1055 Hunte Parkway | Chula Vista, California | (619) 851 6465

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Community Groups

Harbor Chula Vista is based on Community Groups because we are committed to several important biblical values:
  • We believe that the Gospel creates a new community that loves and serves each other.
  • We believe that the Gospel changes people's lives.
  • We believe that this change occurs as people share their lives with one another in mutual encouragement.
While some congregations may have Community Groups, we desire our congregation to be Community Groups. They are the primary place for pastoral care at Harbor Presbyterian Church. They are also the chief means by which the following are accomplished: assimilation of new members, accountability and discipleship, leadership development, gift identification, evangelism and outreach, service and ministry to felt needs and communication.

Therefore, we hope that a great majority of Harbor Presbyterian Church members and attenders will be involved in a Community Group. What matters most in life are relationships. And that is what the church is all about: relationship - with God and with one another. It is our great privilege and our great responsibility to engage in such relationships with zest and delight. At Harbor Presbyterian Church, the chief opportunity to cultivate and develop such relationships is in our Community Groups.

Community Groups are gatherings of 6 to 12 people meeting in individual apartments and homes throughout our community during the week. In Community Groups, a primary Christian community is developed and fostered. People are nurtured, equipped and released for God's work in the world. They also provide an opportunity for intimacy, mutual support, practical love and service, learning about the Christian faith, prayer, and sharing of what God is doing in our midst. All groups are led by trained lay-leaders from the congregation who are given continued oversight and support. Harbor's Community Groups provide systematic pastoral care for the entire congregation, to enable personal and corporate spiritual growth.

Individual groups develop a primary Christian community where Jesus Christ is experienced in his presence and power. They are communities where His Spirit ministers to one another so that each person is cared for and encouraged to lead a God-pleasing life. A community where Christ transforms lives as individuals, as small communities, and the larger communities of which the group is a part. Christian Fellowship can be defined as seeking to share with others what God has made known to you while letting them share what they know of him. This becomes a means of finding strength, refreshment and instruction for one's own soul. The Scriptures give us numerous commands concerning how we should interact in fellowship with one another. We are told to encourage one another, serve one another, rejoice and weep with one another, correct, instruct, sing to, build up, accept and love one another. There is no better way to put yourself in a position to fulfill these commands than by becoming part of a Community Group.

These groups also serve as a key way to keep the leadership aware of the pastoral concerns and troubles which face the members of our congregation which might otherwise remain hidden. Community Groups are a place where individuals who are seeking truth can be invited and encouraged to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ. In addition, they serve as a place where we can remind one another of our call to share the gospel and pray for those with whom we are sharing the good news that God has reconciled himself to us in Jesus Christ.

Because these groups are expected to be reaching out to seekers and inviting newcomers in the church to join them, they must have a vision for multiplying new groups and developing new leadership.