In addition to live-streaming their services, Woodside Bible Fellowship in Elmira, ON discerned a way to safely gather their 1200 people in-person. In the Fall of 2020, they prayerfully divided the congregation into ten Life Communities of about 125 each. Here’s an update on their experiment.
Like many churches, this pandemic caused us to look at things from a new perspective and to re-learn some of what it means to be a church. Early in the crisis we identified the number of potential leaders required and available at Woodside. That helped shape our decision to form Life Communities. Each Life Community has lay leaders to take care of organization, care, youth, and kids. We deliberately tapped younger leaders between 25 and 50 so they would have a chance to step up. We believe more of our congregation has stayed connected and been cared for because of Life Communities.
The Life Communities model gives everyone an opportunity to attend church every other Sunday. This was a struggle for those that really wanted to be in church every week. It also meant that people generally only saw those from their own Life Community when they were at church. For a large church accustomed to seeing hundreds of familiar faces each Sunday, there was a sense of loss for many.
Life Communities are not a good fit for every congregation. God may have something unique and better for you. Focus on the unique needs, culture, and resources of your church—these indicate how God has been preparing you. And soak all of this in an overabundance of prayer!
From Thinking Ahead, Spring 2021