It’s not uncommon for Russ and I to differ in our thoughts on church and theology.
On Sunday we had been discussing the role of small groups and what we thought was the ‘correct’ way to do them, and what their purpose should be.
Russell believes that the small group can be both discipleship and outreach. That the 2 can happen at once in a small group.
I am of the thinking that a small group should be for discipleship and that outreach should be in every other area, except small group.
Say I decide to set up a ‘Mum’s group’ in the Kwinana area. I meet with other mum’s, the kids play together, and we can enjoy conversations and get to know each other in a social setting. Then someone is possibly asking questions and wanting to know more about God. I would feel more comfortable inviting her to church rather than small group straight away.
If I was to invite her to small group first thing, I believe it could be quite uncomfortable. Small group is quite a personal time and to invite someone into that can be uncomfortable for the guest and for the rest of the group. However, if I invited her to church first, a setting where she doesn’t have to meet people straight up, but can come for a few weeks, slowly get to meet people and then I would inviter her to a small group.
I believe that people should be coming to church, meeting up with fellow believers, and then going into their small groups for some more one-on-one learning. Discipleship. From there, we take what we learn and then put it into practice (outreach) in our day to day lives.
Am I making any sense here? It’s all a little hard to put onto paper, it’s easier just to talk about it!
Russell and I didn’t completely disagree, we were just tossing up different ideas.
What do you out there think? Do you think that a small group’s purpose is for Discipleship only or for Discipleship & Outreach, or do you think it has a completely different service? Should we be having them at all?
I believe small groups should be places where we can get involved in each others lives on a more personal level than possible in a Church service setting. What do you think?
24.6.08
Discipleship/Outreach or maybe both?
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10 comments:
Good post and good things to be thinking about.
I'm sort of a fence sitter with this one. In an ideal world, I'd agree with Russell but in a real world, I agree with you. We used to have these sorts of discussions in small groups I was part of at my old church and at the start of the year we had plans to have an 'evangelistic event' to invite our friends to. It wouldn't be a bible study but something else like going to the beach, having a craft day etc that we thought our non Christian friends might come to. However, I have never known this to eventuate in any of the small groups I've been a part of or known about...partly because we ended up focusing on the needs of the people in the group and sometimes we'd invite non Christians but they wouldn't come. So in theory, outreach in small groups is a great idea but in reality I have never known it to happen 'successfully'.
The point you make about the person and the group being uncomfortable is a good one. Some of my non Christian friends have commented that they would rather come to church and be part of a crowd where they could just listen to the sermon and take everything in rather than being in a small group where they stand out like a sore thumb. In my last small group, we made a deal that we wouldn't invite anyone (either Christian or non Christian) to the group without running it by the rest of the group first. This was because we didn't want to invite anyone who might make an existing member feel uncomfortable and want to leave the group (I've been there). Like you said, small groups are (ideally) meant to be a personal time and the addition of even one new person can alter group dynamics a LOT!
However I had an experience at uni where I wasn't a Christian but started going along to the Christian Union main meeting and joined a small group. At first it was a bit scary but then I much preferred the small group to the main meeting because I could get to know people better and didn't feel like I was lost in the crowd. I think a lot of people are too scared to join small groups because they're the newbie but they may just need encouragement that after a while it gets easier and they can receive fantastic support.
I think groups can morph and change depending on its members. For example, if a group contains a number of gifted evangelists who are keen to do outreach then why not? But if the group contains people who are going through tough times and need comfort and support then it might not be great to have a huge group but rather somewhere that's a bit more intimate where they can get the support and prayer they need.
It's hard because we do need different groups for different people yet that's one of the traps churches often fall into - having groups for EVERYTHING and then they can't sustain it with a lack of people to run these groups.
Aah this comment is long...sorry. I've been thinking about doing a series on small groups (not just Christian ones), their benefits, disadvantages, dynamics etc for the past few months. You've given enough motivation to get started :)
I'd say it depends on how the small group is set up and how it functions.
I was part of the same small group for 5 years. In this time it morphed and changed a fair bit. Within this, sometimes it was 'just' discipleship and I definately would not have invited a not yet Christian. At other times it functioned as both and we had a few not yet Christians coming.
I would say that 'both' worked, but only because our group was set up in such a way that it would. If, when it was only discipleship, we invited not yet Christians, it would have been disastrous.
I guess I 'mostly' feel it is discipleship, but there would be times that I think a 'specific' person would actually be better of joining a small group FIRST, because some people need that BEFORE the big church.
Both...small groups can be effectively used for both. See the late Ted Haggards book for guidelines on how to use small groups effectively for outreach.
Wonder how your thoughts interact with the Forge model of ministry?
Hey Middo, how was your group 'set up' so that it could be both? Just wondering...
I guess for some their church and their small group are one and the same and perhaps that was part of the attraction.
That's one of the things Russ brought up Mark. That the Forge model is a combination of both...I am yet to be convinced of how effective it is though.
In my opinion, if a group is both, then something gives a little. Discipleship won't be as good as it could be, and the outreach won't be as good as it could be.
Shouldn't we just focus on the one thing in group and work on the other thing in every aspect of our lives, not just at small group?
I think outreach is important, but if you're in a small group and you find it hard to be open - it's going to be even harder when there are new people everyweek, particularly when it changes from week to week.
I ditto that too Elise!
good topic bek. I agree with you. Personally I prefer small group to be about discipleship and more personal interaction than outreach. I feel it's the more personal relationships that are harder to work on at church.
Saying that I do think small group should involve say social nights every so often which outsiders can come to comfortably. So at least a proportion should be devoted to outreach but I also agree with you bek that you can't have your cake and eat it too. I.e. can't be discipleship, outreach and personal all at the same time. You've got to sacrifice something.
Just my preferance. ;)
I think that's why our group worked so well pete.
We were so ingrained in each others lives that it really was a discipleship group. However, we also did do a little outreach (rare as it was). But because we were so well looked after in our group, we were able to serve in various ministries in the church and community.
This is how I believe it should work. One thing affecting another in a positive way.
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