Meet the Design Build Team

The people who served with Mike and Trudy Chapman on our Design Build Team were a fantastic group of people. Each brought something special to the team, and together a new pathway to the future of our church was formed. We express our sincere appreciation for them for the important service to our church:

Gene and Pam Browning

Gene and Pam are both PKs (Pastor’s Kids) so they “know church.”  Gene brought his experiences as a business manager, and Pam brought her perspective as a professor and educator to the meeting. They lead one of our fastest growing Community Groups.

Carl and Dolly Burns

Carl and Dolly spent many years serving the Lord as pastors of Evangelical Methodist congregations. This gave them a unique perspective that was so helpful to the team.  They lead our largest Community Group which is largely made up of senior adults.

Wally and Pam Hindman

Having served on the eldership longer than anyone else, Wally and Pam are our “senior elders.” They have been a part of City Church since 1980. Their three adult children were born into our church. Few people know our church like the Hindmans.

Greg and Connie Sutherland

Greg and Connie are long-standing elders of our church. Connie is a stay-at-home, home school mom, and Greg leads one of our Thinksmall groups. Their three sons are active in Generational Ministries, an area of ministry close to the Sutherlands’ hearts.

Jerry and Sue Justice

Jerry and Sue have served as elders and led a Community Group for a number of years before Jerry joined our staff eleven years ago as Executive Pastor. Sue has been active in Generational Ministries, and together they assist with the young adult ministry at our church.

Shannon and Mande Chapman

Shannon and Mande serve as the lead pastors of Ethos. In addition, Shannon is the Developmental Pastor of our church, and Mande previously led our preschool ministries. They are futurists who believe that our best days lie ahead of us.

Small Groups – What Goes On At City Church

At the first meeting of the Design Build Team, the group decided that the final plan must foster community.  We said, “The schedule must provide optimal opportunity for people to be involved in community, where long-term relationships can be built and where care and support is provided to adult members of the church. By this is meant that the schedule should be such that at least 400 adults would be inclined to be involved in Community Groups or small groups.”

Since 1988, Community Groups have been a foundation of our church’s ministry and a mainstay of community building, Bible study, and spiritual care for our church. They have served us well and have been a blessing to many people.

However, as time moves on, circumstances change and needs change. We are at such a point again -- twenty years after launching Community Groups. At that time, we had offered traditional adult Sunday school classes, but things were changing. We felt we needed to go in a different direction. Out of this need and our willingness to be open to change, we launched our first Community Groups. Twenty years ago, we were bold and created the future.
Change came again four years ago when we launched our new “small group ministry” called Thinksmall. One of the reasons for this new initiative was that the Sunday morning schedule of Community Groups simply did not work for everyone. Also, we only have so many rooms for groups to meet in on Sunday morning, and these are running out.  Growth has been limited because of this.

So that is where we are…Community Groups are meeting on Sunday morning on the church campus. Thinksmall Groups meet throughout the week, and they are “all over the map”…here…there…everywhere. Sign up for Community Groups is once a year, but sign ups for Thinksmall Groups occur three times a year. Plus, we have women’s ministry groups, men’s ministry groups, support groups, etc., etc.

All of this is great – except for one thing. It can get confusing.  This is especially true if you are new to our church. We have to make some changes. We need to simplify and streamline our small group system at City Church.

There is an additional issue that requires change – our new Sunday worship schedule. Beginning February 1, 2009, our worship services will be at 9:15 am and 11:00 am. Unlike our previous schedule (when the first service was at 8:30 am), we will not have time between services for a “Community Group hour.” This means the schedule for Community Groups must change.


The New Future – Part Two
The New Small Group Model

On February 1, 2009, we will launch our new small group model – one model, not two. The name of the ministry is simple – City Church Small Group Ministry. The following is a simple diagram of the new ministry:





Life Groups are groups that focus on sharing, Bible study, and mutual ministry and care.  All Community Groups will now
be known as Life Groups. This also applies to all Thinksmall groups and any other group that is built around Bible study or sermon discussion.

N2IT (“in-to-it”) Groups are interest-based groups that are designed for fellowship and focus on special interests such as recreation, hobbies, or ministry interests.

Support Groups are groups that come together around a life stage or a life need. They bring support and biblical insight for special times and special needs.

After February 1, Community Groups will be known as Life Groups. Because the Burns Community Group, Bodine Community Group and the Andrews Community Group have a significant number of senior adults, they will continue to meet on Sunday morning following the first worship service. The Young Adult Singles Community Group may also meet on Sunday morning. All other Community Groups may meet at any time and at any location they decide to meet (other than on Sunday mornings on the church campus). Those desiring to meet on the church campus at another time are free to do so, but they must schedule the room through Pastor Mike Chapman’s office.

The obvious question is “Why can’t other groups meet on Sunday morning?” Part of the reason is parking. We simply do not have the parking to allow for future growth if we do this.

The other reason is because the children’s program at 9:15 and 11:00 will be identical. This programming is designed to coincide with the two worship services only. However, there will be an outstanding program for children on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 pm, and for that reason many groups with childcare needs will choose to meet on Wednesdays either on or near the church campus.

We will have three small group sign ups a year (for all groups).  This will enable new people to get into a group and immediately become part of community. Groups will remain fresh and open, ready to receive new people. New groups will form quicker.

Beginning February 1:  more opportunities for community, room to grow, a simpler format!