The regular meeting of Discipleship Groups is guided by that group's covenant, but follows a suggested format.  The time, duration, and freqency of meetings should be agreed upon by the group.  Following that, each meeting follows a basic format.  One group member should be selected to lead the meeting and assure that it remains on topic and schedule.  That responsibility may be rotated from meeting to meeting.

1. Begin with prayer.  This may be the prayer of the day from Sunday's worship.  It may also be the group's prayer that they developed as part of their covenant.  The purpose of this prayer is to be a brief introduction to the time together.  There will be time later to pray for individuals and specific concerns.  If no other prayer is selected the following may be used:
   • Almighty God, we gather in your name and ask that your Holy Spirit might guide our time together.  Show us how to celebrate where you have strengthened us, support us where we have failed or been weak, and be honest in all that we say.  This we ask in the name of the one we strive to follow and serve, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.
2. Read Scripture.  You may wish to read one of the scriptures from the previous Sunday's worship.  You may also wish to use the daily scripture at the top of the Discipleship group page on our website.  You may also select your own.  The scripture should be brief and typically should not be discussed (this is not a Bible Study).
3. Examines.  One at a time, invite group members to answer the following questions.  Invite individuals to answer all of the questions before moving on to the next group member.  Depending upon the amount of time and the number of group members, each member will have about 10 minutes to answer.  If a group member needs more time than that, it will be up to the group to grant it (another group member may wish to give the person their time).  The questions will be estabilshed by the covenant, but typically are
   • What is the state of your soul today?
   • How has God been real to you since our last meeting?
   • Where have you struggled with the covenant since our last meeting?
   • How are you doing with the issues we prayed about last time?
   • How can we pray for you today and until we meet again?
4. Pray.  Make sure to pray about the concerns each group member's needs.  One person may lead this prayer or you may go around the circle with each person praying for the one on their right.
5. Close with the Lord's prayer.