A Place to Grow and Connect: One Small Group Community
A Cause for Celebration
Birthdays are always a reason for celebration. Jake’s upcoming 30th birthday served as motivation for his wife to throw him a surprise party. Jake’s wife, Sarah, invited their closest friends to help celebrate the milestone – all people who are members or who have been members of their small group Bible study. The relationships built within the confines of their small group have been close and lasting.
As Jake and Sarah approached the park, their friends’ families casually pretended to be occupied with playing on sets of monkey bars and swings. When Jake slowly realized that he knew each person in the park, it dawned on him that he and his wife were not just on a casual walk. When everyone burst into loud choruses of "Happy Birthday," Jake exclaimed, “Wow, this is great – all of my favorite people in one place!” As Jake was surrounded by his wife, children, and friends, he couldn’t help but be reminded of how richly God had blessed him with friendship, just one of many benefits from being a member of a small group Bible study.
The Franczyk small group Bible study started gathering two years ago. The small group is composed of nine couples and their families, all who attend Johnston Evangelical Free Church in Johnston, IA. Each meeting starts with fellowship over a meal, transitions to Bible study, and then ends with prayer requests. The group is similar, but diverse. Some are newlyweds; others are celebrating ten years of marriage. Many families have children and some are without children. Some are new Christians; others have grown up in the church. They all are different, but all have a desire for community.
The core group sprung from each couple’s desire for community and more focused fellowship. Gone are the days of neighborhood block parties and kids running in and out of each other’s houses. Those days have been replaced by Facebook pages and Twitter accounts – no real face-to-face communities – just virtual communities. What started as a desire to get to know other couples in the Johnston Evangelical Free Church, the Franczyk small group grew to be much more. It became a place of friendship, kinship, and encouragement. It became a place to share life changes – the joy of newborns, the sorrow of lost jobs, the worry of sick children, and the celebration of birthdays. In short, it became a community.
One couple looking for community was Erika and her husband Ryan. Erika and Ryan were married less than a year when they helped form the Franczyk small group. “The small group has been important for our marriage,” said Erika. “When we were first married I was concerned that we would never build the types of friendships we had in college. It was really hard to not have any sort of community to rely upon. But this small group has changed that. We have true, meaningful friendships – people we can go to with our problems, people that share our values and faith, people who can empathize with what’s going on in our life. Without this community, our lives would be a lot different.”
That’s just one story. Shae, one of the newest members to the small group, had a different experience to share. “Bree and I had only been coming to the small group for a month before I unexpectedly got laid off." Shae continued, "I’m a pretty closed person and had no intention of telling anyone outside my family about my unemployment. But at the end of the night, God moved me to open up and share my plight with the group. It was amazing the type of support and care the group offered to us. I guess that’s the benefit of being a member of a community – you get to connect and have friends with whom you can be honest.”
Sarah recalled a slightly different moment when she needed the small group. “Trevor, our youngest, had a dangerously high temperature and I was home by myself. I needed someone to mind Eric, our oldest, while I took Trevor to the doctor. Fortunately, I knew that I could count on someone from our small group to watch Eric. But it didn’t just stop at babysitting. When we ended up going to the emergency room, someone else from our small group stopped by to walk our puppy and another small group member sent out a prayer request email for our family." Sarah finished the recollection ,"It’s moments like those in which I feel so incredibly blessed by this community. I have a circle of support – I have 16 different people I can turn to if my family needs something.”
For many adults, birthdays come and go each year unnoticed. But for members of the Franczyk small group, birthdays are an excuse for celebration. But more than just an excuse for a party, these celebrations also serve as an important reminder of the sense of community and connection one small group has provided.
As Jake and Sarah approached the park, their friends’ families casually pretended to be occupied with playing on sets of monkey bars and swings. When Jake slowly realized that he knew each person in the park, it dawned on him that he and his wife were not just on a casual walk. When everyone burst into loud choruses of "Happy Birthday," Jake exclaimed, “Wow, this is great – all of my favorite people in one place!” As Jake was surrounded by his wife, children, and friends, he couldn’t help but be reminded of how richly God had blessed him with friendship, just one of many benefits from being a member of a small group Bible study.
The Franczyk small group Bible study started gathering two years ago. The small group is composed of nine couples and their families, all who attend Johnston Evangelical Free Church in Johnston, IA. Each meeting starts with fellowship over a meal, transitions to Bible study, and then ends with prayer requests. The group is similar, but diverse. Some are newlyweds; others are celebrating ten years of marriage. Many families have children and some are without children. Some are new Christians; others have grown up in the church. They all are different, but all have a desire for community.
The core group sprung from each couple’s desire for community and more focused fellowship. Gone are the days of neighborhood block parties and kids running in and out of each other’s houses. Those days have been replaced by Facebook pages and Twitter accounts – no real face-to-face communities – just virtual communities. What started as a desire to get to know other couples in the Johnston Evangelical Free Church, the Franczyk small group grew to be much more. It became a place of friendship, kinship, and encouragement. It became a place to share life changes – the joy of newborns, the sorrow of lost jobs, the worry of sick children, and the celebration of birthdays. In short, it became a community.
One couple looking for community was Erika and her husband Ryan. Erika and Ryan were married less than a year when they helped form the Franczyk small group. “The small group has been important for our marriage,” said Erika. “When we were first married I was concerned that we would never build the types of friendships we had in college. It was really hard to not have any sort of community to rely upon. But this small group has changed that. We have true, meaningful friendships – people we can go to with our problems, people that share our values and faith, people who can empathize with what’s going on in our life. Without this community, our lives would be a lot different.”
That’s just one story. Shae, one of the newest members to the small group, had a different experience to share. “Bree and I had only been coming to the small group for a month before I unexpectedly got laid off." Shae continued, "I’m a pretty closed person and had no intention of telling anyone outside my family about my unemployment. But at the end of the night, God moved me to open up and share my plight with the group. It was amazing the type of support and care the group offered to us. I guess that’s the benefit of being a member of a community – you get to connect and have friends with whom you can be honest.”
Sarah recalled a slightly different moment when she needed the small group. “Trevor, our youngest, had a dangerously high temperature and I was home by myself. I needed someone to mind Eric, our oldest, while I took Trevor to the doctor. Fortunately, I knew that I could count on someone from our small group to watch Eric. But it didn’t just stop at babysitting. When we ended up going to the emergency room, someone else from our small group stopped by to walk our puppy and another small group member sent out a prayer request email for our family." Sarah finished the recollection ,"It’s moments like those in which I feel so incredibly blessed by this community. I have a circle of support – I have 16 different people I can turn to if my family needs something.”
For many adults, birthdays come and go each year unnoticed. But for members of the Franczyk small group, birthdays are an excuse for celebration. But more than just an excuse for a party, these celebrations also serve as an important reminder of the sense of community and connection one small group has provided.
Jake's Surprise Birthday Party Photos
