Biblical Equipping: God's Word in Your World
Price: $11.95

Caring for Inactive Members Leader's Teaching Kit
Price: $49.95

ChristCare Bookmark (package of 100)
Price: $9.95

God's Love in Action Brochure--Customizable
Price: $5.00

God's Love in Action Brochure--Pre-folded
Price: $5.00

ChristCare Congregation Snapshot

First Baptist Church
in Grand Junction, Colorado

Mission Statement
The folks who make up the First Baptist community seek to fulfill the following mission--

• Share God's gift of salvation through Jesus Christ in our community.
• Minister to and nurture those who make up our fellowship.
• Encourage personal and spiritual development.
• Worship God freely and enjoy God openly.
• Seek God's will in all these things and glorify God in all these things.

"God called our congregation to ChristCare," said Rev. J. Scott Hogue, Senior Minister of First Baptist Church in Grand Junction, Colorado. "God called us to this ministry because it works. It is a practical way to carry out our mission statement."

Founded in 1883, First Baptist--like many other congregations across the country--had made several attempts at small group ministry, but could never sustain it.

When the leaders of this Stephen Ministry congregation heard about the ChristCare Series and the systematic approach to small group ministry it offered, they began to research it by contacting some ChristCare congregations in the Denver area. They soon recognized that the four ChristCare Group activities--prayer and worship, community building and care, Biblical Equipping, and missional service--fit perfectly with First Baptist's mission statement, written 45 years ago. So the congregation made the decision to enroll in the ChristCare Series.

The next step was to identify the key individuals who would become Equippers. Susan and David Sawyer were the first two to hear the call.

"I'm a Stephen Minister and had planned to become a Stephen Leader--until I heard about ChristCare. The more David and I learned about it, the more we both knew God was calling us to this ministry," said Susan. The couple attended the ETC in 2003 and launched the ministry that same year, training the first class of ChristCare Group Leaders. The following year Rev. Hogue and Alisa Pene attended the ETC and joined the Sawyers on the Equippers Team.

Darrah Barnes was one of the initial ChristCare Group Leaders. She was a fairly new Christian, having been baptized just a few years earlier, so she was unsure about her ability when first asked to go through group leader training. But Pastor Hogue saw the gifts in her and encouraged her to give it a try. By the end of training, Darrah felt confident and equipped and began leading her first ChristCare Group.

"I didn't quite know what I was getting into when I began training, but becoming a ChristCare Group Leader has been a great blessing to me," said Darrah. "I've grown so much in my own faith and I've watched the others in my group grow as well."

Darrah's group is a real potpourri--group members range in age from 18 to 80, men and women, singles and couples--but God quickly pulled the diverse group together into a close Christian community after a series of tragedies. Two members lost parents, one group member died, and a couple lost their son in a tragic accident. Throughout these difficult times, group members have cared for one another and ministered to each other through prayers, meals, listening, empathy, and love.

The group has also experienced some joys--the community they've shared, the growth they've experienced through Biblical Equipping, the missional service they've done, and Darrah's son Ryan (who didn't attend church regularly) joining the group and experiencing love and acceptance.

"We feel God's love and presence every time we get together," said Darrah. "It's God who's doing the loving and healing through us. We feel so blessed to have one another."

One member of Darrah's group, Joanne Clawson, served as apprentice leader, then went through group leader training, and now has spawned her own group. "Apprenticing is a wonderful opportunity--but it's also a joy to move on to your own group," said Joanne. "ChristCare allows you to get know other people on a much deeper level than just knowing each other at church. When you deepen your relationship with other people, you also deepen your relationship with God. And when those relationships help bring someone closer to Christ, it's an incredible experience. I often see God at work in our ChristCare Group."

Bringing people to Christ or helping people deepen their relationship with God are key goals for ChristCare Groups at First Baptist. A wide range of groups helps accomplish this in many different ways.

• A ChristCare Group Leader who is also a chaplain at the county jail and uses ChristCare for her Bible studies at the jail. Some of the women inmates have accepted Christ during her time with them.
• Another group leader uses ChristCare to lead his Sunday School class for college students.
• A group reaching out to young fathers is called Let's Roll (in honor of Todd Beamer).
• A ChristCare Group for teachers meets once a week on a school campus.
• One Sunday school teacher adapts ChristCare to use with her third and fourth grade Sunday school class, as well as Children's Church, with plans to expand ChristCare into all children's ministry.
• Every church staff member is in a ChristCare group, and staff meetings are conducted using the ChristCare group format.

"ChristCare Groups keep your eyes on the right goal," said Rev. Hogue, who has served at First Baptist since 1995. "ChristCare turns your eyes to Christ, and when you're looking at Jesus, you see things from his perspective. It gets people asking the right questions--first, 'What's God calling us to do?' and then, 'How do we do it?' And after that, people take action. Because of ChristCare, our congregation has become much more hands-on, more thoughtful, and more intentional in finding ways to carrying out God's mission."

"ChristCare Groups are a tremendous vehicle to help congregations carry out Jesus' Great Commandment and Great Commission in a very practical, intentional way. It's not a ministry in our congregation, it's the ministry because it puts our mission out on a grass roots level, and allows everyone to be involved in sharing Christ and making disciples."