Discipleship in Community
A primary characteristic our our life together is spiritual friendship. This means genuine relationships focused on spiritual life. Mere relationship and abstract spirituality both fall short of discipleship in community. Instead, we seek to share life in pursuit of God’s kingdom. This means spending time together in vulnerability, recreation, and mission.
We also recognize that discipleship does not happen by accident. We endeavor, therefore, to practice intentional community, which involves both rhythms and practices. Our essential rhythms include Sunday and Wednesday gatherings, annual special events like seasonal celebrations, and regular ministry endeavors. Our core practices include worship, study, fellowship, spiritual guidance, fasting, prayer, and discernment.
Sunday Mornings
On Sunday mornings, SRC gathers to pray, study, worship, share communion, and submit the preaching of the word of God. Our study ranges across a variety of methods, always focusing on God’s will; we study Scripture, read books together, and discuss topical interests. We worship God in song and prayer, offering praise, giving thanks, confessing sin, expressing lament, and asking for grace. We come to the Lord’s table every week to share bread and grape juice in remembrance of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. A sermon, liturgy, or testimony to God’s work accompanies every Sunday gathering.
Wednesday Evenings
Every Wednesday evening, a small group of church members eats together before spending time in conversation, study, and prayer. For us, the opportunity to be together again in the course of the week is an tremendous gift. We catch up, share our struggles and joys, grapple with difficult questions, and encourage each other toward faithfulness to Christ.
Spiritual Practices
Our shared spiritual life is characterized by a variety of regular practices in addition to the communion, prayer, worship, giving, and study that mark our regular meetings. Among these are congregational fasting, prayer walks, discernment, hospitality, and service, as well as spiritual guidance that takes place on a personal or small-group level. We believe that such practices are an indispensable form of cooperation with the Holy Spirit’s work in us.