I believe the mission of H.U.G.G. ministry is to model the small group ministry concept that many churches of today want to achieve. Based scripturally on Acts 2: 44-47 …”they broke bread in their homes and ate together…” along with Acts 5:42 “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and preaching the good news that Jesus is the Christ!” To provide to the body of ECF a space for the application of scriptures, presented through teaching and preaching based on the Sunday sermons. Based on Matthews 28: 19-20 and Mark 16:15, the former scriptures says teach… and the latter states preach…, which is the church’s responsibility is to teach the saints and preach to sinners, alike. On further analysis, primarily, the church declares the justification by faith (Rom. 4:25-5:1); and sanctification (spiritual growth) through the Holy Spirit. Our H.U.G.G. ministry will provide a contextual space for the application of scriptures. To achieve that, it is our goal to give opportunities for H.U.G.G. group gatherings to meet regularly for prayer, worship and teaching; so that we can be accountable to one another, encourage one another, and communicate the love of God to one another. As we progress in our personal relational with God, so will our relations in biblical fellowship with one another. ECF will be built on small groups through the ministry of Home Unity Growth Groups (H.U.G.G.).
Since spring of 2015, I began to manage the HUGG ministry on behalf of Brother Joseph Branch and Senior Pastor Joshua Beckley. I was inspired to come along and assist in this ministry. Since then, we held several sessions of HUGG groups meeting in the homes, and we’ve manage to maintain an average of 15 HUGG groups. In the beginning of my term, the expectations were high, but results were very low. Our focus was to find the base line that we can maintain and grow from it. Now that expectation of 15 HUGG groups, is fully realized by HUGG leadership team and our ECF executive leadership, we are prayerful that the Lord will add to HIS church at ECF. H.U.G.G. Sessions consist of three, eight (8) weeks meetings (fall, winter and spring) annually, with a summer break for congregational series. We have trained over 100 members as host and facilitators, past and present. The H.U.G.G Lead Team had invited guest speakers at our in-gathering fellowships and to speak to congregation at-large. My guiding light is John 10:17-18.