ASF Ministries: Circle Building

CIRCLE BUILDING

The first area of ministry is in the establishment and life of a local Sojourner Circle.  Membership in a Circle (as in the ASF itself) is not intended to replace but to complement other Christian memberships. (The ASF is about building disciples not “sheepfolds”.)

The intention is that sojourner circles should serve as multi-functional groups which would develop their own pattern  from among the following activities:

• Fellowship and sharing
• Prayer
• Bible study
• Worship
• Outreach

A Sojourner Circle is intended to operate in much the same way as a small fellowship within a physical parish church. (In that setting, they are sometimes called “house churches” or “study groups” or “koinonia groups”.)

As individuals become members of the ASF our hope is to help put them in touch with others in their community or region, but often it will be the individuals themselves who are best able to identify and invite potential members.

As a circle forms, it will need to have its own leadership to organize meetings and connect the circle to the ASF as a whole.

While the model is to build a circle that can hold physical meetings, there will be situations of necessity or preference where circles will operate on a virtual basis. The ASF will endeavor to encourage and support these initiatives as well.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF:

Who might you know from a previous church or other contact in your community who might be interested in participating with you in a local circle?

How might you be able to help the ASF build ways of introducing individuals to each other while protecting their privacy?

Do you have experience or resources to share  with those trying to form or grow a local Circle?

Do you have experience of virtual fellowship and ministry from other settings that you could contribute to supporting the formation of Circles?

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