Covenant Groups | Covenant Groups by Location
Covenant Groups
Vision Statement
The covenant groups fit into a larger picture of ministry within this local church body, and therefore are not intended to carry the weight of every aspect of ministry that should be taking place in a believer's life. For instance, the weight of preaching the Word falls on the Sunday Celebration, that of teaching and training is taken by the School of the Word and other available studies, etc. Primarily, the covenant groups are targeted at the following areas of need:
1. Fellowship.... Defined biblically, this is a genuine participation and sharing in one anothers lives. It is the building of relationships that matter and would be missed if they did not exist. They are relationships of support, encouragement, accountability, and sacrifice. The schedule and times of interaction are designed with this purpose in focus. If these things are not taking place, we are not fulfilling God's plan, even though we may be successfully gathering people together for meetings.
2. Discussion Format..... Since there are other available times of teaching, we don't want these groups to turn into a monologue where one person is doing all the sharing, while the others are listening. The leaders are asked spend their preparation time with this focus ever before them. The goal is to get others to open their lives, their experiences, their questions, their testimonies, etc.. A leader has been successful when he has been more a facilitator rather than a lecturer. While there should be times when the group simply Ahangs out@ and builds relationships, there will usually be consistent, directed times of discussion as a center piece. Discussions may focus on a Sunday message or a predetermined topic or study.
3. Prayer..... Small groups allow for more immediate care and attention, so individual needs and concerns can be addressed by the group praying for one another both corporately and individually. Uniting each covenant group to the vision of the local church should be a part of our objective in this area as well, by bringing certain aspects of the corporate vision before the group for prayer (upcoming outreach, another covenant group's outreach, missionary project, the worship team, the elders, etc.).
4.
Evangelism.... While there will be meetings that are specifically addressing
believers' needs, there will be other meetings that are specifically designed
to reach out to the lost. In addition to these targeted meetings, we
want there to be an atmosphere that allows a person who is seeking to
get exposed to the Spirit of God through observation of the life and practices
of the church. While seeking to create that kind of opportunity, we don't
intend to create an unspiritual environment that is more seeking to
meet the unsaved person's expectations rather than accomplish God's purpose
for viable prayer, sharing, fellowship, worship, etc..
5. Service Opportunities..... We intend that there should consistently be an out-flow of life from the groups, that gives the members an opportunity to serve each other (food chains, hospital visits, child care, etc.) as well as the rest of the church body (helping with children's ministry or nursery, follow-up ministry, greeting, etc.) and the lost (ALPHA, fliers to Lake Ave., etc.) . We want to be actively encouraging one another to love and good deeds (Heb 10:24).
6. Vision Imparting.... Covenant group relationships are also important in helping to further impart God's vision for what He's calling us to be about as a local fellowship. This will mean reinforcing the vision of the elders and helping others to understand how they can connect with and contribute to whatever God is doing in our midst at any time.
7.
Enjoyment.... All these things are part of enjoying the sharing of our
lives with one another. While never compromising the agenda of God, we
want people to want to be a part of the group. Covenant groups are basically
a meaningful gathering of friends who enjoy relating to each other around
the truths God has given us for our lives.
Covenant Groups
Mike & Darlene Badeaux (834-2710) |
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Stuart & Nancy Masson (883-9070) |
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| Bob and Kay Swanson (738-7838) Bob & Kay have been married for 17 years and have two children. Bob owns an insurance agency in the Metairie area. This group meets on Monday nights in the Metairie area. |
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Steve and Wendy Zaeringer (304-7289) |
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AJ & Darlene Dicharry (831-0401) |
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| Steve and Linda Roberts (837-8843) Steve & Linda have been married for 26 years and have three children. Steve owns a plumbing business in the New Orleans area. This group meets Wednesday nights in the Metairie/Bonnabel area. |
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Lester & Janine Coe (985-307-0075) |
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Dennis
and Tara Ryan (985-307-0075) |
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| Deni & Ros Meyer (469-3768) Deni & Ros have been married since 1972 and have 2 children and 3 grandchildren. Deni is a computer technician. This groups meets on Monday Nights in the |
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David and Lauren Widener (834-2533) |
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Brian and Teri Hrabovsky (736-0325) |
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Steve & Trudy Morris (738-5678) |
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Bill & Nancy Treeby (738-0291) |
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Phil & Liz Widener (394-7279) |
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Tony & Johna Costa (985-809-0930) |
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| Jeff & Kathy Ehrhardt (738-3342) Jeff & Kathy have been married since 1998 and have five children. Jeff serves in pastoral ministry at Lakeview. This group meets on Wednesday nights in the River Ridge area. |
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| John
and Valerie Engvall (436-2399) John and Val Engvall have been married for 22 years and have four children. John works in the computer industry. This group meets on Wednesday nights in the St. Charles Parish area. |
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| Perry
and Patrice Frey (985-845-4865) Perry & Patrice have been married 18 years and have three children. Perry works in the family owned door business. This group meets on Wednesday nights in the Lakeview area. |
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| Mike and Gayle Ramirez (985-307-0247) Mike & Gayle have been married since 1987 and have two children. Mike is a store manager at Dillards. This group meets on Wednesday nights in the St. Rose area. |
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