Churches all over the nation are recognizing a need to get small groups going in their congregations. But getting small groups started in a church and keeping the groups healthy are two completely different jobs.
As head of Touch Outreach Ministry, my job is to look at churches that have failed with small groups and to try to help them find health. As I've done that, I've seen several principles of ...
1. What is the vision for small groups at our church? This question is fundamental. Answering it requires asking two more questions. First, what is our overall vision for what small groups can and will do in our church? (And, What is our biblical basis?) Second, what kinds of people in our church can and must be reached by the small group ministry?
Early
in my pastorate, I realized our congregation (at that time about 180) was like
many churches of all sizes—though we called ourselves friendly, we were essentially
a small core of insiders with a bunch of newcomers on the fringe, unable to
break in.
One solution was to start
a small group ministry. A year or so into it, I preached a series "The
Company of the Committed" built around ...
Printer view of these results
