If you hang around the American church very long, you’ll hear this term: small group, grow group, e-group, something about groups. We’ve been taught by the current generation of innovators that small group, or if you prefer cell, is the cure for what ails the American church.
The problem is, the small group as a program is an utter failure. I know through experience because I have thrown a lot of staff members, years of work, launches, failures, and re-launches into small groups as a program only to have them turn out to be a failure, and the staff men and women who led them feel defeated.
The bottom line is this: not everything in the spiritual life can be programmed. We can’t write a book for it, create a seminar, and then expect people to jump into them and be successful.
One of the problems of small groups as a program is that it throws people together who may have a common belief system, but who are radically different in personalities, interests, or even values. There’s no guarantee that just because I love God, love Jesus, and love the world, that I’m going to click with whomever shows up and signs up for a six-week course.
And even if we do click, that creates its own problem. Because once people bond socially, they usually don’t abandon those bonds voluntarily in order to go make new ones.
Maybe small groups are far more organic than that. And maybe the core value of that small group is not just to be together, but to do something. Small groups that exist to study a book for a short period of time have value, but they’re not the answer to the real problem. We’ll talk about that later.
Here’s my question. Do you have small groups as a program in your church? If they are wonderfully successful, we’d love to know who you are and where you are.
Wow! Could not agree more… small groups as a “program” are not the answer.
However… Most failures seem to be the result of a “one size fits all” approach to group life… forcing a certain kind of group or agenda on everyone. Community and groups are essential to spiritual growth, but the bandwidth needs to be broad enough to encompass groups that study, pray, serve each other and others, and simply do life together.
Organic groups do all of those things, and need to be allowed to develop without the rigid control imposed by some programmatic frameworks.
Great post.
Thanks for sharing your experience Dave.
Do you recommend a church be active and encourage people to form their own small groups or just let it happen?
I like to see the church provide some basic training for potential group leaders then get out of the way. Vision-casting for group life from the pulpit is essential. Preach the values and see what God does.
As groups develop, some kind of on-going support is needed to build into the leaders, but it can be in the form of mentoring/peer support instead of a rigid accountability system.
We don’t do small groups. We do community groups. This is not just a name or title change. It is a core philosophy change. Our groups are small (8-12 people) but they are not for Bible study. They are not for fellowship. They are not for ministry. They are for authentic community to form and exist. Our people chose a book or workbook or DVD. They do their Bible study at home on their own or as a couple. When they come together they do so in order to share how they were challenged, what worked in their life that week from applying it, what didn’t work, etc. They eat, pray and plan on participation with the church’s larger mission projects. Oh, and they also spend a lot of time in discussion about their spiritual failures and success.
We have found that the more different people are the better they connect. You are correct that they can’t do that in 6 or 10 weeks. Ours commit for a try-before-you-buy 8 weeks. They almost always continue as a community group. Then they meet in homes for the next 18 months. It works amazing.
I could go on but North Point Community Church wrote a book called Community Groups that is an awesome blueprint.
By the way…our is working with people from Germany, Canada, Mexico and over 10 different states in the US. It is working with people from religious backgrounds like Baptist, Methodists, Presbyterian, Lutherern, Pentecostal, Non-Denominational, and even Church of Christ. That’s why I think this works anywhere with anybody.
It is people sharing their religious experience together, learning together, eating together, doing life together.
What we call Community Groups DOES WORK!!
Greg,
I appreciate input here. In your comment you stated “Our groups are small (8-12 people) but they are not for Bible study. They are not for fellowship. They are not for ministry. They are for authentic community to form and exist.”
Yet your church website states, “Community groups are small groups of 8 to 12 people who meet for encouragement, fellowship, Bible study, prayer and accountability. Community Groups provide a predictable environment where participants can experience authentic community and spiritual growth.”
Can you help me understand this perceived discreptancy, the subtle difference between your community groups and typical small groups, and why your community groups work?
What makes everything so dog gone confusing is there isn’t a standard for how church’s use terms. Our community groups “meet” for those things. They do those things. They are a sum of those things. They are not one of those things. They are not just smaller numbers of people meeting to do Sunday School. They are not just meeting in someone’s home instead of the church building. They are not just a social group. They are more than a Bible study or “cottage prayer meeting. They are a culmination of those.
Concerning Bible study…our people read and study and apply the Bible BEFORE they go to their group meeting. If they don’t they have nothing to offer and stick out. The can happen every now and then (we all have bad or busy weeks). But the accountability of the group and desire to grow spiritually makes it a rare happening.
I believe that Luke is describing the environment of groups in Acts when he says in chapter 2 that they met for eating, fellowship and instruction. Not one or two but all those. The result is always that the church grew. We have noticed that too.
We attempt to create the environment for people to come together and experience these things and they do.
I came from a minister of education background in a Southern Baptist church. I was Mr Sunday School. I have copied more churches stuff, re-labeled the same old stuff with new abbreviations and titles but it is usually the same thing in a different package.
How we do and what we call community groups is not. Our goal is what we call it. Our goal is community. And, the things that Christians have in common unity are the scriptures, communication with the Father, and love one for another. These are culminated in common-unity or community groups.
Please understand, we don’t have it all figured out. However, it is working. We are discovering that it keeps improving the less we do to it.
“They are a sum of those things. They are not one of those things.”
Greg… that’s awesome! I have been looking for a way to say that for years!
David, great post and comments. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve just linked to you from my blog at www.whydidntyouwarnme.com. Glad I found your site.
Greg - Thank you for taking the time to explain in greater detail what is behind your small groups working.