So, you have this buddy that you know doesn't attend church, and you're trying to find the right way to introduce him to the broad spectrum that is church life. Which approach do you think would work better?

“Hey, Tom. Want to come help me work on cars this Saturday?”

“Hey, Tom. Want to come to a Bible study with me this Saturday?”

If Tom is like most unchurched people, he'll be more inclined to accept the first invitation, which is the whole idea behind affinity-based small groups. These are small groups that come together around a common interest or passion of the group members. The quilting, crafting or darts groups you may be familiar with in churches – but with the added component of intentional spiritual sharing and prayer as well as the shared interest activity.

There are about a dozen such groups – called ShareGroups – at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Schaumburg, Illinois, with about 100 people involved.

Pastor Bill Cate helped start Car Care Connection out of his own small group interest.

Men (women are welcome, too) from St. Peter Lutheran Church in Schaumburg, Illinois, meet once a month to provide basic car care for single moms.

It is the brainchild of St. Peter Associate Pastor and Minister of Discipleship Bill Cate, who explains the idea came from two of his personal passions.

“I like monkeying around with cars, and knew other men and women do, too,” Cate says. “I've also got a soft spot in my heart for single moms. They've become heroes for me.” Cate serves on the pastoral advisory council for Caris Pregnancy Clinic, a non-profit agency in Cook County providing services to often-unwed expectant mothers.

“For whatever reason, the man in their life isn't there and hasn't taken his responsibility,” he adds. “So they have to do it all themselves. Some do it very well, and some really struggle. My hope is to help those who are struggling.”

At the same time, St. Peter School Principal Roger Kirsch was interested in providing some sort of service at the Schaumburg area Caris Clinic. In offering alternatives to abortion for unplanned pregnancies, Caris tries to connect young women to local churches. Add to this the affinity-based small group paradigm, and Car Care Connection was born.

In addition to providing services to clients of Caris, St. Peter's new Car Care Connection also serves Jubilee Village, a residence for single mothers ages 17-23 in Carol Stream, as well as any single moms who attend St. Peter or who have children in St. Peter School.

Cate says this is an important service to offer, as car maintenance is often one of the things that falls by the wayside for those struggling financially.

“We are hoping to stretch their dollar a little bit by offering this service,” he notes. “And if we identify something in an oil change and inspection, and find it in the early stages before it becomes a $1,000 bill, that also helps them in the long run.” (An arrangement has been made with a local mechanic to offer Car Care Connection clients a discount on such repairs.)

Car Care Connection is open once a month in the Auto Shop facilities of Rolling Meadows High School. That relationship came to be after a shop teacher from that school, who has a daughter in St. Peter's early childhood program, approached Cate with the same idea.

Car Care Connection had its first official service day in late January, and while only two women took advantage of the service, Cate knows of at least a dozen who will be doing so in February.

“Word of mouth is working,” he says. “I have a volunteer and his wife who are taking care of organizing and publicity.”

Cate adds that the group did more than change the oil in two cars that Saturday. “We met for 10-15 minutes beforehand and had a brief devotion, shared a time of prayer, and then we got to work,” he says. “When we had down time between clients, we messed around with each others' cars. We helped one guy rotate his tires and check his brakes.”

Besides the single moms being helped, Car Care Connection is also helping meet the ShareGroup objective. Cate notes that one of the volunteer mechanics in January was a non-member who wanted to participate in the group.

Cate concedes that the 100 participants in St. Peter's ShareGroups is “a small number – we want it to be more.” To that end, small group leadership training will take place in April, and Cate always has his ear to the ground to hear of other interests and hobbies that may result in a ShareGroup.