Home Groups Offer the Best of Xenos

What’s the best part of Xenos? Home Groups!

Home Groups are the backbone of Xenos Christian Fellowship. These exciting meetings combine an interactive Bible study setting with the opportunity to meet new friends and experience Christian fellowship on a deeper level.

More than 100 Home Groups meet around Columbus for Bible study, prayer, Christian growth and building friendships. Maybe you wonder what people who are new to Home Groups think about their experiences.

Rick Armentrout, Xenos home group connection coordinator, shares his conversations with four people who recently got involved.

Ken and Julie Barker: Ken and his wife, Julie, have attended John and Connie Rue’s group since February. Both of them became Christians in the last three years.

Anette Fenner: Anette has been involved in the Knisely group since June.

Adam Segaard: Adam started attending the Geiger group in July 1999.

RICK: What got you interested in home groups, and why did you visit one?

Ken: I’ve been a Christian for almost three years, and I wanted to find a church home. I was invited by Andy Stack to a “Movie Review Night” on The Matrix. (The group combined with two others to watch and then discuss the movie.)

I liked it a lot and then went to Central Teaching where I heard Gary DeLashmutt teach. I decided this church is cool!

Julie: I don’t like a large church ‘feel,’ so we decided to check out a Home Group, which is smaller. We thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship.

It didn’t make sense to put in four hours a week on Sunday just attending some church and trying be good. We needed something more fulfilling, and Xenos has this for us.

Anette: I wanted to be more involved in a church. I also wanted to learn more about God in a tangible way.

I used to be involved in another church, but it was just a lot of talk. People were friendly, but no one was involved deeply in other people’s lives. I wanted something more real.

Adam: I was living alone and going to Central Teaching (CT) periodically. I heard about Home Groups from a guy I knew who took me to CT. I realized that I needed people to talk to because my family was pretty spread out.

I had a desire to learn more about the Bible and to get closer to people. I found out there would be an opportunity to learn the Bible in a question and answer atmosphere, and that appealed to me.

RICK: How have home groups impacted your lives? Can you be specific?

Ken: I can think of a couple areas. When we bought a duplex, 15 to 20 people from the Home Group showed up to help us move. It was phenomenal. They ordered pizza and knocked out the move in a couple of hours. I had a lot of peace knowing I didn’t have to find movers; it made the move painless. This experience was so satisfying.

Also, while Julie and I were taking Christian Principles class, talking with people from the Home Group reinforced what we were learning. (Xenos offers this comprehensive four-part Bible training course throughout the year.)

Julie: We’ve realized that our friends in our Home Group have been a huge support network to us during my pregnancy. I feel so comfortable even though we’re going through something I have no clue about.

Anette: I’ve found many friends and friendly accountability. It’s great! I can’t wait for Friday night to come around to go to Home Group. There’s a very caring environment and the people in the group already are very important to me.

Adam: Through getting to know folks at Home Group, there have been opportunities to step out of my comfort zone and learn how to help others. I’m learning the satisfaction of service. There have been times that I didn’t feel adequate to serve, but I trusted the people around me and trusted God to get them through.

One of my greatest experiences so far in this area was helping to put the playground together in South Linden. (Urban Concern, Xenos’ inner city ministry, recently built a playground beside their school.)

RICK: What have you learned about God from being in a home group?

Ken: It’s changed my understanding of who God is and what my relationship with him is supposed to be like.

It especially helped to hear the way people in the Home Group prayed to a God who’s right there in the room—like he’s a close friend. Things became clearer. The Home Group provided a framework to learn to focus on other people, and to see God work in their lives.

Being in a Home Group has been a rapid learning process about God and Christianity.

Adam: The guys in the group patiently reinforced the message of God’s grace to me.

Also, watching the interaction of the married couples helped me see something different in their relationships from what I had experienced in the past. They claimed that the positive difference was caused by God working in their lives.

Are you interested in learning more about Home Groups or visiting a Home Group? Home Group Connection can help!