This is the key building block of BLAZE, and ultimately of the whole of Falmouth Salvation Army. We aim to meet all our objectives through these small groups.
A cell group is a small group of people (usually around 6-12 people) who try to live out a true expression of Christian community life and into which those who do not yet know Jesus are absorbed through a network of relationships. Each cell group aims to equip and support its members to live out their Christian life where they are.
Absolutely not! The high point of the life of a cell group are the corporate worship services where all the cell groups are gathered together. These are an expression of the community life happening at cell level. The resources and effort of the corporate worship are focused on equipping the whole body of believers, in cells, to be growing and reaching out.
In the Bible, and particularly in Paul's letters, the small group or home group was seen as "the church". It was the basic Christian unit of Church life. Paul also likened the church to a body when he called the church the body of Christ.
As we know, a body is made up of many "cells", which in Paul's picture speak of individual Christians. The term "Cell Church" or "Cell Groups" simply extends this idea by thinking of each home group as an individual cell within the wider body of Christ. So the small group, or cell group is compared with the biological cell of the human body.
At the cell meeting, members have opportunity to praise God and apply the Word of God to their lives, so that their lives are in the process of changing, rather than just their intellect growing. The cell meeting is also a place where members encourage one another to build genuine friendships with non-believers and to serve the needs of the poor. Prayer ministry support can occur at any appropriate place within the meeting. Because the small cell is seen as a growing church community of deepening relationships, many of the activities of traditional church are practiced in the cell. Activities such as pastoring, praying, discipling, life application of scripture, evangelism, Servanthood to the poor, equipping, and training of assistant leaders, (who at the point of multiplication become the new cell leaders). In the context of this cell community, members build relationships with neighbours, work colleagues and friends in secular clubs and meeting places. The cell, as we must constantly be reminded, is not a meeting, but a lifestyle of relationships.
Cell church, or in other words a church made up of cell groups, is a way of doing church that is driven by values rather than programmes. A value is an underlying principle that really matters to us.
We have the following four key values (remembered in a simple ABCD form) as follows:
Always keeping Jesus Central
Becoming more like Him
Creating True Community
Doing God's Will
There are many cell churches and websites which give lots of information about cell church. in particular we would recommend some of the information on the website of our colleagues and friends at Nottingham Arnold Salvation Army.