All Saints Church
Thorpe Acre with Dishley 

Thorpe Acre Road, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 4LF, England, UK

Welcome
(~20mins)

The Welcome is a question for each member in the cell to answer.

The Purpose

• To refocus the group every time it meets – however well we know each other.
• For everyone to contribute right at the start and develop confidence to contribute to the rest of cell.
• To help people to relax and feel included right at the start. To feel valued and wanted as they are listened to and develop a sense of belonging.
• To learn something more about each other – asking about the past, present or future.
• Helps build our horizontal relationships before we gather together to relate vertically to God.
• Develops the openness and honesty value of cell.
  The answers can reveal areas that need ministry or gaps in understanding.

How?
When the group settles (probably with drinks and biscuits!), the cell launches with the Welcome.

The Welcome is a question that each member has to answer – mostly going round in a circle giving everyone a chance to answer the question, but sometimes as a discussion together.

The person responsible for the Welcome goes first and sets the levels of openness and honesty and also gives the others give the others a chance to think about their response.

Watch out for an unexpected crisis or emotional response triggered by the question. Minister to them there and then, get people next to them to lay hands and pray in God's comfort etc.

As the group develops in trust, the welcome can become more in depth with harder or more probing questions.