We’ve been talking a lot about evangelism, but what about community? We all know that community and relationships are a key part of what cell ministry is all about. It’s hard to hide in a cell. Everyone is encouraged to share. And the cell is often just the launching pad for cell members to develop deep relationships with each other outside of the cell meeting.
A key question is whether building community helps or hinders cell multiplication?
In my the questionnaire of 700 cell leaders, I asked the leaders how often their group met outside of the regular cell group for social gatherings. According to the data, there was a positive correlation between frequency of social meetings outside the regular cell meeting and group multiplication. Thus, building relationships among group members really does help in the multiplication process.
During social gathering outside of the cell meeting, close connections are created between group members that will participate in the leadership team of the new daughter cell. And giving birth to a new group doesn’t mean that members of the mother and daughter cell won’t see each other anymore. Cell Churches don’t just emphasize cell ministry. Rather, celebrating together and meeting in other venues is part of the cell church experience.
Relational building in the group is an essential part of the DNA of cell ministry, but we also must see relational building as a positive step in the process of group multiplication.
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Joel