One of the greatest ways to invest in community within the church body at Northstar, along with building relationships with people here, is through BIG small Group. Throughout the school year, Blacksburg is a bustling place and, at Northstar, there are often times so many people to try to get to know at church that it may be a bit overwhelming! However, when school lets out and summer begins, the university clears out and all that is left are the permanent residents… the “townies.” To better grow the church body as one community, Northstar establishes Wednesday evenings as a way for those who reside in Blacksburg for the summer to gather together, have dinner, study the Bible, and ultimately grow individually and collectively in Christ. I’d recommend BIG small Group to anyone, particularly those looking to make friends and build a sense of community in their own lives.
For me, I moved here to Blacksburg from the Raleigh, NC area in January 2015. When I moved here, I did not know much of anyone. I had never visited Blacksburg, except for my interview. And I was not bringing anyone here with me. I felt alone. I truly felt this was where God wanted me to be for a while, but as the first few months went along, in all honesty, I hated it here. I had started at Northstar because I loved the strong, expository teaching, as well as the community I sensed here. I got involved with a small group, who were really the only people I was genuinely getting to know here and, around April, I began to think, “Okay, now I’m starting to get some traction here with making new friends…” But then school let out… and the town died down significantly. At that point, I became frustrated with God, thinking, “Okay, God, I know you wanted me to be here… I truly believe that… but this is miserable. Just when I was starting to feel like I was making friends, they all left, and I will have to wait another three months before starting to make friends again? Why did you have me here?”
It wasn’t until BIG small Group that I realized that, though the town’s population became smaller, I had the opportunity, TWICE a week, to spend time getting to know the same exact people at Northstar during the week as I did on Sundays. Just from that one event, I was able to not only build those founding, comforting, and assuring relationships with real friends here at Northstar and in Blacksburg, that I believed I could really begin to make and call Blacksburg my home.
With all that said, every summer since I have looked SO forward to BIG small Group – another devoted time during the week where it is fun to come together as a church body, share testimonies, study the Bible together, and have great community-building and spirit-sharpening discussions with others at Northstar Church. Not to mention desserts afterwards are always planned!
God is blessing Northstar Church in a tremendous way. If you want to invest in community at this point of the year in the church, I can’t think of a better way to do that than through BIG small Group!
I hope to see you there soon!