Circles not Rows

I'm not much of a blogger - either reading or contributing. Must be a generational thing - is there a mandatory age of retirement from blogging and all social media use?
While not a big blogger, I have become a big believer in small groups at Nativity. Andy Stanley talks about God really showing up in circles (small group meetings) and not in rows (weekend Church attendance). Nativity is certainly about the weekend and without that laser focus by staff and ministers, many of us would have wandered to some other community. The weekend experience is a huge key to starting the road to discipleship. The challenge to our Nativity community is moving people from their often anonymous rows to authentic circles.
I'm reading Warren's Purpose Driven Life again. I was struck by his chapter on Cultivating Community (19) and thinking about small groups. Some of his thoughts:

• Community requires commitment
• It takes both God's power and our effort to produce a loving Christian community
• Cultivating community takes honesty.
• Real fellowship, whether in a marriage, a friendship, or your church, depends on frankness.
• Frankness is not rudeness.
• Cultivating community takes humility - self-importance, smugness, and stubborn pride destroy fellowship faster than anything else.
• Pride blocks God's grace in our lives.
• You can develop humility by: admitting your weaknesses, being patient with others' weaknesses, by being open to correction, and by pointing the spotlight on others.
• Cultivating community takes courtesy.
• Cultivating community takes confidentiality - gossip kills community.
• Cultivating community takes frequency - community is not built on convenience, but on conviction and an investment of time.
• Nine characteristics of biblical fellowship: authenticity, mutuality, sympathy, mercy, honesty, humility, courtesy, confidentiality, and frequency.

We have talked about most of this with maybe different language. I am blessed to have a band of brothers where I find the environment Warren describes and where our members continues to work on creating that environment. How do we create these environments for more of our parish community so that there really is a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ? A great challenge for Nativity. I'm happy to be on that quest.