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October 1st, 2010

The home group

home group

See this picture in full on the main CartoonChurch.com site: the home group. It’s another from the My Pew book.

Comment (of sorts): I go to a church home group (group that meets in a home). Yes, I know, this could come as quite a surprise. The truth is that I really quite enjoy reading the Bible and sharing my ignorance with others. It has, ever so occasionally, been known for me to think to myself, or indeed out loud, ‘Oh dear – do I have to go home group tonight?’. But I nearly always come away having benefited from the experience in ways that I can’t necessarily articulate here (not all of them involving tasty treats or snacks). For me it is perhaps the most ‘genuine’ aspect of going to church, in that actual talking to other human beings is involved. I’m peculiar I know, but I find that helpful. I suspect I’m not alone in this. I don’t know that home group attenders are included on official church statistics though – at least I’ve never known anyone standing there with a clicker counting us in and out. But then it is quite often dark.

I regularly find the study notes used at home groups rather deficient. I keep meaning to write my own, (with diagrams), but such a project is always about seventh on my list so never gets started. The (perhaps not so) strange thing is that the Bible somehow has its own ability to transcend the irrelevance of the study material. Theologians have a word for that kind of thing, but I forget what it is.

I should add that I drew this in November of 2006, which I think was before I started going to the group I go to. This means that no fellow participants, in the unlikely event that they should be reading, need fear that they are depicted. No, the people in the drawing are all people who went to former home groups of mine from the 1970s (I started young) until the 2000s. Probably you.

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10 Responses to “The home group”


  1. Phill says:

    I would LOVE to see some Cartoon Church home group study notes. I’ve always found the study notes we have in our church somewhat lacking – but, like you say, the important bit is discussing things with other people. I often find I’m learning things just through the act of talking it over with others. Good stuff.

    October 1st, 2010 at 4:31 pm
  2. Steve Tomkins says:

    How about the Rather Leading Questioner?
    “What does this verse tell us that the love of God is like?”
    “That it’s for all people.”
    “No, not that it’s for all people. Good answer, but no. Anyone else? It begins with E.”

    October 1st, 2010 at 4:43 pm
  3. ordinandy says:

    And how about the Over-empathiser?

    Leans forwards and earnestly agrees with EVERYTHING that EVERYONE says, making affirming noises and nodding his/her head agreeably.

    October 1st, 2010 at 5:15 pm
  4. Dave says:

    Phill, Thank you. I will continue to consider the possibility.

    Steve, Brilliant – and then there is their nemesis, the Rather Questioning Leader

    Ordinandy, Yes indeed. *makes affirming noise and nods head agreeably*. Perhaps I need an expanded version of the diagram.

    October 1st, 2010 at 5:21 pm
  5. Benita says:

    I was just communicating to my colleague at Christian Research this morning about the number of people ‘associated’ with his church that attend home groups but rarely to the church.

    I belong to a homegroup of a church that I don’t attend, although I rarely get to the homegroup these days as I’m often travelling to Swindon on a Tuesday. I do value being a virtual member though. My own church doesn’t do homegroups.

    My husband belongs to the same homegroup, and he goes most weeks, and values the discussions – but doesn’t attend any church. The homegroup is his church.

    I often say to people that the best ‘church’ I ever belonged to was the Christian Fellowship at Barclaycard.

    At Christian Research we were discussing this morning about how we might ‘count’ all of this – ‘church’ is much bigger than most people think, and becoming ever more complex to count!

    October 1st, 2010 at 5:23 pm
  6. John Settatree says:

    Oh dear I see myself hear… not in a good way!!

    What about the closed questioner e.g. “in verse 4 Paul says that we should all love one another, what does Paul say in verse 4″

    been in that situation in the past…

    I do find that just discussing the Bible brings out so much study guides can be helpful but they shouldn’t be followed too religiously!!

    October 1st, 2010 at 5:36 pm
  7. chris clark says:

    Home groups are a good thing.. I think we all agree. Are they actually a church though?

    Oh dear I have just found myself on the cartoon :-)

    Congrats to the CT for being congratulated on commisioning you and other cartoonists…

    October 2nd, 2010 at 12:46 pm
  8. Ann says:

    How about the fundamentalist who ends every discussion with Hepzibah 4:12 – that’s it — if you disagree you are obviously not a Christian.

    October 2nd, 2010 at 2:32 pm
  9. Maddy says:

    It’s scary to spot yourself in the group!

    October 2nd, 2010 at 3:14 pm
  10. HomeGroups by @davewalker #cnmac10 | The BIGBible Project says:

    Trackback

    October 5th, 2010 at 10:06 am