Note: If you are from my church, know that these are not concrete thoughts and are merely me working out vision in my head. These thoughts are fluid and adaptable, and are not "official." Just wanted to clarify! ; )
As some of you know I recently accepted a position at the Georgetown Church of Christ, near Austin, as the Spiritual Engagement Minister. One of my primary tasks will be to facilitate and manage the church's small group ministry. Our groups are called "Connection Groups" which are typical small groups.
There are a number of models for small groups adopted by different churches, and I believe there is no one way to do small groups. I think every church should do what best fits their needs.
As I understand it, our Connection Groups are a place for those who attend our large church gatherings to share in more intimate relationship with others. Our church is a larger congregation, but not a megachurch, at approximately 500 people who regularly attend. Our model for small groups is that people "enter" through our main gathering times together and are then encouraged to join in a small group from there. Some churches use their small groups as their "front door," that is there main purpose is outreach and to get people to attend their main gatherings (Model 1). While our groups are a good outreach as well, I believe their primary purpose is spiritual growth and transformation (not to say the other model doesn't value these things, but rather to say outreach is not the primary goal). Our groups are in place to connect people to God, to others, and to the community around them (Model 2). And in those connections we want people to know, love, and serve God (our mission statement). Each serves its purpose. Again, one is not better than the other in my mind, just different.
So since our groups are more concerned with spiritual growth and transformation, I see these four elements as being essential to our small groups:
1) Worship-We encourage all groups
to have some element of worship when they gather. By worship we do not mean simply the act of singing. Worship is so much broader than the
things we practice on a Sunday morning.
We encourage each group to find a mode(s) of worship that are able to
draw you closer to God during your gatherings. Whether those acts are things like contemplative reading,
taking communion, times of prayer, singing worship songs together, or something
else, we desire for Connection groups to be worshipful experiences.
2) Community-We encourage all groups to build and foster
community in their Connection groups.
We want our groups to be hospitable places for all who attend. We want people to feel welcomed and
loved as they enter into groups.
Connection groups are the catalyst for community within the larger
church structure. We desire to
foster environments of encouragement, accountability, confession, worship,
prayer, and study not only in our Connection groups but also in the larger
community of believers. We believe
that we do this more effectively when we know each other better and develop
places that are welcoming and hospitable.
3) Study-We encourage all groups
to incorporate study into their groups.
Our hope is that we will be able to provide our groups with
easy-to-teach curriculum that will provoke study and discussion that they will
be able to use at their gatherings.
We believe in the power of God’s word and believe that is living and
daily breathing life in our lives.
Our hope is that these studies will not be strict rulebook, but rather a
road map that will be developed and adapted for each individual group by the
leaders.
4) Service-We encourage all groups
dedicate time to service at some point in their lifetime. We believe that community is built
around shared experience and we believe that God has called us to be the hands
and feet of Jesus in the world around us.
We encourage our groups to serve in ways that are best fit for
them whether that be working at a shelter, visiting a nursing home, writing letters to those in prison, helping a family in need, or any number of things a group can do to share the love of Christ with others. We hope to provide resources
for our groups to have meaningful service experiences, and we hope groups will
have opportunities to be Christ to their surrounding communities.
These are not hard-fast rules, but I believe that for our groups to be successful on a number of levels these elements should be in place in some form or fashion. Since spiritual growth is the goal I believe it is important to incorporate these elements in ways that best fit the personality of the groups.
But why?
Why do these things? Isn't what I just said just a smaller version of church or maybe a Bible class or something?
Well...I guess that all depends on the mindset. I believe ours is that through these smaller gatherings we are more inclined to grow deeper into relationship with God and with each other.
I think that is is peoples' tendency to hide in a larger group. It is really easy to go to church and never talk to anyone, never interact with anyone, and never develop any meaningful relationships.
Christianity is designed to do together.
You don't have to read to far into the Bible to find out that God values community. As Christ-followers we are called to serve and love one another, bear each other's burdens, care for each other, encourage and give to each other, and so on. The first Christians immersed themselves in community. Jesus continually found himself in smaller groups of people, and chose twelve to train and eventually lead this new way.
So I think that our groups are intended to do the same. I hope that people will find deep and meaningful relationships with God and others. I desire for individuals to experience God on a level that they may not be able to achieve on normal Sunday morning. I want us to foster safe and encouraging environments where people can confess, question, celebrate, and pray. I want people to grow through shared experience, sharing life with one another over coffee, a backyard BBQ, or maybe a service project. I want us to study the Bible together in an environment that allows us to ask questions, share our thoughts, and allow the Word to change us. I desire that our groups pray for each other. We don't want to just be accountable to others in our group, keeping tabs on other's sins, but we want to be involved in their lives walking with them side-by-side in this journey of faith.
Small groups matter because we were never meant to do this alone. We are better when we are together.
Thanks for letting me talk/write out loud. I hope to do it again as I continue to formulate thoughts. Please leave your thoughts if you have any about your small group ministry and why you believe groups matter.
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