Author: Co/Mission Couples Ministry

Co/Mission Couples Summer Update

August 15, 2025 Co/Mission Couples Ministry

Here’s what our Co/Mission Couples ministry has been up to this summer:

In May, we joined forces with the Kindred Singles group and traveled to River Falls to celebrate the grand opening of the new Street Level Coffee/Believers church space there. We were able to hang up posters, hand out flyers, serve coffee & ice cream, and grill out. It was a blessing to take part in what God is doing through the ministry in River Falls.

June began with a wrap-up of our book discussion groups at the church campground with dinner, fire, and camping. We had great weather, and the beautiful weather continued for our next event, which took us out of our back yards to Como Park in St. Paul for a night of Shakespeare in the Park. We took in a free performance of one of his lesser known plays, All’s Well That Ends Well and while we may not have caught all of the dialogue (old English), we were still able to figure out what was going on! It was a picturesque evening at the pavilion on Lake Como.

Next, we got active on our bicycles on the Chippewa River State Trail. We biked from Tarrant Park in Durand to the Dunnville Bottoms and got to enjoy a pretty close to perfect summer picnic in the park after the ride.

At the beginning of this month, we were able to team up with the Kindred Singles again for a community cleanup both in Menomonie and River Falls to bless our cities. We wrapped up the time with a grill out and prize for the most interesting find. (Please ask Nick about his group’s submission and the prize!)

Co/Mission Couples Spring Update

April 15, 2025 Co/Mission Couples Ministry

Throughout the winter, the Co/Mission couples group has been continuing to spend time in each other’s homes eating together and learning through reading and discussion of a book. Most recently, we welcomed some additional participants and began a new book titled, When People are Big and God Is Small by Edward Welch. There has been plenty of laughter and learning together!

Soon, we’ll wrap up this round of groups and get outside for the change of season. In fact, we will be joining forces with the Kindred Singles group in May to help promote the new River Falls ministry endeavors. Stay tuned for more opportunities for fellowship this summer. If you are interested in participating or have questions, please reach out to co-mission@jfbelievers.com.

Co/Mission Couples Ministry Update

December 15, 2024 Co/Mission Couples Ministry

It’s been a year of changes for the couples ministry here at Believers City Church. First off, we changed our name this fall to Co/Mission Couples. The name of our couples ministry is reflective of the nature of our calling. The Great Commission is truly a co-mission. We are called to work together, grow together, and journey together. To this end, we meet together in both small and large groups with varying activities in our local communities as well as our homes.

In September we spent the day in Stillwater, MN, for a day retreat entitled “Dispute & Devotion”. The retreat primarily entailed teachings by Matt Chandler covering the book of Malachi with small group discussions about the dangers of comfort and a call to put Christ and Kingdom first in our lives.

This fall, we kicked off new small group book discussions. We’ve been enjoying meeting in one another’s homes twice monthly, sharing dinner and then reading through Intoxicated with Babylon by Steve Gallagher. It’s been a time of discipleship and growth in our friendship as we open up our homes to each other and talk over what we’re learning.

Most recently, we invited all couples to join in decorating the church sanctuary for the Christmas season. It was a festive time making wreaths (revealing many artists in the group), hanging garland, and eating cookies.

If you’re interested in learning more about our upcoming events, please email co-mission@jfbelievers.com.

OneLife Couples Ministry Spring Update

April 16, 2024 Co/Mission Couples Ministry

Over the past few months, the OneLife Couples Ministry enjoyed the near absence of winter and we are now embracing the arrival of spring.

In January, we met in Menomonie, River Falls, and various small towns to eat together and hang up posters to promote the local community Bible discussions. We are very thankful to be able to say that we have had visitors come as a direct result of these posters.

To break the cabin fever, which wasn’t too much of a risk this winter, we enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells of Como Zoo & Conservatory in February. We grabbed lunch/coffee at various places in the Twin Cities and everyone returned home with all of their fingers and toes intact.

In March, our members met together to enjoy pizza and a night of trivia. We were able to get to know some more things about one another through some of the questions. (Ask Connor and Maddy what they’d do if they won a million dollars.) Apparently, there are a lot of fans of the TV show Psych in our group!

Most recently, we got out hiking at Hoffman Hills followed by a picnic lunch. Quite a few of us climbed the observation tower and got to see an eagle soar overhead. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day for a hike in the woods. We are thankful for the friendships and marriages God has entrusted to all of us and look forward to growing together in the months and years ahead.

OneLife Couples Ministry Update

December 16, 2023 Co/Mission Couples Ministry

OneLife is a fellowship ministry geared towards married couples which exists to be a community that enjoys one another’s friendship, ministers to each other, and reaches out to the people around us. Our aim is to put into practice 1 Thessalonians 5:11, which says, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up…”

We typically meet about once per month for a variety of activities. We also encourage couples to spend time with one another outside of the regularly scheduled events, enjoying the family God has called us into!

Over the past year, we’ve enjoyed fellowship activities ranging from bowling to potlucks to game nights. Additionally, we teamed up with our singles ministry over the summer and reached out to the region with coffee giveaways and trash pick up at our local community outreach sites. We also got the opportunity to enjoy a fall hike and decorate the church for the Christmas season. Coming up in January, we’ll be postering to further promote our local community outreaches. Stay tuned for more events in year ahead. Please pray for vision and that God would grow our group both in depth and numbers!

On-Line to Outside

August 16, 2020 Co/Mission Couples Ministry

The Spring and Summer

Well, this has been an unusual year but with its own interesting twists. OneLife began the spring suspending any gatherings since, well… you know. It was tough to know what we could do and how we would do it, but like the other groups, we began to gather online. First, it was a simple conversation. “What’s happening?” “How’s everyone doing?” We found ourselves talking for a longer period than we anticipated. Life was not great and people were feeling the disconnect. Online meetings were helpful but they kept most of us on the surface.

Then the online meetings morphed. After a cordial conversation, we began to read through a simple devotional and talk about marriage. This added a positive dimension to our online meetings albeit still missing some depth.

So next we tried a game… and on a shared WebEx screen at that. Interestingly, there is a very workable and fun online version of Scattergories. It was amazing to see how fast nobody could come up with obvious answers in 120 seconds. Man, did we laugh! It was people talking over people. It was ultra-chaotic at times for 12+ screens to play a game like this over the inter-webs. While fun, we vowed not to conduct such a competition like this again with so many screens at once.

Together

Since the death of the age of WebEx, we have begun to find ways to get together in person. Our first trek was out to Wakanda Park for a casual 8-mile morning bike ride around the lake loop followed by a picnic under the shaded canopy of hardwoods. The weather was wonderful. This day also marked our first full gathering with those who remain from our previously named older families group, Gnosko. That day was the birth of a new version of couples ministry. Welcome to the crew, guys!

Finally, in an effort to learn more about each other, our last fellowship took us out to the shoreline in Hudson, WI where we each brought curbside dinner and tidbits about ourselves. We went around the group and each couple answered these three questions:

How did you and your spouse meet?
What was something you remember vividly about your wedding?
What is one thing you have learned together from being married?

It was really nice to learn new things about our church family and to reminisce.

What Shall Be

Looking to the future, we have some exciting ideas to round out the warm weather months. Sadly, we will not be playing our annual flag-football game this fall but, never fear, we’re considering Drive-In movies, scavenger hunts, hikes, fires, etc. We also are working on hosting a retreat this fall. Pray for wisdom and clarity.