Neighborhood Groups: Multi-Church Fellowship

In response to the Loving Your Neighbor Symposium, Christ Our Shepherd, Grace DC, and Church of the Resurrection/Advent are encouraging the formation of neighborhood groups. Catch the vision for these groups…
The elders of our three churches believe that it would be a very good thing for Christians who live in the same neighborhood to meet together for fellowship, prayer, and service. To encourage this, we will be sending Grace DC members contact information for approximately 15 other Christians who live near you. If you are not a member, and would like to be included, email your street address to Monique.
VISION for the NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS
After the Loving Your Neighbor symposium in January, the elders of Christ Our Shepherd Church, Grace DC, and The Church of the Resurrection met to discuss new ways of partnering in the mission of God. As a result of these conversations, we propose the idea of neighborhood groups.

What Are Neighborhood Groups?
Neighborhood groups are gatherings of Christians from different churches who live in close proximity to one another. By joining together for fellowship, prayer, and service, these groups seek to a) express the God-given unity that all believers possess through the Holy Spirit and b) help us live out Jesus’ command that we love our neighbors as ourselves.

Why Neighborhood Groups?
Our Lord Jesus Christ extended self-sacrificial love to each of us and commanded that we extend that same love to our neighbors (Luke 10, Mark 12). Whether we live in wealthy, poor, or diverse neighborhoods, all of us live among people whom God calls us to love. However, for any number of reasons—for instance, fear or lack of time and vision—many of us struggle to put this command into action, especially when we attempt it alone.

• “One body and one Spirit” (Ephesians 4:4)
  Fortunately, we are not alone in the call to love our neighbors. Many of us in Washington DC have allies in God’s kingdom, brothers and sisters in Christ, who live down the street from us. God has made us one people with one Spirit and given us the same mission to love those around us. Yet, because we worship in different congregations, we often do not know one another well and so miss the blessing of working together. Neighborhood groups are an attempt to change that. Because we are one in Christ and we have a shared mission to love our neighbors, we believe it makes sense for us to work together.
• “Thy Kingdom Come”
  Jesus instructed us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” But what does it look like to build God’s kingdom where you live? Neighborhood groups are founded on the idea that these questions can be best answered in conversation and relationship with the other Christians in your neighborhood. We are stronger and more diligent in the work of the Kingdom when we bring together the experiences, vision, and skills of a diversity of believers.

Goals of Neighborhood Groups
In the initial May-August period, we believe these groups should focus on fellowship, prayer and learning about their neighborhoods. Instead of composing a list of projects they should be doing, we are encouraging groups to focus first on simply being the people of God: learning to pray together and exploring the ministries, churches, institutions, and needs of the neighborhoods they call home. We believe a posture of humility, prayer, and learning will be fertile soil from which good works can grow.

LONG TERM
The elders of the three churches hope that, in the long run, neighborhood groups will become a vehicle through which Christians from all Gospel-believing churches in the metropolitan area will be unified in acts of loving service to their neighbors.