Meetings

Our meetings are designed very deliberately to help us grow as disciples in genuine community that reaches out collectively and individually to our neighbors without adding distractions and programs that can get in the way of real life.

Gatherings

When we come together as a full congregation, we sit shoulder to shoulder and receive from our leaders and offer worship and praise to our God with one voice.  These meetings are important — a pastor/elder whose heart is broken before God and committed to shepherding his or her flock can bring powerful words from God to the heart of God’s church.  There is also excitement in the ‘critical mass’ as we see our friends and can encourage one another and then be sent into the world renewed to follow the Holy Spirit who leads us to love our neighbors.

  • First Sunday Gathering – As the name implies, the First Sunday of every month we gather for worship, teaching and empowerment to “Go and Be” God’s people in our world. 

    • This gathering is our monthly celebration where the whole church gathers for a time of worship and preaching, along with communion and prayer.  It’s a great opportunity to meet us for the first time, and will feel familiar to people who have checked out other churches.  The music is contemporary, the atmosphere casual.  We meet at 1pm the First Sunday of each month at Franklin Community Church located at 2005 Upper Shelbyville Road in Franklin.   Click here for directions

  • Third Saturday Gathering – Again, as the name implies, the Third Saturday of every month we gather to share a meal and the Lord’s Supper together.  Often there is a devotional talk, updates on missional activities, worship and/or prayer
    • Each month, our whole congregation gathers to share a meal, as Jesus did with his friends at the last supper.  We each bring an offering of food – a favorite family recipe, something new, or even something we pick up on the way.  We often have a devotional message, and regularly invite members from other congregations to join us.  Guests are warmly welcomed and the meal is on us!

House Churches – Heart of the Church

Every other week (normally alternating with our larger gatherings) we gather in smaller groups in homes.  This face to face interaction is the driving force in our growing community and discipleship.  Through intimate worship, study of God’s Word, the Bible, and serious prayer, we come to truly live life together.  Not everyone speaks, and no one is put on the spot, but everyone present matters, and participates at the level of his or her own comfort.

  • House Churches – Life & Friendship – Presently we have two house churches meeting regularly.  Each group alternates at a different home on Wednesdays.  Life Church in Greenwood and Friendship Church in Franklin.  Guests are welcome and members can join at either times.
    • The most important meetings we have each month are our house church meetings.  This is where the church can truly be the church, with each member giving and receiving in real community.  A typical meeting is an hour and a half and includes a time of worship, a discussion/study of the Bible, prayer and friendship.  Here we are comforted when we struggle, are challenged and equipped to grow, and empowered to go and be the church in the world.

Pilgrimages

There is only one Church, and we alone are not it!  All of God’s people from every tongue and tribe and nation are together the Church, and we are committed as one small part of that to stay close to our brothers and sisters from other congregations.  Several times a year, we connect with another church family, spend a month or so praying for them and looking forward to joining them in worship.  God has never failed to show up, and we believe we honor Jesus’ prayer (John 17) that we would be as one, just as he and his Father are one.

·        Pilgrimages – An important part of our DNA as a church is our connectedness to other congregations.  Several times each year, we travel to another congregation for worship, encouragement and community.  Each time, we spend the month leading up to our visit praying for our sister congregation, and we go expecting that God will do something – and we've never been disappointed.  We bring our tithes and offerings as we visit, and normally invite the leaders/members of the congregation we visit to a meal following.

 

Other Meetings

  • All Church Prayer – From our beginning, we wanted to be a church who prayed, and every month those of us who can join together to pray deliberately for each other, our congregation, our community and the world.  
    • We are a church that believes in prayer.  Each month, we have a gathering focused exclusively on praying for each other, our community, other congregations, and for God’s Kingdom to come to all the nations.  We invite any to come to receive prayer or to join us, and you can contact us with a prayer request if you’d like us to remember you when we gather.
  • Children’s Church – Jesus loved kids, and so do we!  Although children are a welcome part of each of our gatherings, once a month we set aside an evening to focus on them especially. 
    • Once a month our little ones gather for an age appropriate lesson, games, and play time together.  This meeting is targeted to those who are potty-trained and able to participate in stories and games, through the age where they are strong readers and ready for our Youth Group.
  • youth Group – Our next generation is coming soon, and we have a responsibility to train them up with God’s help as best as we can.  Once a month our youth spend a Saturday afternoon together, building relationships, working through difficult questions, praying, and even having fun.  Occasional other activities are planned throughout the year for fun and to further develop their relationships with each other and their Creator.  
    • Starting with strong readers, this group meets monthly to encourage one another, develop habits of Bible study and prayer, and to hold each other accountable in their faith journeys.
  • Community Service & Outreach – We are committed to our community, especially the poor and hurting.  We've developed several opportunities to serve alongside others who are trying to meet real needs in our neighborhoods to bring the church to those who need it most.  

Deliberate Relationships

Although it isn't a meeting, per se, one of the most important things we do, and a key to the way we’re organized as a church is all about building deliberate relationships with people around us.  It is easy to live life anonymously, but that isn't the only way to live.  Who is your neighbor?  Really – the person who lives next door!  Do you know them?  We want to have time to invite our neighbors and co-workers over for dinner, to befriend them for who they are, church-goer or not.  We don’t meet them with a hidden agenda to invite them to “come and see” what we’re doing at our church.  Our only agenda is to share God’s love with them by offering them real friendship — to “go and be” the church who brings God’s love where it is needed most.

Sometimes this is serving a family member — one of our members goes almost daily to a nursing home to bring her own and God’s love to her mom; another provides childcare once a week for a granddaughter.  Sometimes this is bringing a meal to a family who has someone in the hospital, or sitting and talking (and listening) to someone who is sick or hurting.  Often, this is deliberately reaching out to a neighbor or co-worker, having coffee, taking in a game, watching the kids splash in the pool… being a real friend who is really interested in the other person.

Truly all of our other meetings build us up, grow us, prepare us and then send us to bring church with us wherever we go to whomever we meet.  Our most important meeting is probably the one we never scheduled at all.  Go and Be!