Tamera's Rooted Story

Nurturing Your Spirit and Growing in Your Faith Journey

Are you looking for a life-changing experience that will introduce you to your Life Group? Rooted is a ten-week experience that focuses on discipleship, spiritual growth, and purpose. Each Rooted group focuses on a variety of topics over the course of the study, including daily devotions and prayer, freedom from strongholds, service, and sacrificial generosity. 

Rooted is our on-ramp to Life Groups. At the end of the ten-week study, you have an opportunity for your Rooted group to become your Life Group. If you haven’t connected to a group, Rooted is an excellent opportunity to get involved and get to know the people you’ll be studying with on a regular basis. 

Tamara Swoboda attends the Millard campus, where she participated in Rooted in early 2019, prior to the beginning of the pandemic. Today, she leads her own Life Group, which began with a financial class she helped to teach in 2020. 

Stepping Out of Her Comfort Zone

Tamara, who is passionate about helping others with their finances, started helping friends through the church. When the Campus Pastor asked her to help teach a financial planning class, she didn’t immediately feel comfortable taking a leadership role. 

“They asked us to consider being leaders, but I like to be a participant and to encourage people,” she says. “Leading seemed like too much of a responsibility.”

The class was held on Zoom, and more people signed up than anticipated. Tamara learned she would need to lead her own group, rather than teaching alongside another instructor.

“My heart dropped. I thought, I can’t do this,” she says. 

But to Tamara’s surprise, the group she led was composed of ladies who became fast friends. The class lasted six weeks, and over that period they grew close. At the end of the six weeks, they didn’t want to say their goodbyes. To Tamara’s surprise, she found herself contacting Kristi, one of the pastors, to request a new class that this group could move into together. 

“I felt led to take these ladies through Rooted, but I was scared of what it meant,” Tamara says. 

Tamara got in touch with her group to let them know about the experience, which would take a deeper dive into spiritual growth and the natural discomfort that comes along with growing in our walk with Christ. Once Tamara immersed herself in the material, it solidified the pull she’d felt to lead the group. 

“I could tell that God really wanted this to happen,” she says.

Almost everyone who had participated in Tamara’s financial group, including some ladies who were not members at StoneBridge, was able to participate. Many of the group members invited their friends and family members to join, as well.

“They liked how cohesive the group was and they were excited about some of the topics,” Tamara says. “This wasn’t by accident; it was meant to be, and it forced me out of my comfort zone.” 

Even though Tamara has now been through the Rooted experience more than once, she says participants and leaders get something new out of the material each time. Participants from all backgrounds will find something they can relate to or learn from in this series. 

“I was growing along with the ladies in my group,” she says. “I specifically remember the chapter on strongholds, and the one on offering. It was so beautifully laid out, and we matured through the process.” 

Seeing Everyday Miracles Unfold

During the unit on giving, Tamara says her group witnessed and experienced extraordinary things. They were discussing the idea of stepping out in faith and tithing 10% of their income--something some of the group members had never done before. Most of the participants had not given 10% at any point in their lives, and the ladies in the group who decided to give it a try had life-changing experiences throughout the process. 

“There’s a difference between putting money in the plate and stepping out in faith to give 10%. For the ladies who chose to give that 10%, their lives turned upside-down in a good way. We would cry every time they told their stories.” 

One of the study participants was a single mother with three children who was struggling in her job and with multiple areas of her life. She needed home repairs she couldn’t pay for, and bills were stacking up. Still, she decided to take up the challenge and give 10%.

“She said, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to feed my kids or pay my mortgage, but I’m going to do this’,” Tamara says. “A few days after she tithed at church, she received an unmarked envelope with the exact amount of cash as her 10%. She did it again the following week, and the same thing happened.” 

Throughout the pandemic, Tamara’s group found that, while there were plenty of worries and stresses to talk about, there was also an astounding amount of hope. 

“Faith transcended into these amazing stories of hope,” she says. “Even among the horrible things happening in the world, we had so much hope and faith.” 

Some of the women in Tamara’s group have gone on to lead their own studies, inspired by the spiritual growth they’ve experienced in Rooted. Some have invited friends and family to join them. Yet others have decided to take the next step in their faith journey by being baptized. 

Interested in Getting Involved? 

For those interested in participating in a Rooted experience, Tamara says it’s important to step out in faith. 

“If you feel even a little stir in your heart, follow that and see where it goes. If you keep pushing that away or don’t listen, you could be missing out on some really great friendships, growth, and learning a lot about yourself and God,” she says. “Trust God, and you will come out a changed person.” 

Rooted groups are composed of 10-14 members, grouped by campus location. Groups are offered at all five StoneBridge campuses, including online. After you’ve completed your ten meetings, then your group will hold a Celebration. 

The cost to participate in Rooted is $35 per person, which covers sessions, workbooks, food, and supplies. Childcare is also available for a small fee. For information on assistance with fees, please contact your Campus Pastor. 

If you’re interested in facilitating a Rooted group yourself, you’ll need to first graduate from Rooted. Then, you can complete a leadership application and go through facilitator training. 

For more information on the Rooted program, click here.