The Future of Small Groups
Small Groups in the context of church ministry will always exist. However, how churches and Christians express group life will always be in a state of change. Culture, church administration, leadership, and other factors will constantly maintain an influence how we express our faith and spur each other on in spiritual growth and discipleship. Not too long ago Bill Donahue shared his thoughts on the topic:
“It is no secret that there are multiple movements taking place across the kingdom landscape. Only time will tell which ones survive and thrive. One thing is for certain, however; communal life is central to almost all of the current emerging expressions of church life. More intentional than the previous generation, the rising cadre of church leaders consists largely of communal architects, shaping the church into smaller communities for greater missional impact and presence. Not since Wesley’s little bands of the 1700s, the haystack prayer gatherings of 1806 and beyond (starting from a small group of 5 and launching prayer groups still today), and the Jesus Movement of the 1960s have we seen such a church-wide emphasis on community.The small group movement that burst onto the scene in para-church groups in the 1950s-70s began to find a home in the church in the 80s-90s. Meta-church models, cell churches, mini-churches, discipleship groups, recovery ministries, and evangelistic groups emerged. As a result, churches began to embrace group life as important for growth, but still treated this form of community as a program: ‘We do groups.’ The last 10 years has seen a move beyond that narrower focus-where groups are still essential to spiritual growth, but where they are connected to larger mid-sized communal gatherings.”
As leaders we need to be aware of change in our culture and more specifically to the needs of our individual communities. I like how Bill starts his thoughts with addressing that multiple movements are taking place. One of the biggest mistakes we can make is forcing a change in our ministry context simply because it is what is working somewhere else. China will experience something different than what happened in Korea, and New York will have a different experience than Chicago. I believe the best we can do is learn from what is happening elsewhere, and begin experimenting with some key principles, but don’t expect the same result. Here is my approach as a ministry leader when I try to use other ministries to help us grow or solve problems:
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Observe another ministry context
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Evaluate my ministry context
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Apply what is relevant in our local church and measure the result
There is never a “one size fits all” solution. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t take risks, we must take risks and try new things for the cause of Christ. However, don’t expect the same result. Set your own goals and create your own plan using the knowledge you gain from others.
Go for it!
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