There is no room here for large church facilities with acres of parking. People live behind the security of their buildings and enjoy a strong sense of community amongst their friends. Yet they love to come together for large events such as theatre, fire works or sporting events.

Starting with one small cell group of believers in 1994 the group soon grew. Once the group was larger than the meeting place it multiplied to form another group with a new leader taking charge. Thus the cell multiplication process began because it was the only option to keep growing.

Now that several cells were meeting during the week a Sunday morning celebration service began where the cells could come together to meet and worship the Lord.

Church Outside of Pews and Steeples

In Canada we often refer to church as a building. However in the Bible the church was actually referred to as the people that have accepted Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and as the head of the church. Therefore church is the believers (or body) of Jesus Christ and wherever believers meet “church” is happening.

Jesus was the greatest small group leader in history. One of Jesus’ first acts in His public ministry was to form His small group. Matthew 10:2-4 lists the names of the twelve men he chose. Jesus spent the majority of His time with this small or cell group. They were together constantly; He was in their homes, they travelled together, shared meals, and experienced hard times together. Jesus also ministered to the crowds and they enjoyed the celebration of the power of God in this setting as He shared the Good News. Yet, when it was over He often withdrew to the familiarity and support of His select small group.

The Lord Jesus used this cell group to model spiritual knowledge, attitudes and behaviour. It was not a formal academic experience but an opportunity to live out the example of the leader. As well as the message being taught it was being caught. This group also was the Lord’s preferred method of teaching leadership. These selected common men would go on to impact the world with His teaching in a manner that today has affected every generation and country.

From the very beginning small groups were integral to the church’s development. The majority of the first Christians were Jews. The Jewish family unit was the centre of Jewish religious and social instruction, and this practice was carried through out the early church. As a result, meeting in homes in small groups became a natural growth pattern. In the early days of the church there was no “church” building. They met primarily in homes and in local gathering places. To go to “church” meant to go to someone's house for worship, prayer, sharing and a time to reflect on the word of God. It was a rich sense of community that held the believers together in the good times and the bad. Today we might call it a great support group. (See Acts 2:42-47, Romans 16:5, Colossians 4:15, Philemon 1:2).

The disciples that were taught by the Lord Jesus to minister in small groups developed this method in the church. In Acts 5:42 we read; “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” We see this pattern also when Paul went to minister in Acts 20:20 “…and have taught you publicly, and from house to house.” There were, of course, large meetings, but it was in the small cell groups (or home groups) that people one on one encouraged each other.