The Home Groups at St. Joseph's have been running for over 10 years. They are for all those involved in the Guildford Catholic parishes and geared especially for those who have experienced renewal in the Holy Spirit. Home Groups (often known as cell groups or fellowship groups) are common in churches across the world and exist to provide people with an opportunity to deepen their faith and experience a greater reality of Christian family as a complement to their attendance at Mass in the larger congregation.
There are over 100 people involved in the home groups which meet on a termly basis with breaks at Christmas, Easter and summer. The groups meet fortnightly in people's homes and twice a term everyone meets together at the church for an evening usually with an outside speaker. Meetings include praise and worship, a talk and discussion, ministry and refreshments. Each group is run by a team of leaders and all follow a common programme. A term would also include social events, times of adoration and prayer breakfasts.
Other ministries exist such as a worship team, a meal team, an intercession team, a church cleaning team, a social team, a PA team and a team of people who support our priests and deacons in prayer. Many home group members serve in both parish ministries and different ministries outside the church.
Each year the home groups run Alpha or a CaFE course and also coordinate a network of parishes across the UK and Europe training others to run home groups.