Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Connection Groups

Noel and Georgia McRae:                           
The Roadrunner Connection Group

Ours is the longest running and largest group of all our small groups. We began about the size of a usual small group, but people who fit in and/or had needs that we could address or assist with would come along. And now we are around 20.

We became the "roadrunner" group back when Nick asked all the groups to name themselves, and the name stuck. We called ourselves "Roadrunners" because at the time we were spread from Kalama, west Longview, north of Kelso, to way out in Rose Valley. As we grew bigger and (some of us) older, it became more of a burden to get houses ready for the group. So, for a while we met in the Fellowship Hall of the church. Then when it became difficult for one of the families to even make that, we moved to Monticello Park and have permission to meet in their nice kitchen area.

A high percentage of our group has special needs — health, kids having special problems, alienation of some family members, etc. We have become aware of most of the problems and have become a safe and known resource for support and understanding.
We recently polled the group about various options - multiplying, changing leaders, etc. All options met with strong disapproval. As a group are meeting needs and functioning well, even though we are larger than other groups and larger than normally recommended for a functioning small group. Because we are already large, we are not seeking new members at this time.
We are a support group that is using its own model and format. We followed the sermon series last year. We have done a book study and a series on apologetics. This year we will do some New Testament book discussion studies, starting with Colossians.

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