CG Membership – Brighton Community Church

CELL GROUP MEMBERSHIP

Apart from Church Membership, we believe that committing ourselves to a cell group is the best way for obeying the Bible’s command to gather regularly with other believers so as to practise mutual encouragement and edification. The cell group is an essential part of the Brighton discipleship journey, because it is only in the context of close-knit relationships that we learn how to love one another sacrificially, just as Jesus commanded us.

How do I become a CG Member?

1. Apply for CG membership

Click here for the application form

2. Attend a BELONG class

This is a one-session lesson that teaches the biblical basics of Christian community and explains how you can play your part to help your CG become a winning team. We will conduct BELONG classes twice a year, around every August and February.

3. Affirm your membership annually

Every year in March, there will be a CG membership renewal event, where existing members will affirm, meaning to recommit themselves to the CG, should they want to stay on as CG members.

CG Membership Requirements and Annual Renewal

CG Membership Requirements

There are qualitative and quantitative qualities that contribute to the improvement of the CG experience. These will be covered comprehensively in the BELONG class. However, it is important to highlight 2 core requirements here:

1. Attend 65% of CG meetings in person.

2. Attend 50% of church services in person

Annual Renewal for CG Membership

CG Membership is renewed annually in March at our Annual CG Membership Renewal. Members who wish to renew their membership are required to fulfill the membership requirements of Sunday service and CG attendance.

*Should members wish to renew their membership but do not meet the membership requirements, they will need to re-attend the BELONG class.
**Members who do not have a valid CG Membership can start attending CG again after they attend the next BELONG class and sign the CG Membership covenant.

Scope of CG Membership

The CG Membership will span across all the CGs in Young Adults Zone, Brighton Adults Zone, Brighton Family Zone and in part in the Chinese Service and Youth Service. The details are as follows below:

1. Chinese Ministry

The Chinese Ministry is currently made up of the Chinese Adult fellowship and the Chinese Evergreen fellowship. The Chinese Adult fellowship is currently made-up of members below the age of 60.

All members from the age of 60 onwards will join an Evergreen Fellowship.

The Evergreen CG will be officially renamed as Evergreen Fellowship. We positioned the fellowship in preparation to reach more friends and family members aged 60 and up.

They are not part of the CG system and do not have to meet the CG Membership requirements.

All Evergreen members and friends will be automatically assigned to the Evergreen Fellowship.

The CG membership requirements will be applied to the existing Chinese Adult fellowship and members above 60 years of age who choose to opt-in to a CG.

2. Youth Ministry

The implementation of the CG membership system in the Youth Ministry is essential and will be tiered to match the different responsibilities and expectations for the different age groups. The 2 main age-group segregations in the Youth Ministry is Secondary and Tertiary.

Youths Secondary 4 and below will be automatically assigned to a CG and the CG Membership system does not apply to them.

CG Membership system will apply to Youths in the Tertiary group.

BELONG class will be held in November every year. The requirements to be upheld are:

65% CG attendance and 50% youth service attendance.

This is a transition to introduce the responsibility of commitment to the Youth Ministry and mark their transition to the new phase of life towards the Young Adult Ministry.

WHO DOES THE CG MINISTER TO?

There are primarily 3 groups of people that the CG ministers to.

CG Members

CG members form the bulk of the CG and follow the leadership of the CGL to grow and multiply. To ensure that members have the same understanding of what is required of them and of each other, attending the BELONG class would be a pre-requisite. This prepares the CG to have the best possible experience building each other up.

CG Guests

Believers who are new with us or who have not attended a CG meeting before will be invited to visit one. Once they express interest to continue, they will be official Guests to the CG. This allows them to join the meetings regularly to experience the intimacy and faith-lifting environment of the community. This will encourage the guest to decide on committing to a CG and signing up for CG Membership.

CGs should encourage their guest to:

1. Attend Brighton Sunday Service

2. Join the CG for outings

3. Consider joining the CG for an Exploratory Period.

The Exploratory Period is for Guests ONLY. It begins once they indicate to join a CG, and they may start visiting from then on. Once they attend the class and sign the CG Membership Covenant, they officially become a member of the CG. However, if they are not ready to do so, they may continue visiting the CG meetings and we will invite them to sign up for the subsequent class nearer to the date.

Pre-believing Visitors

One of the key focuses of a CG is evangelism

CGs are encouraged to:

1. Invite them to Brighton Sunday Service

2. Invite them to CG outing

3. Invite them to outreach events

4. Invite them to do Evangelistic Bible Study (EBS)

5. Share the gospel and give an invitation to receive Christ

6. Take initiative to help the pre-believer make progress towards accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

FAQs

For further enquires:

1. Send an email to churchoffice@brighton.org.sg

2. Call Tel: 6848 4940 during church office hours.

1. HOW ABOUT EXISTING CG MEMBERS WHO DO NOT OPT IN?

- Attend CG Meetings as guest for trial period (till end Feb 2023)
- Participate in other aspects of the church
- Be a church member (Ordinary/Associate)

2. WHAT IF I FAIL TO MEET THE MINIMUM EXPECTATIONS?

You will forgo your CG membership and not be able to attend CG meetings after February until:
a. You have re-applied for membership.
b. You have re-attended the next BELONG class (in February or August)

3. WHAT ABOUT BELIEVERS WHO ARE NEW TO THE CHURCH?

- Sign up and Become CG members
- Visit CG meetings as a guest for a period not exceeding 2 consecutive BELONG classes.

4. MUST I APPLY FOR BOTH CHURCH MEMBERSHIP AND CG MEMBERSHIP?

- You can be a Church member (Associate/Ordinary) without being a CG member.
- You can be a CG member without being a Church member (Associate/Ordinary)

5. HOW WILL ATTENDANCE FOR SERVICE BE TAKEN?

- With effect from August 2022, CG leaders will stop taking service attendance.
- Please indicate your own service attendance through the online Connect Card to ensure that you meet the requirements for Church membership and/or CG membership

6. WILL THE CHURCH STILL HAVE LIVE ONLINE SERVICES?

- English and Chinese services will continue to be streamed live.
- From August 2022, online service attendance will no longer be counted for meeting either Church or CG membership requirements (both set at 50%).

7. CAN UNBELIEVERS ATTEND CG MEETINGS?

- We encourage unbelievers to attend our other platforms for exploring the Christian faith rather than CG meetings.
- In exceptional cases, subject to the approval and discretion of the Zone Pastor, an unbeliever may be allowed to visit CG meetings for a limited time period.

8. HOW WILL THOSE WHO ARE NOT CG MEMBERS CONTACT THE CHURCH FOR MINISTRY?

- Send an email to churchoffice@brighton.org.sg
- Call Tel: 6848 4940 during church office hours.

9. DO I HAVE TO BE A CG MEMBER TO SERVE IN CHURCH?

This has always been a requirement only for church leaders and worship team.