Homegroups

Homegroup Co-ordinator James Cooke.

Homegroups play an important part in the life of the church. They provide a supportive environment in which people can grow as Christians, for example through prayer, studying the Bible, developing friendships, and reaching out to the local community. There are a number of these groups which meet on different days of the week, mostly in the evening.

Groups have continued to flourish over the last year, with a total membership of over 100. There are 10 homegroups, most meeting weekly (except where indicated) as follows:-

	When & Who	Leader(s)	Children’s/Youth Group “adopted”
Group M3	Monday afternoons (fortnightly). A group for senior citizens	Anne Wyatt & Liz Tilley
Group M1	Monday evenings. Mixed group.	Paul & Helen McCormick	U-Turn
Group M2	Monday evenings. Mostly younger ladies.	Moira Hassall & ??	Stepping Stones
Group M4	Monday evenings. Mixed group, mainly families with children.	Brenda Morley & Christine Merritt	Chatterbox
Group Tu1	Tuesday evenings (fortnightly). Mixed group.	Stephen Darvill	Sunday Pathfinders
Group W1	Wednesday Evenings, Mixed group	James Cooke & Jane Scott-Thompson	Friday Pathfinders
Group Th2.	Thursday evenings. Ladies group.	Ruth Fowke & Joan Best	Light Factory
Group Th3.	Thursday evenings. Mixed group.	Tony Beet & Tessa Auty
Group Th1	Thursday evenings. Mixed group.	Terry Powles	Friday Club
Group Th4	Thursday evenings 8pm. Mixed group.	Gordon Mylchreest (at the Boughton’s)
Group F1.	Friday mornings. Ladies group.	Sian Hodges & Mary Thompson	KFC

A new Group has been set up for the 20’s to 30’s age group, called “Committed”. It is run by Jenny Scott-Thompson for those who cannot commit to attending a homegroup regularly. They keep in touch by the Wonersh Committed Group in Facebook.

Click on the Groups above to find out more about them

If you'd like more information please contact James Cooke (01483 276049).

During the past year some common Bible study notes (on 1 John, and the Sermon on the Mount) were used by a number of the groups, but at other times they chose study material to suit the needs of their particular group. There is a continuing need for new leaders, not least because two or three groups have been growing to such an extent that they now need to consider dividing to form two smaller groups.

Homegroups provide support and care for each other and are an invaluable source for the ongoing work of the Care Team in our church fellowship. Some areas of the Care Team that might be additional support for Home Groups in the care for each other are:-

Confidential prayer chain of people who will pray for any personal, family or friends needs.
If someone in the group suffers a bereavement of close family member or friend a bereavement visitor can call. The Care Team would like to know even if no visit is necessary so that an invitation to the annual Memorial Service can be sent.
Hospital visiting or lifts to appointments, meals for families with new babies or during illness or post op.

At the request of the Children’s & Youth Team, the homegroups have each taken on the challenge to “adopt” one of these groups in order to be able to pray for them

The highlights of the year (2006) so far have been:-

The service of evening praise was conducted by three groups.
The joint training event (with Bramley) for group leaders.

Our prayer is that from the current Alpha Course in Wonersh we should be able to provide a new group (or two) for those who want to go on meeting, post Alpha. For this we need more leaders who sense God’s call to this immensely valuable work.

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