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So goes the small group, so goes the church

By Dan Morgan

When you read the words, “small groups” above, you pictured some model of group life. Small groups exist for different purposes in different churches. Some churches focus on Bible teaching in the adult Sunday school class. Some churches focus on social connections with fellowship groups meeting during the week. There is no one definition, but if a church wants to be a multiplying church, a church that can start new FBible studies and even churches out of its internal resources, then some parameters loom large.

My choice of the word “multiplying” to describe a church may seem puzzling. Multiplication is chosen because in the real world that word usually means that whatever you are doing gathers momentum and new units are added in greater numbers as time goes on. If the CNBC is to reach its God-given goal of 1,000 churches by 2020, addition won’t get us there; we need to learn to multiply. So, what does a multiplying church look like, and how do we make one? I think one of the critical components is the small group. It takes a specific kind of small group to enable a church to multiply itself over and over at an ever increasing pace.

I say small groups are critical because it is in smaller groups of believers, rightly constituted, that a disciple’s character and habits of life are shaped. It is in the smaller group that they live out the church’s core values shoulder-to-shoulder with other believers. If they learn to multiply their life, it is the foundation of helping the church to multiply itself. Let me expand on the “rightly constituted” term by defining four essential characteristics of this kind of small group.

They “do life together.” Small groups like this don’t focus on listening to a Bible lesson, they focus on learning to apply the Word to the complex relational world in which they live. When they meet, they are being equipped to apply the Bible to daily life. They help each other make this application. The group is not a meeting, but people supporting each other 24/7 as they attempt to be salt and light in the world. Members of the group work alongside one another, they exhort one another when faith is a struggle, and they bring seekers into the group to help them come to saving faith. They also make plans together; plans for impacting the world in which they live with the gospel of Christ. This “impact” comes as they project ministry and attract seekers.

This kind of small group projects ministry into its context, whether that is defined by geography like a neighbourhood, or defined by common characteristics like an ethnic group or parents of preschoolers. They help each other develop witnessing relationships in the various relational networks in which they circulate. They identify the social fault lines of a community and band together to make a difference through service. In summary, their focus is outside their group to bring witness and service into their world

This kind of small group attracts people to social gatherings and works to identify seekers. They work to attract seekers into dialogue about faith and Bible study to help them become a true follower of Jesus Christ. As seekers become believers, they are assimilated into the life of the group. This means that they are immediately taught how to share their story with family and friends and begin the process of developing the habits of a disciple.

This kind of group works to identify rising leaders. When a person shows leadership ability, they are mentored until they can lead out in doing life together, projecting ministry, and attracting seekers. They are taught the importance of working on a team, and the importance of multiplying their life.

When a church has this kind of small group system (regardless of the name that labels it), then the ability to multiply grows as the church grows. Rising leaders have learned the skills needed to multiply by practice, under mentorship, and will allow any group to multiply once evangelism has expanded them to that point. A few of these rising leaders will prove to have pastoral calling or the kind of gifting and abilities that allow them to function well on a church planting team. ?The mother church can then build a launch team around them and birth a daughter church.

When this kind of small group is patiently developed, difficult though it is to get all the characteristics functioning well, then growth becomes a matter of looking for God at work and joining Him there. Friends work together to lead other friends to Christ. Small groups train and empower these teams of friends to serve effectively. The small groups build credibility for that gospel witness by sacrificially serving their community. Growth of the small group proceeds apace, as seekers become believers and are assimilated into their respective small group. The church sees many of its small groups grow to the point of multiplication, with leaders ready to take on a new group. The church can combine the efforts of several small groups to make an even greater impact on the community through service and witness.

If you desire to become a multiplying church, one of the key changes that must be made is revising the life of your small groups to reflect these four characteristics. Whatever term is used to describe the group, it is the four characteristics that result in fully functioning disciples who can work together to expand the Kingdom of God and multiply His church.

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Dan Morgan is a CNBC senior strategist for church starting and Nehemiah project director and professor of church planting at Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary & College