A New Way to Meet Southwood’s Ministry Partners
This fall, Southwood is focusing on three key relationships that have eternal impact for the kingdom. These are our relationships with God, our relationships with one another, and our relationships with our neighbors. I’d like to tell you one way we plan to develop our relationships with our neighbors.
Last year during the height of the pandemic, Southwood launched a churchwide initiative titled “Be the Church.” The goal of this initiative was to disciple our members through the isolation and distress that resulted from the early stages of the COVID pandemic. Since attending church on Sunday morning was a challenge for many people, we made an effort to connect each member to an existing or new small group that would meet regularly. Many people responded to let us know that their group was one of the ways they felt loved and stayed attached to a community. This fall we would like to build on these connections by pairing each small group (Grace Group) with one of Southwood’s ministry partners.
“Relationships will be built between the small groups and the ministries through these interactions.”
There are several reasons for these partnerships between small groups and ministry partners. First, it will provide an avenue for our members to develop a deeper understanding of the ministries that Southwood supports. Second, relationships will be built between the small groups and the ministries through these interactions. This provides an on-ramp for focused prayer with the ministry and also service opportunities for the group within that ministry.
You may be asking, “When will this start, and how long will we be connected to a particular ministry?” The plan is to make sure all small groups and ministries are connected before the end of September and for the connections to continue for 12 months. So, in September 2022, each small group will rotate to a different ministry partner.
We know this is a different approach, and some people or groups already have relationships with a ministry partner. We praise the Lord for those relationships and encourage you to continue that support and walk alongside those ministries. For the rest of us who may not have constant interaction with ministries, this is one way we can continue to grow in our journey of loving our neighbors.