Join us for Small Groups
Join us weekly, October 11 - November 15, for a special deep dive and discussion into the life and works of Dietrech Bonhoeffer.
Hosted by members of our congregation. Share a meal, discussions, and prayer.
Sign up is closed for this event — Please reach out if you have questions!
“Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. Whether it be a brief, single encounter or the daily fellowship of years, Christian community is only this. We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ.”
So writes Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his short book Life Together. Bonhoeffer, as you may know, was a German Lutheran theologian and pastor whose ministry coincided with the rise of the Third Reich and the destruction of Western Europe in the Second World War. During these years, the historic Protestant Churches in Germany bent the knee to National Socialism. Bonhoeffer, along with several other pastors, helped establish the Confessing Church, a church independent of the dictates of the Nazi regime, a church that acknowledged the authority of Jesus Christ alone over the church.
Over the years, Bonhoeffer had been given many opportunities to leave Germany for good. And yet he chose to stay because he believed that God had called him to be faithful and serve the church in Germany, a choice that would ultimately lead to his arrest and execution mere weeks before the end of the War in Europe. In 1935, Bonhoeffer founded an illegal underground seminary at Finkenwalde, a small village in Western Poland, to train pastors for ministry in a world that is incredibly confusing and hostile to the Good News about Jesus.
It was the life of the Finkenwalde seminary that inspired Bonhoeffer to write Life Together. Their life as a Christian community involved, “assembling together every day in the old way to pray, to read the Bible, and to praise our God.” And Bonhoeffer’s book instructs us about the ministry of all believers, unselfish service to those in need, confession of our sins, and the daily need for meditation on the Word of God and worship.
This Fall at Trinity Church, we are engaging in a parish-wide study of Bonhoeffer’s Life Together through small groups.
Why?
Because, like Bonhoeffer, we live in a time that is confusing, divided, and hostile to forming real Christian community. The challenges of German Christians in 1935 are different than those of our congregation in 2026. Today, we face the very real risks of loneliness and isolation, fragmentation and division of our common life. Yet we too need to hear Bonhoeffer’s word to Finkenwalde: “We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ.”
I want to invite you to join one of these small groups.
Here is how it will work:
On Sunday, October 11th, everyone in the parish is invited to attend an all-parish adult forum at 9:15am in Cox Hall. There, I will briefly introduce Bonhoeffer’s life and work to the congregation and discuss the vision of Christian community he outlines in Life Together.
Then, for the next five weeks (October 11-November 15), several small groups will meet in the homes of members of our congregation. These different groups are spread throughout the Piedmont region and across several different weeknights. The agenda of these meetings is simple: (1) Share a meal, (2) discuss a chapter of the book, and, most importantly, (3) lift up other members of your small group in common prayer. The church provides a copy of the book. The church provides the meals. All you need to do is show up.
You can sign up for small groups today, via the button below. If you have trouble navigating the website, call the church office, and I will make sure you get the information you need.
I hope you will join a Trinity Small Group this fall. May God’s blessing be upon you as we engage in the gift and the work of living in Christian community.
All my best,
Jason