Groups
Faith grows in
circles,
not rows
A room of four hundred people can still be a room where nobody knows your name. Groups are how we fix that.
GrowThis is where you find a family. Peace with God is given in a moment. Peace with people gets built at a table, over months, with folks who know your actual week.
Why groups
Sunday can’t
do this part
You can attend a church for years and stay a stranger. You cannot sit at somebody’s table for eight weeks and stay a stranger.
This is where grow in peace actually happens. Prayer requests stop being generic. Somebody notices you were gone two weeks in a row. The meal train shows up when it goes bad. Every church says community matters; a group is the part where it costs you a Tuesday night.
We run four different kinds, because people need different things at different times — and the one you need in a good year is not the one you need in a hard one.
A group praying together at the Mill
Four kinds of groups
Find the one
that fits the
season you’re in
01Common interests
Connect Groups
Community and connection built around something you already love doing.
Hiking, disc golf, moms of littles, motorcycles, board games, running, fishing, coffee. The point is not the activity — it is that friendship forms sideways, while you are both looking at something else. If walking into a Bible study feels like a lot, start here.
02Scripture, prayer, depth
Community Groups
Groups built around Scripture, praying for one another, and going deeper with God and people.
This is the backbone. You open the Bible together, you pray for each other by name, and over a season you get honest. Most people who say SOJO became home for them can point at a Community Group as the reason.
03When life gets heavy
Care Groups
Groups where people are cared for — and groups where people do the caring.
Some seasons you need somebody to carry something with you. Some seasons you are the one doing the carrying. Both belong here, and neither one requires you to have it together first.
SOJO Ink
Writing cards to people in our church. A quiet, powerful way to care for somebody you may never meet — and one of the easiest first steps in the whole church.
SOJO Recovery
A group for people with hurts, hang-ups, and habits. No pretending required. PC has been open about his own story with addiction; nobody here is going to be shocked by yours.
SOJO Grief Recovery
A group to help you mourn the loss of someone — or something. Grief is not only about funerals, and it does not run on anybody else's schedule.
SOJO Divorce Care
A group aimed at helping people get through one of the most painful relationship hurts in life. Whatever the story is, you will not be judged for being in it.
04Taught by our leaders
Classes
Real teaching from the people who lead this church.
Sometimes you do not need a circle — you need somebody who has studied this to walk you through it. Classes run in terms and are open to anybody, whether SOJO is your church or not.
A Study in Genesis — Pastor Corey
The book everything else is built on. Where life, peace, and purpose all start, and where they first go wrong.
SOJO University — Pastor Dan
Foundational training for people who want to understand the faith they are living in, and lead others in it.
What to expect
The honest
version
It’s smaller than you think
Eight to twelve people, usually. Small enough that it matters whether you show up.
You will not be put on the spot
Nobody is going to make you pray out loud or read a passage cold. You can sit and listen as long as you need to.
You don’t need Bible knowledge
Groups are full of people still figuring it out. Bringing a real question is worth more than bringing a right answer.
There is almost always food
It is a SOJO group. Of course there is food.
Commitment is a season, not a life sentence
Groups run in seasons. Try one; if it is not your fit, try another. Nobody is offended.
Getting in
Three ways
to start
Every group lives in Church Center — the same app you use for events and giving. Sign-up takes about a minute.
Browse what’s open in Church Center
Every current group, when and where it meets, who leads it, and whether it has room. Filter by day, by type, or by part of town, then request to join right there.
Tell us what you’re looking for
Not sure which one fits? Text us the part of town you are in, what nights work, and what season of life you are in. We will point you at two or three.
Come to Discover SOJO first
The last Sunday of every month. Meet leaders, ask questions, and find out where the groups actually are before you commit to one.
Or lead one
You don’t have to be
a Bible scholar
You have to be willing to open your calendar and care about people.
We provide the training, the material, and a coach. You provide the room and the consistency. If a group has ever mattered to you, leading one is how somebody else gets that.
Connect Groups especially need leaders — if you already do a thing every week, you are most of the way to leading one.
