What Is Wrong With Small Groups?

[Jerome]

the "master teacher" mentality does not necessarily produce spiritual growth....especially with newer generations. People don't want to be "taught" in that sense.

If only Jesus and the apostles had realized the impotence of sermons, imagine how much more effective they could have been!

 

[dan e.]

If only Jesus and the apostles had realized the impotence of sermons, imagine how much more effective they could have been!

You're funny.

 

[reformedbeliever]

They can be both a blessing and a curse.

I personally know some pastors who have used them (both Bapstist and Assembly of God) and their churches were devestated and one nearly split. But I know some who praise it.

I personally like them, but they do take a great deal of maintence on the part of the Pastor.

Here are some things I have learned to keep up on:

1. As a Pastor KNOW very well (their beleifs) the person who will be doing the teaching and KNOW what material they are going through and any changes from it.
...1-A. Have either weekly or bi-weekly meeting to go over how the groups are going and what are some the questions being brought up by the group.
...1-B. Advise your Small Group Leaders that you will do randomly call different members of their groups for 2 reason. 1) to inquire the pro's and con's of small groups and how to strengthen them and 2) to inquire about teaching and the material. The #2 helps you assess what your leaders can do to bring both a practical application of scripture to their group as well as a theological understanding of it. But it also lets you monitor any concerns that might arise if they begin teaching something outside your churches view.

2. Every quarter (or whenever) mix up the groups. It is VERY easy for them to become a clique rather than a fellowship in small groups and it WILL cross over into the church. Therefore mixing the groups up allows them to become friends with others in the church they have not had the opportunity to get to know personally before.

3. Once a month or every other month do something that all the groups together participate in. BUT - allow them to bring testimony about what they are LEARNING and what God is doing as well.

4. Allow your leaders to also be mentors. I mean this in the sense that as they watch and pray for their group members, they take note of those who seem to have a spiritual gift for expounding or explaining the word and other seem to pay attention to.
...4-A. As the Paster you and the Group leader take them aside AT THE END of the small groups quarter (or whatever) but BEFORE the reforming of the next one. Ask them to prayfully consider growing in the capsity as leadership support (that is my name for it) where they become more involved in partner praying with the Leader.
...4-B. If they feel the Lord is leading them in that directin, prayerfully pair them up with one of the small group leaders (or a different one at each interval - that is best) Having both the leader and the supporter getting together at least once a week to discuss the next lesson and have a mini-lesson themselves as the Leader grooms their talents and abilities to potentially become your next Small group leader.

5. and MOST important - Don't allow small groups to BECOME Church.

The above are the main things that the Pastors I know who have struggled with it, encountered. In the main it was a combining of the above which contributed to a great deal of problems in their churches. Hope it helps.

Like I said, it takes a lot to maintain but the benifits are exciting :thumbs:

Agreed 80%..........lol. What is wrong with a small group becoming a church, if God is leading in that direction? That is the goal of our small groups. New church plants.
Other than that........ great information brother!

 

[SaggyWoman]

Agreed 80%..........lol. What is wrong with a small group becoming a church, if God is leading in that direction? That is the goal of our small groups. New church plants.
Other than that........ great information brother!

Actually, there is nothing wrong with small groups becoming churches. That is the point.

 

[tenor]

2. Personally, I wish we could do away with the Sunday School format. Yea, we need to go back to the Acts 2 and beyond model. But traditionalists would fight this!

A properly structured and functioning Sunday School is a workable small group model.

 

[drfuss]

drfuss: We go to a large church (over 2000 attandance). We have the option of large Bible study classes (over 50) and small classes. When a large class indicates next Sunday's class will be broken up into small groups for discussion, about a third of the class members aren't there the next Sunday. People in the large classes do not want to be in small discussion groups.

I think there could be anumber of reasons for this:
1. They are timid and do not want to be put on the spot.
2. They don't want to show their ignorance of scripture and then be corrected.
3. They don't want to be expected to "spill their guts" and then have those "guts" promulgated to others via "prayer requests".
4. There seems to always be someone who loves to hear his own voice, dominate the discussion, and act like a "know it all".

We have some discussion classes in the 30 to 50 attendance range which never grow because the same people always participate in the discussions. The format of the class prohibits it from growing. The problem is the teacher continues to insist on discussion type format even though it prohibits the class from growing. It has been this way for years.

Now I have aquestions for the pastors who think small groups are great.
1. Would you, as pastor, regularly participate in a small group discussion in your church?
2. IF so, would you allow youself to be corrected by someone who has a different opinion than you?
3. Would you "spill you guts" and be accountable to others in the group as you suggests others should?
4. Or do you think you should be above such vulnerability?

 

[annsni]

D28guy: Thanks for reminding us of "The Seven Last Words of the Church."

We call them cell groups at our church, and I love them.

We called them cell groups until recently too. Then we had a few say it sounds like something with Al Quiaida. LOL!! So now they're LIFE Groups. DON'T like that - I'm used to cells!

I love the small groups. The way we do it is that the cell leaders all need to have had training prior to leading a group. We have bi-monthly cell leader (see, I still use the cell name) meetings to go over what's going on and we use what we call a "pulpit curriculum" - where we go over what the sermon was on. Cells are not mandatory but encouraged and the goal of each one is to grow to a certain size (about 15 adults) and then it will "multiply" with the cell leaders taking 1/2 the group and their "interns" (those who are training to be leaders) will become leaders and take the other group. I'd say we have about 30+ cells right now.

But what is sad is that we had a HUGE split when we first started small groups. People actually left the church because the pastor was encouraging people to get in a small group.

I love our small group. When we first joined the church, it was big to us - 1000 people on a Sunday morning. We knew no one. But very quickly, I had a few people came to us inviting us to their small group. We joined one about 4 months after we started attending and now we had some people who we were getting to know well. It really helped us to feel plugged in fast and we're still good friends with all those who were in or original group. We're now in another group and we're having dinner at my house this Friday. I'm looking forward to it!

 

[webdog]

I think there could be anumber of reasons for this:
1. They are timid and do not want to be put on the spot.
2. They don't want to show their ignorance of scripture and then be corrected.
3. They don't want to be expected to "spill their guts" and then have those "guts" promulgated to others via "prayer requests".
4. There seems to always be someone who loves to hear his own voice, dominate the discussion, and act like a "know it all".

Had a bad experience in one, I think?

Now I have aquestions for the pastors who think small groups are great.
1. Would you, as pastor, regularly participate in a small group discussion in your church?
2. IF so, would you allow youself to be corrected by someone who has a different opinion than you?
3. Would you "spill you guts" and be accountable to others in the group as you suggests others should?
4. Or do you think you should be above such vulnerability?

Our pastor either was in a small group, or led one. Colossians tells us to teach and admonish each other, so that applies to pastors, too.

 

[tinytim]

Now I have aquestions for the pastors who think small groups are great.
1. Would you, as pastor, regularly participate in a small group discussion in your church?
2. IF so, would you allow youself to be corrected by someone who has a different opinion than you?
3. Would you "spill you guts" and be accountable to others in the group as you suggests others should?
4. Or do you think you should be above such vulnerability?

1. Yes, I have and love it... going this afternoon to one
2. Yes, again, I have... I'm not perfect... our Wed evening Bible study is a lot like BB... but without the fighting.. all feel free to speak and defend their opinion... I have actually changed my mind on somethings because a member showed me something I missed...
3. Yes... I do .. .in our small group Pastoral Intercession Team.. it is not really a small group "class" but it does have a lot of characteristics... I have also shared accountability in other groups also...
4. The pastor is the pastor because God placed him there.. I am not above vulnerability... I am no more important than the janitor. I am not perfect... and the church knows this... BELIEVE me they know it!! lol.. (My wife keeps telling them!!! :tonofbricks: )

\
One more thing, every small group I have been in has in the accountability factor a statement that what is said in a prayer request in the group stays in the group... unless that person verbally says, "pass it on"...

That is part of being accountable to one another.

 

[SaggyWoman]

Now I have aquestions for the pastors who think small groups are great.
1. Would you, as pastor, regularly participate in a small group discussion in your church?
2. IF so, would you allow youself to be corrected by someone who has a different opinion than you?
3. Would you "spill you guts" and be accountable to others in the group as you suggests others should?
4. Or do you think you should be above such vulnerability?

Why would a pastor not participate and set the example??

 

[dan e.]

Now I have aquestions for the pastors who think small groups are great.
1. Would you, as pastor, regularly participate in a small group discussion in your church?
2. IF so, would you allow youself to be corrected by someone who has a different opinion than you?
3. Would you "spill you guts" and be accountable to others in the group as you suggests others should?
4. Or do you think you should be above such vulnerability?

above vulnerability?!!

 

[TCGreek]

I fail to see the difference between the so called "Small Group" setting and the "Sunday School" setting----isn't the Sunday School setting "Small Group"??? See what I'm saying??

Blackbird,

1. Some Sunday setting "appear" as small-grouping, but is really not upon closer examination.

2. The biblical ideals of getting to know one another in a community cannot be experienced at a Sunday school setting but more so in properly structured small-grouping.

3. The house-churches that we read about in Scripture are clearly small groups or cell groups---no one can tell me that we can achieve what was achieved at these gathering in a Sunday school or corporate congregation setting. Small-grouping is biblical.

 

[2 Timothy2:1-4]

I have yet to see anyone make the clear point that Sunday School is any different than any other small group setting.

 

[dan e.]

I have yet to see anyone make the clear point that Sunday School is any different than any other small group setting.

Because it is typically set up like a classroom.

 

[TCGreek]

I have yet to see anyone make the clear point that Sunday School is any different than any other small group setting.

Have you ever experienced a small group setting in someone's home?

 

[dan e.]

I will also add that it is often someone (who doesn't even relate to you personally) that reads verbatum a peice of curriculum.

Oh boy, I'm feelin' the spiritual growth in that!

 

[Joe]

Many of our friends/acquaintances are involved in cell groups. They are involved in a church plant of Rick Warren. He does a great job with small groups, and really has an effective model for it. They clone themselves over and over, and the majority of the church is involved in small groups.

 

[2 Timothy2:1-4]

Have you ever experienced a small group setting in someone's home?

The home is just geography and has nothing to do with the relationsips between people.

There is no diference between SS and home meetings. and to answer your question, yes. I held one for six months in my home.

 

[TCGreek]

I will also add that it is often someone (who doesn't even relate to you personally) that reads verbatum a peice of curriculum.

Oh boy, I'm feelin' the spiritual growth in that!

And we have bought into this model as the biblical one or just as good as the biblical one, not realizing that we are stunting spiritual growth.

 

[TCGreek]

The home is just geography and has nothing to do with the relationsips between people.

There is no diference between SS and home meetings. and to answer your question, yes. I held one for six months in my home.

Hi 2Tim,

I wish not to be confrontational, but I must ask a few questions:

1. What was the purpose of the meetings?

2. Were they biblical?

3. Did the meetings achieved the purposed goals?