It’s been about seven months now since I first made a post on the forums calling for the start of what I then called Groove Fellowships. Through out a series of discussions on the site about the same time, it became clear that if we were going to grow this scene or if we were even going to help encourage each other in our faith, simply posting on a message board would not cut it. DJ Rish, Carey Jarvis, DJ Saryn and myself pretty much developed a very rough concept of what was needed to help get the foundation for the next phase of growth in our scene. The concept, as I posted, was for local groups of believers to start meeting on a regular basis in homes and basically throwing small house parties with some time to just talk and hangout. That’s right, we didn’t feel that each group should start out hosting some massive event that will attract everyone and their cousin from out of state.

Event vs. Fellowship

For those of you who have not heard of this idea yet, you may be wondering why we felt that a large event or even an “event” should not be the goal. There is both a complex answer and a simple one.

The Simple Answer:

The fact is that many of us have never met in person before, many of us are not well connected to our local secular scene, and most of us lack the experience needed to put on an event of quality. So, what it boils down to is that if you do not simply meet and get to know each other first, you will not fully understand people’s talents and where they would fit into such an event. You will not know about any personality quirks that someone might have or the things they struggle with that might cause problems with the event. You also as a group may not have the connections you need to acquire a decent sound and light system for the event or even a venue that will attract a decent crowd. To through an event with people you have only met over the Internet, while it might work, will be much more of a struggle and risk than if you took time first to know one another including your strengths and weaknesses.

The Complex Answer:

The formation of Groove Fellowships as a small group is really intended to take us deeper than simply throwing events. Many people on the boards have expressed an inability to connect socially in our churches. Our style of music is one that most Christians just simply do not get and many simply see the clubs as dens of sin rather than a place for ministry or even just relaxing (without doing drugs or getting drunk). There simply seems to be a cultural divide in many of our churches over this. Nothing is really wrong with that though because we are called to this scene while they may not be. As different parts of the body of Christ, this is to be expected. Unfortunately, this division is what has helped many of us to feel isolated from our churches and searching for that unity here at Tastyfresh.com.

So the first thing these groups are to do is to help Christians who love club music and the club scene to come together and fellowship like a church. It is here, in person, where discussions that might normally be too volatile for all of Tastyfresh.com.com to have online could be discussed. It is also here that we might be able to pray in person with one another. We also can see first hand God working in each other’s lives and to physically meet the needs of our fellow members. It is also a place that should be open enough that eventually other Christians from outside the Tastyfresh.com community can come in and feel at home. These fellowships should also be open enough that a non-Christian who is seeking answers can feel free to come, have some fun, and see how God is working in our lives. Hopefully, this type of meeting will eventually change lives.

The second thing that these fellowships will do is to help all of us get to know one another better. We can say so much more through our body language and our mouths than we can in the short, fast-paced typing frenzies we often have on Tastyfresh.com While it’s fun to post on the message boards here, it is way too slow for fully developed conversations that allow us to fully know each other and to see how we behave. Face to face interaction is important. One reason is that we can express our love for one another better. An emoticon for a hug hardly compares to a warm, friendly bear hug from a 250 lbs DJ who’s hyped up on sugar and caffeine. Meeting like this also lets us see how people really act. It also gives the group a chance to see its member’s talents, strengths and weaknesses first hand which will help when the group does eventually throw down that huge event.

The third thing meeting as a fellowship does is it builds consistency and focus. An event is just that… an event. Events happen once and only once. Even a series still only really happens one event at a time. A fellowship however reoccurs on a regular basis and always picks up right where it left off. When you meet up the focus isn’t on making sure your mix is perfect as the DJ. It isn’t on making sure you collect enough in ticket sales to break even. It’s not even on crowd control, concessions, what to wear, sound, lights or security. The focus is directly on people. It’s on caring for one another and developing relationships.

This is exactly what Jesus focused on throughout His ministry. Sure He was here to save people, but He was here to restore relationships. He always had time to talk to people… even in times of crisis. His focus was not on the cross until He was near to the end, and even then, he was concerned about His relationship with his disciples. Almost every time He performed a miracle, He took time out to talk to the person whose life He was about to effect. If you want some examples of this, look no further than the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, and the dead girl and the sick woman.

The bottom line is that people’s lives are not usually changed through throwing events. Events can be great fun, but they do not change lives in an eternal sense… normally. What will change lives and what Jesus Himself showed was to be a high priority was building relationships.

And that is what Groove Fellowships are about. Building relationships that encourage one another to grow in our faith, in our talents and abilities, in caring for others, and in allowing ourselves to be cared for. The most important thing for us to learn is how to be in a relationship. The Internet, while it can help people to meet one another, will never be able to help build a relationship as fast as meeting in person and on a regular basis will do. And when these relationships become well rooted, those big events we want will fall in place and start to happen.

A Picture of Fellowship

I honestly do not believe there is such a thing as a perfect model for these fellowships. I think there is a basic template that can be built on and improved upon though. That is what I want to describe here. The picture I would like to start with is this: A home with a nice sized living room, plenty of snack food, and some sort of sound system be it a boom box or a professional DJ rig. Add to that a group of at least two people to start with. During the night, the group talks about whatever is on their minds, they play music, help each other in their mixing if the gear is there (or music production), and at some point they sit down and talk about why they are there as a group and maybe discuss some prayer requests and scripture. Nothing gets to heavy because it’s just the first time they’ve meet. At some point during the night, they say a prayer and leave, hopefully with a desire to come back for another gathering in about a month.

That’s it. It’s not a complex plan. It doesn’t require tons of planning. In fact, it shouldn’t. There are basically three things that the group needs to decide on before each gathering: whose house to meet at, who brings the grub, and who brings the sound system. The fellowship should be as free form and relaxed as possible. There shouldn’t be any pretentiousness or sense of competition. The focus should be on letting God move just as He wants to among the members of the group and for that group to allow that.

Some groups may feel the need to be more structured than others and that is fine. Just make sure that all of the members of your group agree to that so that no one feels left out or uncomfortable with the structure. Some may think that even my picture is too structured. Loosen the reigns then. The point is that your local fellowship should be your local fellowship.

Ideally, these groups should meet once a month. You need to meet at least that often at least to maintain contact with one another, but also because you need to build consistency. It will also help to encourage the group to grow.

Making It Happen

The point of this article is to hopefully encourage some of you to start a local fellowship. I hope that you will consider this. Like I stated, it doesn’t have to be a big production because the point is to build relationships rather than host outrageous events. Over the past seven months we’ve had almost 1,000 posts in the Groove Fellowship board here on Tastyfresh.com. So the movement is starting to takeoff. We are also starting to see several of these fellowships take form across the US. My hope is that this becomes not just a US movement, but also an international one.

If you are interested in learning more about how I see these groups functioning, you should check out the Introduction to Groove Fellowships. If you would like to read up on the discussion that lead up to this idea, it is fully laid out in the Groove Fellowship: Background Discussion thread on the Groove Fellowship board. Lastly, if you are interested in seeing if anything has already been started in your area or if there is interest in starting one, check out the Groove Fellowship Board as well.