More Information about Good Soil Groups

What is a Good Soil group?

It is a group of two or three people—men with men and women with women—who read a couple of chapters of Luke or Acts and then meet once a week, anywhere and at anytime, for 45 minutes.

What is a meeting like?

After reading individually, groups meet once a week for 45 min—anywhere, anytime. When they meet, members check in with each other (10 min), talk about what they read (20 min), and pray together (15 min). Click here to read more about where to start, once you’ve formed your group.

What’s the point?

The point is God growing our faith and growing our church. The point is God giving us new biblical imaginations and a shared vision for the future of All Saints.

These gifts come about in only one way: as we read scripture, talk to each other, and pray together. There are no shortcuts. Instead, there are God’s promises.

What is a biblical imagination?

It is seeing us and our present day in the scriptures, and the scriptures in us and the present day. It’s a vision for God at work in our real world. For more on biblical imagination, click here.

Why go to all this trouble? Isn’t going to church enough?

Worship is a gift of God. And, no one can do your faith for you. The Holy Spirit is our first and best teacher, and we meet our teacher by going to all this trouble of reading the bible and meeting together for prayer and conversation. Read Pastor Clark’s story of reading the bible for the first time by clicking here.

Why so small? Why can’t our Good Soil Group be four or five or six people?

Different-sized groups have different group dynamics. Not good or bad, just different. So a very small group is better suited for some purposes, while a larger group for others. For our purposes—deep engagement with scripture and each other—smaller is better. I can’t be a wallflower in a group of two or three, and since we all have a chance to speak more, we will develop deeper trust and more quickly, which will open new doors for the Holy Spirit.

Why men with men and women with women?

So wives will find Good Soil Groups apart from their husbands and husbands apart from their wives. Plus men-only or women-only groups can open different doors for the Holy Spirit that may be closed otherwise.

Pray for 15 straight minutes? How does that work?

The Holy Spirit will lead each group to is own way of praying, just like the Holy Spirit leads each person to their own way of praying. But a simple method that may work for all groups is this.

Start the prayer time with a brief pause of silence, before one person asks, “Who or what do we have to pray about today?” Then take the next five to 10 minutes sharing.

Then ask, “Who is God inviting us to invite to our group?” Take a minute or two to think about this, outloud or silently. Share names if they come up. Then give a generous pause of silence, before one person begins to pray.

This is where each group will find their own way. One person could pray outloud for all the needs mentioned, or each could pray in turn. If only one, make sure this responsibility rotates from week to week. Take five to 10 minutes for this.

Don’t be afraid of silence. Silence in prayer is time to listen for God speaking within us, and time simply to dwell in God’s presence.

Also, don’t be afraid to experiment. Be creative and try different things until something fits. Ask around what other groups are doing. Talk to Pastor.

And by all means, don’t rush. Take time to listen deeply to God and to each other. In this way, you may find that what is most valuable is what happened in prayer.

I have more questions. How can I ask them?

Ask by clicking here and submitting a question to Pastor Clark. You can also, at any time, click the little ? above, or the “Ask a Question” link at the right.