Primary Vehicle For Care In The Church
For Mars Hill Church this means that community groups are the primary vehicle for care in the church. We still provide one-on-one counseling for cases that require it, but we want the majority of that care to take place as the church loves one another and lives out the Gospel together. To illustrate this, we use what we call the highway metaphor. That is to say, we want the majority of our people to be growing in their discipleship of Christ and sanctification through community, or the highway. Therefore, whenever possible, we shepherd people to community groups as the front line for care. We also provide special groups (called Redemption groups) for people dealing with habitual sin or the effects of abuse, but these groups are temporary and designed to equip people with gospel truth and get them back on the highway. Our counseling is done with the same intent—always striving to get people back into community for ongoing sanctification (Brad House, Community, p. 59-60).