Connect. Care. Grow.

Learn more about our community life groups: DNA Groups and Growth Groups.

At Renaissance Church, we believe we were created to be in community. We believe we're called to care for each other. Our community life groups are a key way we provide opportunities for you to grow in your faith, to be known and cared for, and to grow in your relationships with other Jesus followers. 

We're excited to launch a new season of groups for the fall 2025 season! We'll be organizing DNA Groups and two Growth Groups. Groups will begin meeting the week of October 12, 2025. Growth Groups will have their final meeting during the week of December 7, 2025, and DNA Groups will have their final meeting during the week of December 14. Groups will take a break November 25-30, 2025. 

To understand more about the group options, please carefully read the information below.

DNA Groups (Discipleship - Nurturing - Accountability) provide an encouraging space to wrestle with who Jesus is and what it means to follow him. God made us to be in community, so we need others to help us apply the gospel to our lives. DNA Groups are also a key way that our church ensures you are known and cared for.

Each week, DNA groups meet to watch a short teaching video, discuss the previous week's sermon, discuss life, and to pray together. All of the content is designed to help us follow Jesus and renew our minds with the gospel.

DNA Groups consist of 10-12 participants, who meet in person or via virtual video call (Zoom or Google), based on preference.

This fall, we are adding more structure to our DNA Groups to provide more consistency from group to group. Each group will have a trained DNA Group Facilitator—someone who helps lead group discussions and handles communication logistics. If you are interested in serving as a DNA Group Facilitator, we invite you to attend the DNA Group Facilitator Training on Sunday, September 21. Register here, and email Pastor Lester Kim with any questions.

While we hope--and certainly expect--you to form friendships with people in your group, DNA groups are not social clubs. We intentionally place everyone in groups where they'll interact with people who have different backgrounds. We believe these diverse perspectives help us get more out of our scripture reading and give us more opportunities to put our faith into action. The ultimate goal is for us all to grow in the way we follow Jesus. 

Growth Groups help you to connect with people at Renaissance, while also getting the opportunity to go deeper on a specific topic over the course of eight weeks.

Each week, Growth Group members engage with teaching and discussion related to the selected topic. These teachings are longer than those offered to DNA Groups. The meetings will include both small group and large group discussion for more insight and spiritual formation. Each session will require your active engagement.  

For Fall 2025, we are offering two Growth Groups:

THE MEANING OF MARRIAGE (SPOTS LIMITED) - Sundays at 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. | Renaissance Church
For most of us, our understanding of marriage comes from cues we got (or did not get) from our families or media. Marriage is something God created, and participants in this track will be challenged to rethink and understand marriage from the perspective of God's eyes. This track will work through content from the book The Meaning of Marriage by Dr. Timothy Keller. This course is open to people with an interest in this topic, regardless of relationship status --  single, dating, engaged, or married.

Note: This is not a pre-marital counseling course, which is more detailed and intensive. Also, if you are married, you and your spouse are welcome join this group together, however, it is not required.

Securing your own copy of The Meaning of Marriage is required. This course will include assigned readings and homework in between sessions.

This Growth Group is limited to 40 participants and will meet in person only.

Led by Pastor Lester Kim.

EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS (SPOTS LIMITED) - Tuesdays at 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. | Two required in-person sessions; six virtual sessions.
Through this course, you’ll learn how to slow down your life and develop depth in your relationship with Jesus. We will cover the following topics together:

• Learn a 5-part Framework to Transform Your Conversations
• Stop Being Sabotaged by Wrong Assumptions
• Eliminate Confusion by Clarifying Expectations
• Discover What Your Family Taught You About Communication and Conflict
• Get Beneath the Surface of Your Emotional Life
• Deepen Connection Through "Incarnational Listening"
• Disentangle Your Complex Emotions and Speak Clearly
• Master the Art of Clean Fighting
• Design a Lifelong Plan to Grow in Love for Others

Securing your own Emotionally Healthy Relationships materials (approximately $35) and completing assigned readings is required to participate.

Below is the meeting schedule:

Oct. 14 - In-Person at Renaissance Church
Oct. 21 - Zoom
Oct. 28 - Zoom
Nov. 4- Zoom
Nov. 11 - Zoom
Nov. 18 - Zoom
Nov. 25 - Break
Dec. 2 - Zoom
Dec. 9 - In-Person at Renaissance Church

The Emotionally Healthy Relationships Growth Group is at capacity. Please email info@renaissancenyc.com to be added to the waitlist. 

Led by Jessica Rice & Pastor Jordan Rice.

We don't think there's a wrong choice, but this largely depends on what you feel your largest needs are right now.

If you're looking to place an emphasis on relationship building and accountability, DNA Groups would be a great choice for you. If learning what a Christ-centered, Biblical marriage should look like, consider the Meaning of Marriage Growth Group. If you want to deepen your discipleship by going inward so that you might love God and people well, the EHR Growth Group could be a great choice for you.

DNA Groups offer more flexibility from a scheduling perspective (with groups meeting at various times on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays). The Growth Groups have very specific meeting times that are fixed.

Yes.*

It's a yes with an asterisk, because we first want you to ensure you have the time and willingness to show up consistently. We often say, "You'll get out what you put in to your group." If we all show up consistently and honestly, we'll have really meaningful growth and connection. But when some of us say we'll be there and don't show up, others in our church experience hurt, which we want to avoid.

We encourage everyone to not overload themselves with commitments and to truly focus on growing in one particular area, whether in one DNA Group or in a Growth Group.

This means some of you who love your previous DNA Group will opt to take a break from that group, so you can engage with the Growth Group instead. We think that's fine, and we hope you'll trust God in that process. We also hope you'll find ways to nurture those established relationships in other ways, outside of the structure of DNA Group.

If you choose to register for a DNA Group, you will see space to indicate your preference for in-person meetings vs. virtual meetings.

We know many of you desire to meet with your group in person. At the same time, organizing in-person DNA Groups will be possible only to the extent that some of you register and indicate you’re open to having 10 people meet in your home. We’ll try to put 2-3 willing hosts in each group, so the hosting can be shared. But the number of in-person groups we’re able to organize will depend on the willingness of people to open their spaces. We say this not to place pressure on people to do something they aren’t comfortable with, but to set accurate expectations as you register for groups.

For Fall 2025, we will offer groups in the following formats:

• Online men's groups
• In-person men’s groups
• Online women’s groups
• In-person women’s groups
• In-person co-ed groups
• In-person family groups (adults bring children to group meetings)