the entire family." As New Covenant became involved in the Lighthouses of Prayer movement, the NetCare groups provided a natural organizing basis for ministries of intercessory evangelistic prayer. A church with a strong small group system has a key asset in place for organizing members for ministry.

[chap. 8, pp. 171-175, 177-178]