simple small groups

Small Groups vs. Sunday School

Why can't we all just get along? OK, when Rodney King asked that nearly 20 years ago he meant something else by the question. 

But I ask the question in relation to Sunday School (or whatever your church calls it) and small groups. A few weeks ago I participated in a webinar at Lifeway in Nashville, TN. One of the questions I responded to is how small groups and Sunday school can get along. For the life of me, I can't figure out way there is an adversarial history between the two methods of spiritual growth and community. Both classroom and home-based groups can add value to church and help attenders develop spiritually.  

 John Wesley, is a patron saint of the small groups movement. But he's also a patron saint of classroom learning. I'm fortunate to work at a church that has long enjoyed a healthy relationship between small groups and classroom communities. There are certainly advantages to small groups and advantages to Sunday schools. And each church has to consider which method is best for them. I grew up in a church with only Sunday schools and worked at a church with only small groups. For the last few years I've worked at a church with both. I've a learned a lot through the experience. And most of what I've learned is that there are loads of misconceptions. First of all, most people who are "haters" pick out the worst examples and build a straw-man case against the pathetic class or group. It's better research to compare healthy, strong groups and healthy, strong classes if you're trying to choose.

Two of my friends at Lifeway faced off on this very question. You can check out David Francis and Rick Howerton go ten rounds on this topic here  www.lifeway.com/sundayschoolvssmallgroups/index.html . I like their fake boxing metaphor but I think they should have really put on boxing shorts and gloves and taken some real swings at each other. The entertainment factor would have gone waaaay up!

So what do you think? What's your preference - groups, classes, or both - and why?

A Common Mission - Missional Small Groups - in The Power of 2

Over the last few weeks I've been drawing small group principles from one of my new favorite books, The Power of 2: How to make the Most of Your Partnerships at Work and in Life. In chapter two Rodd Wagner and Gale Muller discuss how important it is for successful partnerships to share a common mission. The authors explain that relationships often gel around shared common goals, purpose, and mission. It makes sense, doesn't it? Think about your group experiences. If you pursue a shared goal with the other people in your group it will draw you closer. 

Usually when we use the term "missional" small groups we mean that they do something to serve others. That's not necessarily what Wagner and Muller are saying. For a small group the common mission might be to learn a new piece of truth, like biblical stewardship or Christian marriage for example. The mission might be to build relationships and forge friendships. 

However, a healthy group doesn't have to share common MOTIVES for the goal. "Successful partners often have different motivations for making the climb." The authors claim. Let's say the goal is to learn to handle money more wisely. One person in the group might share that goal but be motived because he is facing a personal financial challenges. Another person might share that goal but she is motivated by a desire to learn some new information (because she is a knowledge junkie). And still another person shares the goal but he is motived by a desire to walk in complete obedience to Christ and this will help him get there. All are different motives but all share the same goal. So don't worry about the various motives represented in your group. Instead, think about the goal(s)!

So here's some questions for your group to discuss:

• What's our goal? 
• What's our purpose? 
• What's our mission? 

 

Made for Collaborating - The Power of 2

"Humans are made for collaborating." That is an amazing sentence from Wagner and Muller in their new book, The Power of 2. In their introductory chapter they explain what that means then they address some of the barriers to relationships:

"Yet over time, humans created so many conveniences that we now can survive without each other. we live indoors rather than in the elements. We can eat microwavable dinners instead of hauling in a fish net with someone else. we no longer tell real stories around the fire; we turn on the TV and watch familiar strangers pretend."

Later they point out that, "Isolation is bad for you. it poses dangers as serious as cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, or lack of exercise, one research summary concluded. Conversely, the more good partnerships you have in your life, the more likely you are to say that you experienced the feelings of enjoyment much of the day yesterday, that you recently learned something interesting, and that you've been doing a lot of smiling and laughing - all key measures of your happiness." [taken from pages 2-4 in The Power of 2]

So here's what hit me right between the eyes - God wired us for community. At the very beginning of the story he made humans in HIS IMAGE which means we are created in the image of the God who lives perpetually in community as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have a void in our lives that only can be filled through human relationships. God made us that way.

So here are two Gallup research writers who discover that the data concludes that we are "made for collaborating" and we live healthier, happier lives if we have partnerships in life! I love it when secular researchers discover ancient truths!

What's so simple about small groups?

It sounds simple, but since organized small groups hit the church scene they have gotten more and more complicated. Are they intense bible studies for the truly devoted? Are they support groups for the broken? Are they accountability groups for the addicted? Are they dinner clubs for the socially challenged? Are they outreach groups for the spiritual seeker? It seems that small groups, like politics have gotten bogged down in philosophies and people have chosen positions like they choose political parties.

Simple small groups is an attempt to clarify what makes a group healthy. The way I see it, there are three biblical patterns of a healthy group. The relational pattern [CONNECT] is about how group members relate to one another. The growth pattern [CHANGE] is about how group members help each other become more like Christ. The missional pattern [CULTIVATE] is about how a group impacts others for God. It’s not a matter of choosing one pattern over another, but rather coordinating all three in a way that results in a  healthy, growing community.