Outside of Sunday morning, Lifegroups (Highrock’s small groups) are the primary place we hope to form connections at Highrock: Connections to one another, to God, and to the work God is doing. God grows seeds when we expose them to water and sunlight - and God grows souls when we expose them to Scripture and to one another. Our goal is for your Lifegroup to be a place where you find community, grow deeper in your faith, and come to know God more fully - and where you can find a close group of Highrockers to walk with you through whatever life brings. 

This is how the early Church experienced community: Christians would gather together in groups, meeting in each other’s homes, sharing in the reality and community of Christ and His Kingdom together. They met in smaller groups to encourage each other, pray for each other, and support each other as they grew spiritually.

Our goal is to have every Lifegroup meeting once per week. Some groups may choose to meet regularly on Sunday morning and watch the service together, or meet after service over Zoom to discuss the sermon! It doesn't have to be a huge time commitment - just a way to regularly connect with one another. Obviously, stuff happens! There will be times that a large part of the group might be unavailable on the usual day, and it would make more sense to cancel for the week or move to another day. However, our goal is to have the group meet once a week. The groups usually shoot for a 1.5 - 2 hour meeting (for in-person meetings - virtual meetings naturally tend to be a little shorter).

The meeting location is up to your group. Often, the Lifegroup leader will host in their home or backyard. Some groups like to take turns hosting among the members! It is up to your group.** 

We are also encouraging groups to meet once or twice a quarter for a social get together. This could be meeting up at a park on a weekend, or doing a virtual game night for example. We recommend scheduling these in advance so everyone can participate!  

** During the COVID-19 pandemic, many groups are choosing to meet online via virtual platforms (such as Zoom, Google Meet, FaceTime, etc.). This is a great option if your group isn’t comfortable meeting in-person or if your group has parents who would rather connect after bedtime. If your group still wants to meet in-person during the COVID-19 pandemic, we recommend meeting outside and socially distant from each other. The church parking lot is a great option if no one in the group has a backyard/outdoor space! The church parking lot is a great resource as well...just bring a few folding chairs and you’ve got a great spot! If your group decides to meet inside, the staff team is working on preparing a specific room inside the church that is large enough to spread out in (and with a nice air purifier) that would also be available for Lifegroups to use. Once the weather turns cold again, we will encourage groups to bundle up and continue meeting outside, or to begin meeting virtually, rather than meeting indoors.

Groups who choose to meet in person will be required to sign a safety covenant, which we have developed in collaboration with local health experts to ensure the health and safety of our groups. You can read the safety covenant on our website at highrocknorthshore.org/lifegroups as you make your own informed decision about which type of group you’d be most comfortable joining.**

Great question! Our model for Lifegroups will focus on sermon-based studies that focus on the sermon from the previous Sunday’s service. Each week, the preacher prepares a few “Going Deeper” questions that are sent to all the Lifegroup leaders and those who receive the Friday Highrock Happenings emails. We love this model! It provides a great opportunity to really explore the sermon from that week’s Sunday service and to engage more fully with God’s Word! Generally, meetings consist of a time for conversation and connection, a time of reflection and discussion based on the Going Deeper questions, and prayer.

The “Going Deeper” discussions are based on that week’s sermon and rooted in scripture, and are prompts designed to organically move and shape to fit the needs and interests of the group. Sometimes groups get through all of the questions, sometimes just the first question takes the group down a path of growth and application and transformation. As we’ve used this model, we’ve seen space for groups to speak into each other’s lives, and to grow deeper in Christ together.

Also, service is central to Highrock, and we are excited to improve the process for how we serve with Lifegroups. Jesus told his followers to feed the hungry and clothe the naked as a part of how we share who he is in the world. So we'll ask each group to choose one of our partner ministries to be regularly praying for and learning about in this season together. And we'll offer a service opportunity to begin serving that ministry in a tangible way - whether from a distance or in person if it's feasible for your group! Pastor Angie will provide details, prayer prompts, and service opportunities for Highrock ministries and community partners so that you can choose a mission together as a group.

This will vary depending on the type of group. Virtual groups will be encouraged to cap around 8 people, while in-person groups will vary between roughly 8-12 people, depending on the make-up of the group. Either way, our goal is for the groups to be large enough to build community while also being small enough to allow for a closeness between members to grow. 

Our hope is to see Lifegroups run all year! But as far as planning goes due to COVID and our pastoral transition, we’re just asking all of our Lifegroups to commit to a season from September to December for now. Our plan is to launch Lifegroups in mid-September and then take a break during Advent. At that point we’ll touch base with all of our leaders and regroup, seeing how it went and how we’d all like to move forward for 2021!

We love families! There are a few ways families with children can participate in Lifegroups. 

For families who are interested in including their kids in Lifegroup, we are looking at forming family-friendly groups who would meet on weekends or earlier in the evenings, and would be able to have sermon-based bible studies as families! If you are interested in participating in this type of group, please contact our Lifegroup Coordinator Team (Chris Peters, Ryan Tussey, and Ethan May) at lifegroups@highrocknorthshore.org. We imagine this working particularly well with older kids, around age 11 and up.

Adults may choose to join Lifegroups that meet in the evenings after the kids are in bed. The possibility of meeting virtually opens up new opportunities for parents or guardians to meet together in groups without needing a sitter! Or if the group meets when the kids are still awake, we’re also working on making some great Kidsrock materials for younger kids to have while the adults are in Lifegroup!

Group members may choose to form a rotation - for instance, a couple or a few members may each sign up to do a Lifegroup "Kidsrock" once a month while the rest of the adults meet together in another spot.

We are also encouraging groups to meet together once or twice for a social get together, which is a great opportunity to include the whole family. This could be meeting up at a park on a weekend, or doing a virtual game night for example.

What if I'm new to Highrock? Am I able to join a Lifegroup? 

OF COURSE! Everyone is welcome in a Lifegroup! Whether you call Highrock North Shore your home or you're new and exploring what it looks like to be in community with a church, you are welcome and we would love for you to be in a Lifegroup! If you’re looking to join a Lifegroup midway through the season, we’ll be keeping an eye on which groups have some extra room or possibly starting a new group if there are others also interested.

It’s easy! You can head to highrocknorthshore.org/lifegroups to sign up...it only takes a minute! If you’d like to join but have a couple questions first, you can also email the Lifegroup Coordinator Team at lifegroups@highrocknorthshore.org and we’d be so happy to talk with you more about it.

We’ll be working to place everyone in groups based on their preferences and availability. The first couple weeks, you’ll have an opportunity to stay in that group, or explore other groups, as we all settle into what works best for our schedules and hectic daily lives. After a few weeks, everyone will be asked to commit to their group for the remainder of 2020.