A men's Bible study and breakfast group meets at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, 5700 W. Sixth St.

Beth Murphy has noticed that a lot of her fellow members at Unity Church of Lawrence stick around after Sunday worship to chat with one another.

“You can’t get out of there,” Murphy says. “Everyone’s talking to everyone they know. Those are mostly because of connections they’ve made at small groups.”

While the focus of many churchgoers is Sunday-morning worship, many church leaders and members say the real way to make life-changing connections is to get involved in small groups.

And in a town with as many diverse houses of worship as Lawrence has, it’s not difficult to find a niche group that fits your interests. And often, churches do outreach that goes beyond simple Bible studies.

A sampling:

¢ Several Lawrence churches have dinners in homes, often called “Dinners for Eight.” It’s an informal setting designed to introduce members to one another.

¢ Trinity Lutheran Church, 1245 Vt., offers regular quilting days for members to get together and chat as they work on quilts.

¢ Lawrence Wesleyan Church, 3705 Clinton Parkway, has offered groups devoted to lawn care and car maintenance.

And, of course, there are small groups focusing on different sections of the Bible and various religious ideas, from a variety of different theological viewpoints.

Murphy has found several groups to get involved with during her five years at Unity Church, 900 Madeline Lane. She has been involved with the church’s garden team, chaplain program, children’s ministry and outreach ministry.

“You get to know people a lot better” in small groups, Murphy says. “And you get to know a diverse group of people.”

Elsie Flory has realized that, too, through her 2 1/2 years attending St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, 5700 W. Sixth St. She attends a Bible study every Monday that is examining different women in the Bible. She also is involved with prayer shawl ministry, which gives knitted and crocheted shawls to those in need.

“It seems like there’s a connection,” Flory says. “Even if the group doesn’t meet for very long, for those who were in that group – even in a large church – you can speak to them on a different level.”

She especially likes the insights she gains from fellow church members in Bible studies or book studies.

“You grow up knowing certain things about the Bible, but as an adult you need to go deeper into the Bible,” Flory says. “When you grow up, you know Christ died on the cross and the big stuff, which is fine. But now we can explore the minute stuff, and how others have interpreted what’s in the Bible.”

Jane Frydman has found a book niche of her own.

She’s part of a group of about 10 people who gather monthly at the Lawrence Jewish Community Center, 917 Highland Drive, to discuss books related to the Holocaust.

“It’s a very free-form group,” Frydman says. “The interesting thing about the group is half is Jewish and the other half is Christian.”

Really, she says, the group is brought together by only one thing: an interest in the topics.

“It is a subject of inherent interest,” Frydman says. “How could something like the Holocaust happen in the heart of Europe?”