How this church works

Community Groups

Forty-two community groups of eight to twelve people, meeting weekly in homes across Nashville and Williamson County. Sunday is the front door; this is the living room.

What a night looks like

Food first, always. Then an hour on the passage that was preached the previous Sunday — not a lecture, a conversation. Then prayer for each other, by name, out loud or silently as you prefer. Most groups run about two hours and most people stay longer than they meant to.

How they're organized

By neighborhood rather than by campus or life stage, so a Brentwood group has retirees and newlyweds in it and people from both campuses. A handful of groups are specific — two young-parents groups with childcare, one in Spanish, one for people who work Sunday mornings.

Childcare

Groups handle this themselves. Some pool money for a sitter, some rotate, some are all empty-nesters and it never comes up. Ask the leader before you worry about it.

Joining one

Email Gavin Reyes with roughly where you live and what stage of life you're in. He'll suggest two or three groups and introduce you to the leaders by name. You visit, and if it isn't right you try another — nobody takes it personally. See the current list.

Leading one

Leaders are trained over four sessions in August and January and are supported by a coach who checks in monthly. You don't need a theology degree; you need to be willing to open your home and ask good questions.