I've been talking and writing a lot about our Growth Groups. I see them as a significant means of accomplishing what God has commissioned us to do, and that's why information about growth groups fits into this column of weekly Messages About Purpose and Strategy. I've mentioned that we already have a wide variety of group experiences available and they vary in size and purpose. Some are accountability groups, others are Bible Studies; we also have training classes, ministry teams, and recovery groups. Someone may ask, "Why emphasize another opportunity to connect? What is so distinctive about growth groups?" I'm glad you asked. Some small groups aim at evangelism and others are designed to provide a context for fellowship. The purpose of our groups will be spiritual growth. Though we will hope in the future to use some special small groups as a means of evangelism, our weekend service will probably continue to be the most common entry door to the church and one-on-one conversations will remain the most common entry point to the faith. Our group participants will experience fellowship and accountability, but neither of these will be viewed as the main purpose of our growth groups, which is to facilitate spiritual growth, hence their title: Growth Groups. Two other disticitives are that growth groups meet in homes, which facilitate the kind of interaction we desire and the Bible's content, discussion of its meaning, and application of its principles, must be central or the groups will deteriorate to merely being clubs or cliques. Never think of any of our ministry opportunities as operating in competition with each other. Each facet of what we are doing operates in harmony with the other efforts. Stay tuned, I'll be writing more about our growth groups next week.