Small Groups

I have been asked to help with the small group ministry at church. This is a daunting task for the simple reason that I am not an experienced small group leader (nor am I interested in the topic in the first place!). While I don’t think it is an ideal fit for me, it is a great place to grow.

Some kind of small group atmosphere, where people can “do life together” and exercise the basics of Christianity is essential. In an ideal church, you would not need to prop this up with a “small group program” because members would engage with each other instinctively. When churches are suffering, you don’t need “small group programs” because suffering makes us aware that Christian community is not optional to the Christian faith. Or, when churches are born into communities that are already tightly knit, regimented small groups would be like offering to teach driving lessons at a truck stop. When I was in Africa, community was not something people talked about very much because it was the air they breathed. In the villages they all knew each other, depended on each other, and could not really imagine our North American suburban struggles that are born from the fact that we can go—with the help of an automatic garage door and a tall fence--- for months without seeing, let alone talking, with our neighbor.

But North American Suburban culture in the culture where my church is located. And one of the great struggles is to foster community that is more than an hour and a half on Sunday morning. Pastor Eric has asked me to help head up this ministry with the goal of “re-launching” the small groups in the fall. I plan on posting some of my thoughts in the future on “Small Groups” as I work toward this goal.