CITY COMMIT, INC.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA

Businesses Organizations that build their businesses around people’s needs to belong, to be connected, and to be admired, that are focused on relationship over products are winning in today’s economy.” Belonging can happen with millions (political parties, religions, etc.), with thousands (sporting events, concerts etc.) and hundreds and tens (church congregations, bars, etc.), but we believe the greatest personal change occurs when we are in small groups of 2-5 people. In small groups we can listen and be heard, know and to be known, and where the greatest authenticity can occur. "The small group is the unit of transformation. The small group is the structure that allows every voice to be heard. It is in groups of 3 to 12 that intimacy is created. This intimate conversation makes the process personal. It provides the structure where people overcome isolation and where the experience of belonging is created. In the small group discussion we discover that our own concerns are more universal than we imagined. This discovery that we are not alone, that others can at least understand what is on our mind, if not agree with us, is what creates the feeling of belonging." 1. A common mission of a group Belonging does not occur when we try to establish “belonging” then mission. Mission develops community. CityCommit was started by a small group of men that had a deep desire to improve their own manhood, marriages and growth in leadership and wanted to help other men who had the same desire. Although men have been our primary focus, we are now reaching out to and impacting women through the marriage initiative and through our leadership initiative. One of our greatest catalytic events was the Coach Joe Gibb’s breakfast in September of 2013 when we had over 930 in attendance. Although we are not a “big event” driven initiative, we were able to reach hundreds with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ and pursue “follow-up.” In 2013 we were able to reach over 2,000 different people with the Gospel. In 2014, through a partnership with Family Life, we hosted our first THRIVE marriage event in Sarasota with 350 in attendance. Although we were very pleased with the results of this one-day conference, we were more amazed to know that as of this date, we have had over 600 attend the Art of Marriage small groups that we established. Again, we are more interested in the relational paradigm rather than the big event itself. In October of 2015, we hosted our first CITYCommit Leadership Series breakfast for marketplace and community leaders. Jeff Kemp, an 11 year NFL quarterback and V.P. of Family Life, keynoted our first breakfast with 210 in attendance. This again allows us to initiate roundtables and small groups in our businesses, communities and churches. We anticipate our Leadership Series to be a quarterly event. Finally, the most interesting new venture became evident as local churches asked us to develop their men and marriage initiatives and establish CITYCommit locations within their congregation. We are so honored to serve the local churches in this capacity and become partners in strengthening men, marriages and leaders. The marketplace/business community is becoming more interested in the CITYCommit paradigm as owners/leaders have a desire to provide “belonging” and a positive company culture for their employees. We are excited to serve the marketplace with a simple and reproducible model for encouragement and transformation within their organizations and look forward to 2018.