This was our first flyer for our first cell group.  We have come a long way since then.  We make numerous phone calls and text messages and utilize Facebook, Myspace, and email to

coordinate worship each month.  Keeping involved in one another's lives is a high priority.

What an awesome group!!  2 of the people in this picture walk over 1 mile to get to a train that takes them over 1 hour to get to cell group.  We do train pickups for 4-5 people and also have a

number of people that drive 1-2 hours to get to cell group.

The entire worship experience typically goes from 2PM until 10PM one Saturday per month.  We spend the first 2 hours

eating food, getting to know each other better, and making our new folks feel right at home.

Since we meet only once a month, we make the cell group experience a big event.  The first few hours are designed to

fellowship, deepen our relationships, and have fun.  During this cell group, we played volleyball.

It's all about the environment and making folks feel comfortable before worship.  Here folks are playing Nintendo during

fellowship time.

Because our focus is simplicity, we do not have a lot of programs.  However, we are still blessed to have young parents and a few

kids.  Here Caden is being silly with his mom, Michelle

Chrissy and Pat are spending time with Jake.  One of our young ministers, Chrissy and her family allow us to use their home during the winter months.  This is their dog, who loves his

church family!

This is our worship. Mostly group discussion where we have a theme and everyone’s thoughts and opinions are shared and valued. In this cell group, one of our young ministers, Evan

teamed up with two people to plan the event and group worship.

Before any major life event, we have a family prayer.  Monica is getting ready to be baptized, so the church

family is offering a prayer over her right before her baptism.

Sometimes we break up the bigger group into smaller intimate groups.  This is one of those times.

We do not like overhead and keep our costs low, so we do not own a building.  Our baptisms occur in hot tubs, pools, or anyplace with deep enough water.  These pictures are of

James and Monica, both recently giving their lives to Jesus. They have overcome a lot in their lives and are a vital part of

our family.

Another one of our young ministers Ben decided to take a break from his preparation   We have a number of young ministers that serve the needs of our church family.  Chrissy, Evan, and Ben while having full time obligations (work,

school) spend the majority of their remaining time with hands on ministry.  A lot of time is spent with our folks both to build relationships and to help address need.

This is a “Family Picture” that we take after each worship.  This photo was taking after our “The Bears are in the Playoff” cell

group. Cell Group + Football + Church Family is always a great combination.

Since a number of our folks do not have healthy families, we celebrate Thanksgiving as a church family on Thanksgiving

Day!  Everyone contributes food and it’s one of the best days of the year!

Another family picture!! We never have cell group in churches, so we need to get creative in our locations. We use homes during

bad weather days and reserve park areas during the nice weather. This is one of those nice weather cell groups!

A typical cell group will have 30-40 people and 5-6 new folks.

It may not look like much, but all of these people drove 2 hours in a Chicago snow storm to celebrate with Charis on her

birthday!!  It was an awesome time and the food was great!

In this picture you will see faces that represent different sexual orientations, financial circumstances, many come from broken homes, some struggle with addiction and trust, while others are in a good place and are here simply to

worship. 

No matter what, our family is diverse and our God's love is unconditional.  We believe that our folks will begin to love and trust God as we invest and love them.

Feeling unloved, unaccepted, unwelcome? Thinking you need a church family, but struggle with traditional church? Want to build relationships and participate in worship where your thoughts and

beliefs are heard and valued? Want to build an authentic relationship with God from the ground up?

http://www.onedgeministries.org