What was revealed by Reveal?

[Bob Burns]

Many of you are probably aware that Willowcreek Community Church released a study called Reveal (2007). Inside they basically admitted to themselves and the watching world that they had not done an adequate job of making and growing fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ--especially troubling was the results from their small group ministry survey. If you have not yet read it - it is worth picking up.
My question has to do with small group ministry: Are small groups a valid vehicle for spiritual growth? If so how? If not why not? Love to hear what you guys think.

[Cody Dowell]

First, I would like to concurr with your reommendation of this study. I am an Assoc Pastor of Ed and as a staf we each take turns picking a book for us to read and discuss as a staff. In Jan I picked Reveal and it has driven the whole staff's outlook on our ministries and spurred us to survey our own congregation resulting in a staff retreat where we analyzed our findings and made action points to respond.

Second, you ask a great question. I have spent several months contemplating small group ministries. One hard part is defining what a small group is. We have a traditional SS program. That is small groups compared to having a worship service only. In my reading on small groups (defined as smaller than traditional SS for this discussion) I found many who tout its effectiveness but I also found many who warn that what started great fell apart within 5 years. My thoughts are anytime you can get a group of people together to study and discuss the Word of God it will be effective. My concern is how do you keep the groups on task and focused and not allow them to become just another social group. In SS I can do this by having a class on Wed nights where I teach my adult teachers the lesson from a differnt perspective than they get out of the purchased curriculum. I aso rotate and attend a different SS class each sunday allowing me to know the class and teachers. Finally I meet with each teacher twice a year and discuss their spiritual life and strengths/weaknesses I have observed in their class. All this would be impossible with many smaller groups spread out over a larger geographic area. Having said that, I am in the process of developing a home based small group discipleship program. My goal is to develop it over the summer and launch a test run in the fall. I am sure I will know much more after experiencing this way of making disciples rather than just reading about it.

[Marlone]

Hello all.

Small groups are without question a valid vehicle for spiritual growth. The cambriatic explosion of house churches and converts in China and Africa are a testimony to that fact. The intimacy of being in close fellowship and accountability with brothers and sisters that one trust is third only to ones communion with God and marriage.

There is great opportunity for the gifts and talents and hearts of believers to reveal themselves. Even the low maintenance, low stress setting of someone's home adds to this ambiance. Indeed, the church at which I currently serve (Lighthouse Christian Fellowship in Chicago) has moved from a strictly small group-house church model, to a more traditional model, and back to the former once more.

Having said that, I would bring your attention to the important observation that I did not say (nor did you ask),"(are) Small groups are the exclusive vehicle for spiritual growth?” The argument most often appealed to is the historic precedent set by the first-century church. That is how they did it--so should we--as the logic goes. Did not Christ instruct His disciples to go into the home of a worthy person and conduct their ministry there (Matthew 10:11-14)?

However, the practices of the early churches, if not in response to a direct command from Christ, are neither legally binding nor normative for the church today. The early church walked everywhere they went--shall we follow suit? While under Roman persecution, they met in the catacombs--why not follow this example today? While there has been an effective model set before the modern church, there is nothing inherently moral or righteous in the way the early church conducted her affairs, simply by virtue of the fact that she conducted them in said manner.

Christ commanded His followers to go and make disciples. We would do well to obey. Christ did not command His followers to meet in a certain format or on a particular day. The early church practiced A; Awas seemingly effective--perhaps we may benefit from imitating that practice--and maybe not.
I know of a congregation also on Chicago's West Side, whose pastor is a dear friend of mine. While they do have a small-group component to their body life, their main format for fellowship and worship is the traditional large group/Sunday model. I have to admit, it is dynamic and exhilarating to be a part of one of their gatherings.

Just two weeks ago, my own church gathered together as one large group (whereas normally we meet as two small groups), and we had a baptism and then a meal together. It was wonderful, and we all love those occasions (sans all the setup and equipment prep!). Neil Cole and others describe models where they meet at Starbucks (truly sacred ground), bowling alleys, and the like. There is Christian liberty in such manners---so long as we do not violate a direct command from the Scriptures or from God.

Therefore, small groups are valid vehicles for spiritual growth, and so are other venues. As Pastor Chris Coury often said, "It isn't a matter of right or wrong; simply better or best".

Regards.

[Lucas E. Randall]

I agree with much of what has been said above. As a twenty-five year old I can tell you that I (and I think I speak for most of my generation) love the small group model. The relaxed "homey" atmosphere breaks down walls and brings about great fellowship. I don't think anyone is arguing against this but rather we're driving at the fact that small groups SHOULD have a purpose beyond relationship building. So how do we do that?

Well, I happen to minister in a church with a more traditional Sunday School and especially in my young marrieds class we still struggle to "stay on task" even in a church setting. We love talking, laughing and sharing so much that it can often crowd out the time for serious bible study and discipleship.

As a result one thing some of our classes are doing is setting aside the lesson one Sunday and talking about and defining their purpose as a Sunday school class. Beyond that, my class is talking about drafting a "class covenant" which all class members will have the option to sign. This covenant will outline the ways we can demonstrate commitment to our class at it's purpose by means of being on time, coming prepared (have read lesson prior), contributing/participating, being faithful in attendance, etc.

As in so many other areas of ministry we simply have to "raise the bar". God knows we've been lowering far too long.

[Megan]

I think most of my spiritual growth has occurred in the context of a small group. My small group formed about one week after I became a Christian and it’s amazing to look at how much we’ve all grown since then. As we got to know each other better, it did become a challenge to stay on topic and not drift into just fellowship. At least once a year, we spent one meeting talking about our goals and if the group was still meeting our needs. This would usually lead to some refocusing. I like the idea of a covenant, and my group began implementing that shortly after I moved to MO a few months ago. I’m not sure where they are in that process. We would also try to meet together about once a month for lunch or something outside of our regular meeting time … this gave us more time to chat and catch up with each other without taking away from our study time. We did sometimes have trouble deciding what our focus should be – prayer, Bible study, accountability, etc. As a result, we often tried to do too many things and short changed all of them.

I do think small groups are valid vehicle for spiritual growth. But, as with anything, it is important to keep the goal in mind and evaluate if that goal is being met.