Transforming Church

There are four key elements that small groups provide --community building, educational development, spiritual enrichment and mission outreach. Let's look at these four elements individually.

Community Building: A small group serves as a community or congregation within the congregation. The priesthood of believers is lived out in small groups. The participants in small groups tend to provide pastoral care to each other. In times of need the group members step forward and provide the support and care that is often needed. That care may be in the form of a listening ear, providing a meal, visiting at the hospital. It is not unusual to hear people say prior to a hospital stay, "My small group has it all covered". These are welcome words for pastors in the fact that others are willing to share in providing pastoral care. Community building is critical in growing churches. Often people begin to feel disconnected to the church when the church grows. In some instances churches with multiple services people will say, "I feel like a stranger in my own church, I don't know everyone." That is a warning sign that people are feeling disconnected from the community. Small groups provide the opportunity for people to keep that sense of consecutiveness even when a church is growing.

Educational development: Small groups provide a wonderful opportunity to engage people in study. So often people in a congregation limit their Bible study to the fifteen minute sound bite of a sermon. In small groups participants spend 40 minutes digging in the Word and discussing the impact of the Word in life. Some small group ministries design their study time to be relational, looking a scripture in light of life, others design the study time to be more in depth. Either way digging in the Word is a key factor in developing an understanding of the Word.

Spiritual enrichment: Far too many Christians limit their prayer life to one minute before meals and one minute before going to sleep. Many find themselves just too busy to pray. In some instances, people feel like the disciples when they asked, "Lord, teach us to pray." The closing time of each small group is worship time. The community pauses and shares the joys and concerns that each person in the group is experiencing. The whole group then lifts these joys and concerns up in prayer. Each participant is then asked to pray every day and remember these concerns in their prayer time. It is possible to teach people in a group different forms and types of prayer. Many become more comfortable praying aloud in a group they trust.

Mission Outreach: Each small group is required to look beyond themselves by engaging in ministry beyond the group. Some groups may go to nursing home, help congregational members with home repairs, knit prayer shawls, etc. The project potentials are endless. This focus on giving beyond ourselves strengthens the community within the small groups by having a common project where the focus is not on us but what has God called us to do for others.

All four elements are present in each small group but vary as to their impact on the group depending on the needs the congregation. For example, large congregations with multiple services would place community building as a priority to building congregations within the larger congregation. Small churches with one service could see that educational development would serve the congregation better since there is already a strong community of support within the church. In organizing a small group ministry it is important to decide what will be the key element, then which comes next and so on. As in the example above, the smaller church may place education as the primary emphasis followed by spiritual growth, then mission outreach and finally community. In another example, maybe in a larger church, community would be the first priority, followed by spiritual growth, educational development and mission out reach.

In any event small group ministry is beneficial for all size churches. Small groups provide the environment for discipleship development. Each of the marks of discipleship is present in small group ministry - Prayer, Worship, Reading, Serving, Relating and Giving.

Growing People through Small Groups is a great book by Dave Stark showing how to build a healthy small group ministry. Starting Small Group and Keeping Them Going is a book published by Augsburg Fortress that provides all the information needed to get a healthy small group ministry up and going in a congregation. The Serendipity Series is another excellent source for small group development as well as providing small group resources. One of the best resources for small group development is to visit a church that has a vital small group ministry.