<< Showing Our Age | Remembering the Alamo >>

February 23, 2009

Small Groups are Dying

From Dave Treat

Kathy Guy (Granger Community Church) made a great comment in the last post about small groups not just aging, but dying. She said something that I don't want you to miss, so I am expanding it into a full post.

In the last post about the "aging" small group movement, Kathy Guy had some great and thought-provoking comments. Among other things she said this:

"I mean no disrespect to all those who are strongly convinced that small groups are the way. I do think that small groups as we've known them are dying and will continue to do so. I believe that if we focus on ways for people to enter into relationship with one another, we have a broader net to meet people where they're at."

I hear this a lot: "Small groups are (fill in the blank: dead, bad, wrong, not for everybody, not for me...)." Authors have written whole books about it, churches have made strategic shifts because of it, and their thinking is based on faulty reasoning. It goes something like this: "I had a terrible experience in small groups. Therefore, I know that small groups don't work. By this same remarkable logic, I know that all cars are bad because I had a terrible experience with a 1978 Ford Pinto.

Kathy's insight "... as we have known them..." sums up this line of thinking. It was our (my) experience. "We tried a program and it didn't work. We implemented a small groups model that failed. We couldn't find leaders. We couldn't make coaching work." "I hated my last group... the leader was terrible, the curriculum was terrible, the coffee was terrible. I'll never "do" small groups again." By this reasoning we should also give up on Christianity. G. K. Chesterton lamented: "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried." We've found "small groups" difficult... and abandoned them. It's not the idea of "groups" that is faulty. It is how your particular group (or groups) were experienced.

Admittedly, much of this has to do with language. How many churches have abandoned "evangelism" because the very word strikes fear and prompts heart palpitations and cold sweats? I had a friend who said he thought more Christians should be concerned with "recruiting." He meant "evangelism" but as a new Christian, didn't know the term. Some may experience nausea and shivers when they hear "small groups" but I defy anyone to show me how Christ-like spiritual transformation happens apart from a non-large community where believers can interact authentically with "one another." As Kathy put it: "... focus on ways for people to enter into relationship with one another." Find another name. Abandon your failed approach. Use a different framework. But don't say that your experience somehow negates 2,000 years of history and changed lives.

Agree? Disagree? I know you're thinking it. Write it in the comments, below.

The Emerging Church and Small Groups: What does the future hold? (Part 2) House churches, neo-monastic communities, ministry teams, small groups, and neighborhood gatheri...Place-Based Community Part 2: The Role of Small Groups Meaningful personal relationships are desired in every community, and leveraging place (where you ...The Emerging Church and Small Groups: What does the future hold? (Part 1) It is no secret that there are multiple movements taking place across the kingdom la...

Comments

February 23, 2009 10:54 AM #

Dave,

I'm glad you have raised this issue. I'm an academic and we (at least I do) distinguish between "opinions" and "knowledge." The former is someone's claim, whether right or not, on the basis of their own judgment. Sometimes it is accurate and sometimes it is not.

The only "opinion" that really matters, though, is the one that can be transformed into "knowledge" on the basis of "facts" or "evidence." So, I would like to see Kathy produce numbers or evidence for her opinion, and the only responsible numbers are ones that cover a wide survey of churches or at least one church. That is, how many were in small groups 10 years ago in your church (or groups of churches) and how many are in them now? If the numbers are significantly decreasing, and we factor out things like age changes and transitions of folks who move to another community or who have moved through a given program at the church, then we might conclude that small groups are waning.

But to say they are "dying". Isn't that a bit of a strong claim? I happen to be in one myself. To my knowledge, we're not dying but quite enjoying ourselves.

Now back to Dave: what about numbers at Willow?

Scot McKnight

February 23, 2009 16:40 PM #

Scott, I think that declining numbers usually point to problems in the way we are implementing groups. I don’t believe (opinion!) that numbers ever prove that “small groups don’t work.” Numbers only offer evidence as to whether or not a small groups system is meeting our expectations. It’s a baby/bathwater problem. We don’t get the results we wanted, so we throw out “small groups” instead of fixing them.

Regarding Willow Creek Community Church, we need to distinguish between “dying” and “euthanasia.” A brief history: Around Y2K Willow had more people in small groups than in weekly attendance: about 18,000. Then the small groups point leader left, and no one was given the authority or responsibility to grow the small groups ministry. The value of groups began to decline. A couple of major reorganizations after 9/11 replaced the affinity-based ministries (Men, Women, Couples, Singles, etc.) with four geographical areas. There are many benefits to organizing groups around proximity… but during the changeover a lot of people just gave up. Leaders lost their coaches. Some groups lost their identity and fell apart.

A new leadership team member was assigned the task of restoring “community.” Another re-org and values change. At a training event small group leaders were told that small groups were “just one more thing” – one option among many. On the church web site the words “a church of small groups” were replaced by “a church with groups.” Instead of keeping what worked and fixing what didn’t, the remaining groups structure was scrapped. The number of people in small groups, formerly a measure of an Area Pastor’s performance, were no longer even counted. Groups disbanded, or went “underground.” And the new ‘Neighborhood” initiative never really took off.

As a result, no one knows how many small groups now exist at Willow, although that is changing. Last year, Bill Hybels publicly apologized for the chaos of the last several years. He endured quite a grilling by several thousand former small group leaders, coaches and members. He admitted the failure of the well-intentioned changes, and promised a turnaround, now in process. WCA Group Life Director Bill Donahue has returned (part time) to work with the church to help restore the values and implement new structures to support spiritually transformational small groups.

The Willow Creek Association (a separate entity from Willow Creek Community Church) continues to tell the stories of churches that are doing groups well. Our speakers are drawn from innovative churches that measure the success of groups not just in numbers but in life transformation.

And that’s more than you probably wanted to know.

Dave Treat

February 23, 2009 18:55 PM #

Another good take on the demise of small groups "as we know them!" There's even a hint of Mark Twain here..."Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated!"

Like you, I've heard way too many stories of the life-changing impact of group life to go for the idea that they're on the way out. Have some strategies failed? Yes. Have many individual small groups been bad experiences? Undoubtedly. Are there better methods of finding leaders, developing leaders or caring for members than we've tried to date? Without question. At the same time, as I often say there are no problem-free solutions: www.strategycentral.org/.../problemfree_sol.html We can only choose the solution with the set of problems we'd rather have. For now, when it comes to connecting adults and helping them grow in Christ, love one another and further the work of the kingdom...it's working pretty good!

mark

Mark Howell

February 23, 2009 23:08 PM #

Ok, so it was sort of a random comment on a blog post - and then it's a blog post title, and you're quoted! Whoops - better really mean what you type, huh?

I did mean it, and I get that they're strong words. I would say that it was an opinion rather than a statement of fact. Also, I was referring to the language and methodology more than anything. For clarity, we've removed the "small" from most of our group language for the purpose of communicating well. Instead, we say "Come meet some people to (develop some friendships/ take some steps toward personal change / study the Bible, etc ) ", depending on which group environment that the communication is about.

I don't believe groups are dying. I do believe that people are not as interested as they used to be in meeting people in the small group model that many churches employ. Yes, Scot, there are lots of people at our church too who are having great group experiences like you - the wonderful experiences in groups are certainly not dying!

We are a church with groups vs of groups. We don't expect all of our guests to be in a group.

We are a church of relationships vs with relatoinships. Everything we do is in relationship. People matter to God and it's in relationship where they best discover it. In fact, if they aren't in relationship, they're likely going to say that "we failed them" as a church.

We try to meet people where they're at, and create a safe experiences for the to enter relationship with others in ways that feel as natural and normal as possible. We' provide the space, and they'll have to take responsibility to enter it.

As far as stats, we do count, and if people would hold still, we could do that better! We measure the number of people who are in existing groups, in new groups that form from our group environments, and the number of people who experience one of our group environments.

We do not measure the sucess of our group environments based on the number of groups that form. We measure success on the number of people who attended for the entire session and left with a handful of relationships that developed. The number is slowly increasing over the last couple years from 23% to 28 % of adults in those spaces, so the growth is up and to the right. We also measure based on storeis of personal life change, so numbers don't always tell the whole picture.

Kathy Guy

February 23, 2009 23:44 PM #

Dave,

I think you have to be careful about equating a program model that came out of 1970's Korea with discipleship. Yes, I know there were Wesley's groups and so on and so forth, but let's be intellectually honest about the genesis of the programmatic model were talking about. People don't grow in "small groups," that is the faux and forced, pick random people and throw them together and expect them to become family of friends while answering questions about this morning's sermon.

Rather, people grow in Christ centered relationships, some which grow and mature in small groups, but other, may other great relationships form outside of the small group model. Small groups aren't the only place where those relationships are forged. Of the great friends, Christian brothers I have in my life, few have come through church sponsored small groups, although I have made solid friends from those type of groups. However, if I'm honest, the deep, life impacting relationships I've made came about serendipitously or through being very intentional about looking for friends and relationships one on one. Relationships come from small groups, big groups, social groups, work related groupings, and from intentional friendships, from all manners of life situations.

I think the difficult thing is, in the church, if we don't absolutely drink absolutely every last drop of small group kool aid, if we suggest for a moment that perhaps it's not the great climactic, life altering experience, that we've sold for so long, then we've given up on small groups, we must abandon them totally, we've committed small group adultery, we aren't producing disciples, and at the end of the day I think that's born of a false sense of guilt, which is born of an idolatry of modern programming model.

Small groups are great, they are one form which Jesus used to make disciples, (notice Jesus didn't tell the Samaritan woman to join a small group), small groups have served the church and have been a platform for revivals! Small groups are wonderful! I get paid to help people get connected in them, but they aren't Jesus, nor are they the church. I think we've done tremendous damage to the church by selling a false bill of goods where small groups are concerned. Where people might have enjoyed authentic and organic relationships and community which natural forming small groups provide, we as a church have come in a offered sub-prime, program packaged overnight intimacy groups (0% down), and those who got stung by it, never want to go near it again. And that's a shame.

Friendship and relationships formed around Christ and Christian theology will never go the way of the dodo, true. But I think there is a serious reaction to church in a box solutions. People are weary of the next "40 Days Phenomenon" which promises the sky, but leaves church staff and church members burnt out. There's a deep and abiding thirst for something real, something not packaged, something that's not sold in stores from Pasadena to Peoria. If I could, I would purge the words small groups from our vernacular, for I fear what is a wonderful, enriching experience, has become synonymous for spiritual snake oil, a failed program of 90s (in much the same way I fear "missional" is being currently abused in the 2000s). We must find a way reinvent and reform community for a new generation, I think that's what's being communicated when you someone says, small groups are dying.

Those are my thoughts.

Brent

February 24, 2009 08:55 AM #

Brent... I wish I had your writing skills! You just provided a great example of what I think happens: You described a parody of dysfunctional small groups and then criticized it. (I never made the debate team, but I believe they call this a "Straw Man" argument.)

Equating "small groups" to a "programmatic model" is largely what has led to the current misunderstanding. Every church interprets small groups in different ways from time to time... and generally provide a framework or model (40 days, free-market groups, META, C12, organic... ). The various interpretations go on forever. When people criticize "small groups" they are nearly always talking about a specific model or implementation of a model or program that may come and go. And here is where you hit it right on: for the sake of promoting a small group "program" (or model) church staff may have promised the sky ("overnight intimacy" etc.) and led many people to equate "small groups" with "failed program."

The damage done to the church by over-promised and under-delivered benefits of such programs will have to be overcome by a return to a Biblical theology of "community" and ancient/future expressions of "communities." I think we can agree on that.

Dave Treat

February 24, 2009 12:27 PM #

"Small groups" in whatever permutation (with whatever model/name we give it) still seems to be a primary way people experience communal life within the church body. If we believe that community is a biblical mandate and that authentic relationships with "one another" is critical for how we grow and develop into Christ-followers, then we have to keep finding ways (old and new) to help people get connected into places where they can form the deeper spiritual friendships.

Dietrich Bonhoffer in Life Together says that we need to die to our dream of community before we can experience true community. Too often, people are disappointed in small groups because they didn't get their dream of "instant intimacy" with a group of strangers who will meet their needs. That's a lot of pressure. I wonder if those who found that small groups don't "work" really put in the effort, invested the time, revealed their brokenness, humbly processed their wounds, intentionally took relational risks, inconvenienced themselves to serve, and trusted the Holy Spirit to knit them together. When we get past ourselves and our list of what we want the group to be (or what we want our small group ministries to become), we open ourselves to what God wants for us -- which may look quite different than we expected. I have learned just as much about myself and areas I needed to change from frustrating, difficult groups that "didn't work" as I have have from great groups that did.

Carolyn Taketa

February 24, 2009 14:38 PM #

Some excellent discussion here! Whenever I find myself strongly agreeing with people on opposite sides of a discussion it's a sign that there is powerful truth to be found in the intersection while the disagreement is in the periphery reflects different assumptions.

These are the points I'm seeing as common ground...
- Life-change and spiritual growth are far more likely to occur in a smaller community setting than in isolation or in large venues. -> Relationships matter greatly.
- Honest discussion about improving the way we design ministries is fruitful. Strong language may be helpful in drawing attention to the need for change, but it can also leave us defensive and arguing over words.
- No system is perfect and even if it were, the change in society and culture would require us to change/modify what we do to be effective.
- Some in small groups (including me) love them and have found them to be truly transformational, and wonderful experiences. Yet many people today are simply not interested in a small group as currently practiced, whether they have never tried such a group or have had a bad experience with a poor group.
- Metrics as an indicator of success are useful only to the extent that they measure the desired outcome of your activity. When that is difficult (eg goal is heart change) we may need to measure some secondary reflection; the challenge is to not forget the primary goal.
- Relationships, community and discipleship can be found in other 'small' groups that are not 'small groups'.
- It's counterproductive to oversell intimacy as an expectation of joining a small group with people you don't know.

And here are what seemed to be the key differences.
- While no one argues Christ-centered relationships are central to everything we're talking about -
Small group proponents would say their intentionality helps make sure Christ is at the center of interaction.
Small group detractors prefer to let relationships form organically and without programming everything.
One starts with Christ and builds relationships around it, the other takes relationships where they are and seeks to help Christ become the center.

- Proponents believe small groups done well are the best way to build both relationships and disciples and so a church should make them a pivotal structure for the group, and strongly encourage coming to one
Detractors view small groups as merely one of many ways to foster relationships, prefering not to impose an unnatural structure among people who don't find that comfortable.
One is centripetal in approach, the other centrifugal (Attractional/incarnational if you prefer)

- While both agree that discipleship is not about information, and that program-heavy structures often fail to produce Christ-following disciples,
Proponents say discipleship is hard and so must be intentional, as Jesus was.
Detractors say discipleship is hard and so must be organic, as Jesus was.
One focuses on *process* to produce disciples, the other expects disciples to *emerge*.

The differences seem to recap the differences between the modern mindset and the postmodern, don't they?
The world is made of people in both camps, so the body of Christ needs different kinds of churches and relationally based community and discipleship models. It's my prayer and hope that the next stage of the 'small group' is intentional, organic, meets people where they are at, and leads them to a place closer to Christ, in a way that feels right for each person.

Larry Baxter

February 24, 2009 16:35 PM #

Thought I'd throw in my two cents worth.

I think everything we do, in terms of methodology, needs to be invented and reinvented all the time. We've done that at NCC a time or two. The latest "reinvention" of our group system was a free market, semester system. I honestly think that free-market approach will be a good methodology until Jesus returns because it puts the onus on leaders to get a vision from God and go for it. It is a great balance between control and freedom which allows from bottom-up growth. I think top-down systems become old wineskins pretty quickly.

Long story short, small groups aren't dying at NCC. They are thriving. But I do think some churches have a model that needs to go through a "death and resurrection" or "reinvention process."

Mark

Mark Batterson

February 24, 2009 16:54 PM #

Wow there have been a lot of long comments posted on Dave's quote from Kathy. I will work to keep my own thoughts brief and get back to writing my book on this very subject. Better to invest the time there I think.

Kathy's not wrong in her thoughts. Biblical community (aka small group ministry) has been bastardized by far too many pulpit-centered ministries who are not equipping the saints for the work of the saint's ministry, but to build an organization.

So of course the "small group movement" has run its course. God will always take his hand of anointing off the small group ministry that does not keep Christ at the center and building the kingdom in front of building a man's castle. Small groups today are formed for a sense of belonging and edification at the expense of genuine relational evangelism and mentor/protégé-style discipleship. Without these components, the groups are man-made and never make that chrysalis transformation into a God-made group.

I say let the old die—and die fast—so the American church can reintroduce small group life in a way that actually shows the members of the groups how to harness the power of biblical community to reach their world for Christ and disciple those converts into self-feeding disciple-makers themselves... and I know they can do this today but the don't because we've pandered to consumers and not produced kingdom activists.

If any of what I've said makes you want to learn more, I can only recommend you read a book I just edited entitled Christ's Basic Bodies by Ralph W. Neighbour, Jr. My pop, at 80 years old, has done a brilliant job of putting his thumb on the problem with small groups in America today.

Randall Neighbour

February 24, 2009 21:53 PM #

this is such a common dialogue among many. i believe it is such a common dialogue because many of us are guilty of drinking the kool-aid of others and not taking the time to patiently discern God's will for how we lead our particular churches. one of my favorite books on this subject is joseph myers' book, the search to belong. in his book, joseph edifies mulitple environments (public, intimate, social, etc) not just one environment. we as small group peeps could get better at affirming all those environments. that being said, i am still SOLD OUT to smaller, missional communities alongside of those environmental concepts and here's why:

1. they can be a micro-lab for spiritual leaders and entrepeneurs to thrive, learn and grow
2. they can give permission for dialogue beyond the weekend gig
3. they can provide an environment to be challenged in our lifestyles, our hearts and habits
4. they can provide an outlet for church-wide vision; the apostle paul used networks of churches (missional communities) to cast vision, teach, correct and edify
5. i could list more, but you've quit reading ;)

notice the operative verb at the beginning of each point they "can"...most of this boils down to ones ability to lead certain types of systems...which again i think is part of the problem. we are sooooooo focused on how he or she or they do systems that we forget to ask if "we" want to do things that way. but i'm not going to go down that road to far...let me take another route

all systems become systems because something thrived and took off and we try to then replicate or reproduce that concept. but too often we leave behind the principles or values or chemistry or leadership styles or whatever that made that original concept ignite. so i would recommend all of us asking just a few simple quesitons to get back to the drawing board:

1. do we believe God is 3 in 1 and 1 in 3: The Father, Holy Spirit and Son?
2. do we believe God created us in His image?

it doesn't matter what we think, the answer is yes. therefore, created in God's image, we are created to live in community (Jesus-following, God-fearing, Holy Spirit-led community) as God does (community 101, bilzekien). now, how do we as spiritual leaders create environments where our peeps can experience that? i want to know; how do we do it? what would you do? what are you do-ing to experiment with different environments?

Eric Metcalf

February 25, 2009 09:36 AM #

Pingback from brianbrunke.com

Small Group Conversation Taking Place « BrianBrunke.com

brianbrunke.com

February 25, 2009 14:57 PM #

I love Mark's "death and resurrection" analogy... that might solve a lot of the issues!

Dave Treat

February 25, 2009 16:12 PM #

God and Satan both want the same thing. They both want to kill you, only for different reasons.

Satan wants to kill your effectiveness for the Kingdom of God. He does this by enticing each new believer to remain aloof from body life. He really doesn't care about what happens after we die; he just doesn't want us, while alive, to disturb his kingdoms in this world by being part of a cell group that reveals Christ's Presence, Power and Purpose.

God wants to kill everything in you that He cannot use for His Kingdom purposes. One thing is certain, he must kill you to the idea that you can exist in the Kingdom apart from body life. Entering the kingdom requires us to die to self, for in this new realm we "look not to our own interests, but also to the interest of others."

The Kingdom of God is all about community. Believers who never find themselves bonded (“baptized”) by the Spirit to fellow body members are not living a normal spiritual life. Becoming a part of a community that exists as the body of Christ is the launching of His reign in you.

The folly of evangelistic appeals is the emphasis on the "bridge" that takes us from the life of darkness to the life of the Kingdom. We talk about passing from death to life but never explain that this new life begins after we die to the old one.

We focus on the "new birth" without expanding what our new eyes must see: the Kingdom! Too many have been "born again" without any explanation about what the new life, joined to fellow body parts, involves. Thus we have thousands of pews every Sunday filled with disconnected body parts! It is ghastly!

I resent the parachurch teaching about every Christian having a “Quiet Time.” The idea that I have a “personal” time with God every day is a horrible obstruction to Kingdom body life. Instead, we need to approach the Throne as a body member, meaning that we bring our community of body parts into each fellowship hour with Christ. We are sensitive to His relationship, not only with me, but with me along with the other members of the body I am joined to by the Holy Spirit.

There is a heaven and earth difference between a "small group" and a literal Body of Christ. One is a tack-on to churchianity, the other is the most holy,sacred community on earth today. Its witness is the exposure of the indwelling Christ to the unbeliever who cries, "Wow! God is among you!" (1 Cor. 14:24-25).

Ralph Neighbour

February 25, 2009 18:46 PM #

I am reminded of Brennan Manning's comments in The Signature of Jesus when he said, "Today we need small bands of people who take the gospel at face value, who realize what God is doing in our time, and who are living proof of being in the world but not of the world...these should be small enough for intimacy, kindred enough for acceptance, and gentile enough for criticism...Of course we should not romanticize such groups. It is all too easy to envision a cozy, harmonious little fellowship where everyone is tuned in on the same wavelength, to love the dream of community more than the sin-scarred members who comprise it...The reality is otherwise. Egos collide, personalities conflict, power-brokers intrude, anger and resentment surface, risk is inevitable...The experience of community is neither a luxury for the spiritually affluent nor a panacea for the lonely, bored, and idle. It is a necessity for every Christian...this is what Jesus and Paul meant when they spoke of the Church - small Christian communities praying and worshipping together, healing, forgiving, reconciling, supporting, challenging, and encouraging one another." (p. 84-5)

I'm with Manning. I really do not care what we call them, how we stucture them, or what models tend to prevail from one era to the next. What Manning describes and we all long to build is a Kingdom thing. And nothing on this earth -- not persecution in China, genocide in Rwanda, post-modernism Europe nor complacency in America -- will ever stop Christ's communal vision from coming to pass. I just hope my vain attempts to help others discover it never destroy the grandeur of the vision. -- Bill D

Bill Donahue

February 26, 2009 07:25 AM #

To me it's simple, but I'm a pretty simple guy. EFFECTIVE small group ministry is not dying, it is changing. It's been said, "change or die" and those small group ministries that are not changing are the one's that are dying. The ones that are changing (growing, evolving, rebirthing...whatever you want to call it) are thriving.

What makes an effective small group ministry?
1. Providing opportunities for people to make friends.
2. Providing resources for groups to spiritually transform.
3. Providing avenues for groups to practically demonstrate Christ's love to a hurting world.

How do we promote small groups effectively?
1. Stop promoting the "need" for relationships...people are aware that this is their need.
2. Do talk about our opportunity and privilege to affect our world.

People don't want to join a group...they want to join a cause!

Alan Danielson

February 26, 2009 07:57 AM #

"As we know them" is more important a statement than we may realize. Small groups as we know them were birthed decades ago. Since that time there have been variations on the theme ad nauseum. There are at least 10 models that we know of and each of them has been tweaked by individual churches doing one of these models (We Small group pastors and leaders are a creative people.). All of them are good but to evaluate all small group systems through one lense would be like saying, because the NBA is struggling there's not even one good team worth going to see. Not only that, what is working with one demographic may not work in another. Finding the right model, a model that captures a given churches demographic, lines up with the senior leader's vision for the church, and is one that a small group pastor learns, knows, and leads leaders to do effectively is vital.

But an even greater confusion that I believe is affecting the movement is that we are doing group life through a modern lense. Because the mindset of the human spirit and world view has changed since the movement began there is a new small group dynamic. We are using old group dynamics to lead groups that no longer live in that particular paradigm. Our terms have changed but our thinking has not. We talk journeying together instead of doing group together, but we've done this without concluding how to facilitate groups and do life together from a completely new paradigm of life, a paradigm that captures the hearts of the post-modern world.

Rick Howerton

February 26, 2009 13:07 PM #

deep thought: small groups aren't dying, we are.

Eric Metcalf

February 26, 2009 22:18 PM #

To say that group ministry is dying is saying you don't understand the purpose of group ministry and you don't know how to implement it in your environment. Every ministry model has it's weaknesses. Small groups are no different. They have their weaknesses and I wont pretend to hide behind them, but there are some benefits to small groups that cannot be ignored.

1 - Healthy Community: if your goal is to foster community in a church. The power of a healthy community cannot be ignored. We have already established that small groups provide discipleship opportunities for intentional leaders, but there are lots of other benefits that churches experience from a healthy small group community.

2 - Help Big Feel Small: It is no secret that there is one major fear people have in going to a large church: no one knows them! Small groups change that experience. Every Sunday my wife and I sit with a couple from our small group and I see over 100 others that do the same each week (and that's just the people I know).

3 - Pastoral Care: Group ministry is the front line of pastoral care in the church. Group leaders and members are the first responders to crisis in a large congregation. There are many emergencies that occur in our church that I am the last to hear about because our small groups have jumped in and handled the situation before word of it even made it to me.

4 - Evangelism: We have to stop thinking of small groups as "Bible Studies." We have groups at CCV that facilitate relationships that result in evangelism. New people have been attending our church as a direct result of the following affinity groups: softball, kids play group, volleyball, dog walking, tennis, scrap booking, and others.

5 - High Priority Communication: Do you need to get the word out fast about something important in the church? Leverage the small group ministry network. On numerous occasions we have done this about an important change in the church or even aiding with communication for a capital campaign to build a new facility on our campus.

6 - Volunteer Network: I can't count how many times we have utilized our small ministry to rally the troops to get a job done.We would not have been able to staff our kids program when we experimented with our Saturday night service if it weren't for entire small groups volunteering to serve on Saturday nights together.

I kind of look at this whole situation kind of differently. Small groups will continue to exist in all of our communities - with or without churches. I just hope that churches pay more attention group ministry because without this vital ministry, churches are the ones at risk, not groups.

Frank Chiapperino

February 26, 2009 22:42 PM #

You know what, let me say it short and sweet... Groups don't need churches, churches need groups.

Frank Chiapperino

February 27, 2009 10:14 AM #

Frank, I don't think churches need groups. "Churches" need to embrace biblical community as the real church and start supporting biblical community with corporate gatherings and programs that make it stronger. Small groups in most churches today are the support mechanism for the corporate gathering and compete with other programs in the "church."

Randall Neighbour

March 2, 2009 09:36 AM #

Wow! I'm a little late in the game here. I was in Northern Ireland, where I had been invited to do a conference on small groups for churches there. Seems like the small group thing is thriving and growing in the UK.

I work with Mark Batterson at NCC, and I totally second everything he said. The idea of people living in community can never die-- because that's how God created us to live, it was Jesus' prayer for his followers, and it's what the church is all about. Small groups models aren't sacred to us-- relationships are. So we re-imagine and re-invent our small groups all the time to make sure we are living in relationship and on mission. Small groups at NCC are growing and thriving and making a difference.

Heather Zempel

March 3, 2009 15:46 PM #

It seems to me that we have over complicated and tried to control small groups for to long. Relationships matter greatly and so does the Kingdom vision casting. I am in favor of providing opportunities and avenues for people to engage with one another while always holding high the Kingdom values.

I pour into my leaders kingdom living ideals and have an expectation that they will mentor, disciple or influence others to be transformed. My friends and pastors please stop trying to control the outcomes. Leave that to the Holy Spirit.

Bill Hickle

March 3, 2009 16:38 PM #

It seems to me that few (if any) have commented on the relationship between the small group and the corporate gathering of the church. If anything, the corporate gathering seems to be dismissed as a gathering where you don't know anyone, where no relationships can be built, where you slip in late and slip out before the last song, where little transformation happens, etc... and that wherever the corporate gathering falls short, small groups are designed to remedy the situation and make sure everything is okay. (Obviously a caricature, but you get the point!)

Friends, I would humbly suggest that the corporate gathering should be the central, most important component of the life (and health) of your church, beginning with the worship gathering on Sunday morning. This is the primary means appointed by God, by which the congregation is fed, relationships are strengthened, the culture of the church is spread, lives are changed by the Word, the Gospel is proclaimed and illustrated by baptism and the Lord's Supper... and all this will have a tremendous impact on all other aspects of the life of your church, including your small group ministry. If the corporate life of your church is lacking, then don't expect small groups to solve the problem.

Geoff Chang

March 4, 2009 14:36 PM #

Geoff,

Thanks for your thoughts. I had one executive director tell me once that Sunday morning is where the money comes in so i had better support that with all my efforts if i hoped to have money for my ministry areas. Since then i have been struggling with Sundays. You know, the show, overly progamed and control to the minute and mostly absent of the Holy Spirit.

I would ask you to tell me if the Greek form of teaching on a Sunday morning is more benificial than the Hebrew way of learning in small communities. What do people really want? A show or authentic and deep community?

I don't know that i have the right answer but i know that the generations younger than us want the real Jesus and not a manufactured one.

Bill Hickle

March 4, 2009 16:49 PM #

Wow! It's very hard to get around Jesus' model. Slowly drawing 12 to himself, to shepherd, help grow spiritually, and model a lifestyle of reaching others. Healing them, setting them free, mentoring them in how to live when he was gone. Eph 5:1 calls us to be imitators of Christ. We are to go and do just as he did. Draw close in community, loving one another, providing for one another, being there through the thick and thin. When I think of Christ and his opinion on corporate church, I bet he still loves looking down on small groups meeting house to house weekly, meeting the needs of one another in his wonderful amazing love. By the way, groups are flourishing at Grace Family and i believe Groups die because of a lack of passionate visionary leadership.

Joe Windham

March 7, 2009 11:29 AM #

Jesus said to Peter, "Take care of my sheep," (John 21:10). In Acts 5:42 it says of the disciples, "Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ," despite persecution.

Small groups have always been under attack. You should be asking yourself who is behind that: Is it Satan, or is it God?

Small groups is one way that feed the sheep that Jesus loves so much. My husband and I have been given the call to teach small groups and we have witnessed Spiritual growth in many of the participants as well as in ourselves! My prayer is that any way that "proclaims(ing) the good news that Jesus is the Christ," as we put our faith in God, will flourish.

Dottie Swieringa

March 7, 2009 16:24 PM #

I find myself in agreement and disagreement with Kathy. For now, I'll mention why I disagree. Most simply stated, I second Eric Metcalf's observations about the Trinity (who God is) and Joe Windam's comment about Jesus' model (what God did). In addition, Jesus was pretty direct in one of his prayers, that we'd find oneness he compared to his oneness with God and the Spirit (what Jesus hopes) and in one of his promises, that when two or three gather he'll be with them (what Jesus is doing). I continue to feel that our collective judgment about groups -- and the techniques we then employ -- will be more driven by our theology than our strategy. If the strategy doesn't express an adequate theology, it can devolve into a whole lot of chaff. But if our tactics are driven out of underlying visions, values and key principles, groups of all kinds from all traditions will continue to be authentic, vibrant places God will use and Jesus will help...and reproducing rather than dying.

Russ Robinson

March 8, 2009 20:34 PM #

Our God is one of resurrections. As a student of church history, I often marvel at the cyclical patterns in God's ancient mission of redeeming the world to Himself. In many ways it resembles the tumultuous patterns we are presently so acutely aware of within the global markets. Economists will reluctantly agree that every market requires a periodic reset or "death" to give way to the next wave of vibrant growth. Ecclesiology has not differed that greatly - the waves are just often more elongated than individual stock markets! We're seeing some of the same theological tension points arise that were hot topics in the 4th Century. Classical reformists are creaping back into vogue. And models are experiencing a sometimes necessary euthenasia period.

Alas, our God is one of Resurrections! From the shambles of expired form - which are often time-place contextual tapestries resting upon an unchanging living truth - arise Phoenix-like champions of the next era (or area?) which often times are little more than a contemporary remake of an ancient classic. This is my hope for Biblical Community at any level - corporate congregational assemblies on Sunday morning, groups of 10-12 meeting weekly in homes, or Paul-Silas bandits living out the Kingdom ways. Just as Elijah lamented being the remnant of a dying breed in 1 Kings only to have God expand his peripheral vision of the existince of a resurgency of thouands of other obedient followers.

I believe Groups are beginning to suffer a symptom the broader "church" has predominantly throughout the 20th Century: a brand and identity distortion. We've each encountered it - a person says, "Yeah, I went to church...I just didn't see it being relevant to the Jesus I read about." We then go, "Well, what kind of church were you at? Have you visited a church like...ours?" More or less, we all know that there are dead, dying and dysfunctional examples of "church" all around us where millions have experienced a false picture of what the Body of Christ is all about. We encounter the resistance accumulated within the collective consciousness of people groups who have written off many if not most of American churches based upon poor experiences. The word "church" is almost as freely abused as the word "Christian." A similar phenomenon has born out in groups.

What is a group? What isn't a group? When's a group "good" versus "okay" or "embarassingly not it"? When are groups seemingly really good but centered around a charismatic leader, highly conducive program, or other structural component that still leaves participants confused on the brand identity behind the word "groups"? One of the healthiest things within our context to ever happen was when we clarified the identity/purpose/vision of groups and then pruned the vine of pseudo groups that were "friendly" and even valuable, but a far cry from being on the road to Biblical Community. Growth was explosive within months as a purified vision trickled down into reality and the "it" was a desirable attribute for Christ-followers truly seeking to move forward in their journey towards Christ-Centeredness.

Amen to Russ's comments...When a incarnational theology is the life source of a community expression or strategy, sustainability will not be the issue - keeping up with leadership demand and growth will be. When our group world has been the healthiest in vision and heartbeat, my headache has been leadership development. When my strategy has been the best without a Christ-as-life driving vision, my headache becomes marketing the need for groups to unenthused pew-warmers. The GK Chesterton quote Treat intro'd with is very apropos to the group landscape.

I sure hope groups aren't dead! We'd be a bunch of nostalgic hobos otherwise.

Mike Sharrow

March 9, 2009 20:21 PM #

Mike: Actually, I kind of like "Nostalgic Hobos!" We are each roaming around looking for that "perfect" community that we will not find this side of heaven. Alas indeed. All the groups here have people in them.

Dave Treat

March 29, 2009 11:03 AM #

YES, I AGREE.

(A quote from my coming book...) HOW CAN SMALL GROUPS BLESSED WITH THE BEST TRAINING, FACILITIES AND BIBLICAL RESOURCES EVER IN HISTORY, EXPERIENCE DECLINE? Could it be because American churches have pursued…
Information over Transformation (Dishing out Scripture doesn’t necessarily change anyone.)
Fellowships over Relationships (Big, fun Gatherings still leave people disconnected and distant from God.)
Countability over Accountability (Attendance Checklists cannot replace growing together with a few Christian friends.)
Churchism over Evangelism (We have build our lives so that we pursue no relationships with out-of-church people.)

It is time to 'get up close and in the hurt of people's lives.'

Joe Allison

Joe Allison (Ridgecrest Baptist -Springfield)

April 24, 2009 07:31 AM #

Wow, I never knew that Small Groups are Dying. That's pretty interesting...

yacht charter greece

May 11, 2009 16:34 PM #

Willow it's self have always said that things will grow with good leadership, which means good leaders.
Therefore for a group not to work would mean that it is the leader of each Small Group is not growing or being shown how to.

Most groups I could be generalizing but here goes anyway, Most groups do curriculums and I believe that they are generally are good BUT what happens by doing a lot of curriculums it brings the Leadership & spiritual learning down to a minimum or base requirement. People often just do what is needed to get the job done.

I am one of those people who was told for years you had to study the bible by pastors, I have been a christian all my life but never new or experienced God on a daily basis. The problem was that no one new how to show me how to get the bible to talk to me in a relevant way. Proof texting is not a way to study the Bible it is only for proving a theology theory.

What is he talking about you are saying well here is the point.
We teach our Group leaders how do Study the bible then we teach them how to structure a study so that they can be a facilitator in the group, after that we train them to be good communicators.
What this does for a leader is that the leader grows in his Spirituality with God, then in presenting the study is focused on the gospel and facilitating application from participants.

The average person like myself actually hungers for the Word of God, and through good facilitation can hear God talking to them.

When the leader grows so does the group SO I guess my big point would be
1.Show leaders how to hear God talking through the bible
2.Show them how to be good discussion facilitators
3.When the leader grows so will the group.

In the last 4yrs we have grown our groups from 18 -74, our goal of 100 by the end of the year. (ALL by GODS grace)

Groups are not dying, it's our leaders not Growing.