1980 – 1990Fellowship Bible Church began as a small group. Four families came together to study the Word, pray, and share in each other’s lives. This small group blossomed and grew and became the nucleus of FBC. As the church was launched, everyone was involved in a small group that was led by an elder. These small groups became known as Mini Churches. Mini Churches had the goals of the four primary activities mentioned in Acts 2:42-47 which says the Christians were devoted 1) to the apostles’ teaching, 2) to fellowship, 3) to breaking bread together, and 4) to prayer. These can be lived out only partially in corporate worship. To produce the same qualities in our lives, we do what we find in the book of Acts, where we read not only the phrase “meeting in the temple and synagogue,” but also the phrase “went about from house to house.” Small groups are necessary to do all that the church is designed to do. While many Christians think of corporate worship as their true time of worship, it is essential that real life rubs against real life, something largely impossible in a larger church’s Sunday morning.
1990- 2000Fellowship grew. That maybe an understatement: Fellowship exploded with growth. In 1990, FBC had a steady 45 families attending worship and Mini Churches, by 2000 the family count hovered around 440. In a matter of ten years FBC grew seven fold. Only about 30% of those 440 families were engaged in a Mini Church. With the completion of the new building, this growth in number only continued until today approximately 770 families call FBC home. The reasons for the drop of Mini Church involvement centered around two issues: lack of new Mini Churches and qualified Mini Church Leaders to lead them. Where was God leading us? It was easy to see that new small group leaders had to be intentionally trained and empowered to lead a small group.
2002A two tiered small group ministry was born. Mini Churches continued as normal and Fellowship Groups were launched in September of 2003. Fellowship Group leaders went through a one-year intensive training program. At the end of that program twelve new groups were started with two leader couples sharing the load of leading the group. Fellowship Groups allowed people to experience a small group for one year and they could continue if they felt comfortable in doing so. Fellowship Groups also allowed the new leaders an opportunity to test the waters of leadership without the full weight of the group on their backs.
2004A unified small group approach was unveiled during August 2004. The plan for small groups at FBC involves unifying Mini Churches and Fellowship Groups into one ministry called Community Groups. By unifying our current groups into one ministry allows for simplified training and oversight. Communicating the vision of the ministry to the FBC family will become easier as well. The name Community Group will emphasize the true purpose and function of small groups. These groups are caring fellowships where people develop close, honest, supportive relationships that enrich their spiritual lives and in turn allow them to enrich the lives of other. Changed Lives – Change Worlds