Pioneer Christian Monthly - September, 1979

Small Group Study
Murray Moerman

The traditional place for bible study in many churches has been Wednesday evening. Here the pastor and the faithful gather for a brief exposition of God's Word, a hymn and a circle of prayer. This experience is valuable, but has not always been well attended. The reason for this I suspect is its lecture style format.

The small group has I believe several advantages as an alternative to this format. In a small group untapped leadership rises to the surface. People are able to minister to one another and do informal caring and counselling. This takes some of the load from the pastor and gives the church an opportunity to function as the Body of Christ in a living way. Furthermore, the small group is flexible, mobile, inclusive, and personal. It can grow by division, is an effective means of evangelism, and is adaptable to any setting. Personally, I believe that the small group is the basic structure of the local church. It is my conviction that the average church anywhere can be greatly strengthened by the proper use of the cell group. If the cells are healthy the body will be strong.

Our goals at New Life Community Church have been simple:

1. We seek to have 100% of our worshipping congregation involved in a small group during the week. (Presently we are up to approximately 75%.)

2. We seek to have all lay-leadership. Basically variations of two questions are asked of any Scripture: "What does the passage say?" and "What does that mean to my life?" This way almost any Christian can lead a group and no group depends on the pastor.

3. We seek to have all groups meet, not in a church building, but in the natural setting of private homes so that all will feel comfortable and welcome. We believe that the home is the most natural setting for evangelism.

We begin by training potential leaders and host families. An excellent book and the model we followed is Al Wollen's Miracles Happen in Group Bible Study (Gospel Light, 1976, $2.95 pb.). The best training we found is still experience. We role-played the leader's group to be just another group and each member took turns leading it until confidence and experience was developed. This past year we had nine groups meeting weekly: four for couples, two for women, one for singles and two for young people.

I believe that this small group experience these past two years has been the backbone of the commitment of our congregation. It has given people an opportunity to get to know others well, and to be known. This is especially important for newcomers to the fellowship in their first two months. This way each is adopted by a "family" where they are cared for and loved. In this context commitment grows very rapidly. Where true loving and supportive fellowship is allowed to develop, evangelism will follow naturally as others are drawn to the light.

This fall we plan to make a few modifications in our small group program. First we will tie in the content with the theme of our morning worship. This will bring continuity to the two experiences and permit the small group to discuss further applications to the passage opened on Sunday. Second, we will expand the small group time to include an hour for informal fellowship and sharing, an hour for study and discussion, and then time for prayer and worship. A number of groups with parents of small children have banded together for common childcare during this time. Finally, we will list all members of our fellowship as part of a small group. This way they will not feel they are taking a new initiative, but rather are welcome and needed to participate.

I would encourage every congregation not presently doing so to begin making plans for a network of "cell" groups involving the entire Body. I have seen the lives of people change and blossom in small group study, sharing, and prayer cells.

"Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and do good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

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