Pioneer Christian Monthly - September, 1993

Why Grace Community Church Is Big On Small Groups
Jim Moerman

The following true story was relayed by Carl F. George of the Fuller Institute on Church Growth.

Not long ago, the pastor of a large traditional church, had a long-time member drop by his office for a visit. She told the pastor she was experiencing the break-up of her marriage after thirty years of matrimony. That pastor replied: "Dear, what a tragedy! You've been a member of this church for twelve years, married for thirty years, you've raised some fine Christian teenagers... this is an absolute tragedy!"

He then pulled out this little black book and said: "Sister, I want you to know that I'm behind you in this tragedy. I am putting your name at the top of my list and if you need us, we are here for YOU." The woman cried and said: "Oh thank -you pastor. You don't know how much this means to me." They prayed together and the woman went home.

Two weeks later she had reason to call him but he didn't return her call. She waited a couple of days and tried again, but her call was once again unreturned. After four or five tries, she finally went down to the church. She asked the secretary: "Is he in?" and proceeded to walk into his office without waiting for an answer.

There he sat. On the credenza behind him were 38 pink slips, with telephone messages on each, neatly laid out awaiting his attention. 'Me woman launched: "Aren't you the same man who talked to me and said I would not go through this great trial alone? Didn't you put my name in your black book and tell me you'd be there for me?"

Pointing to the credenza, he looked at her and said: "Listen, you don't seem to understand. I have 38 calls here and your call is fifth from the bottom. I have 33 other people I have to call before I get to you. I'm working as hard as I can, putting in 12 and 14 hour days and covering territory as quickly as possible. YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO YOUR TURN!" The woman walked out of his office shattered and disillusioned person.

Villains and Victims

How do you respond to a true story like that? Who's the villain? Who's the victim? Some would demand that pastor's resignation for failing to return a simple phone call. Some would wonder how a so-called man of God could be so callous! Others would say that the woman had unrealistic expectations. The pastor was obviously running as fast as he could and was not deserving of her anger.

In reality, they're both victims. They are victims of an outdated, unrealistic and thoroughly unbiblical way of providing pastoral care in any church larger than 50 people. Yet this way of

"doing church" has unfortunately dominated 2000 years of church history!

Everyone in this all-too-common scenario loses. 'ne woman with her tragic marriage disintegration is a loser because she didn't get the care she needed. Her fractured family is a loser because they became angry and cynical about the Church. Said her oldest child: "M mom was a faithful member for twelve years and what does she get? A busy signal!" The pastor is also a loser because he experienced a high level of constant frustration, seeing, hearing and feeling the great needs, and yet being unable to help. The pastor's wife and family are also losers because they thoroughly resented the church tor sucking every drop of energy from their father and husband, sending him home each night an empty shell.

Nobody wins in a church model like that. Nobody.

A Better Way

But in the mind of Christ, there is a better way. If we put aside our traditions and look into the Scriptures, we may discover God's plan, God's model for ensuring that His people are properly cared for and that His leaders can experience a long and fruitful ministry.

Exodus 18 tells the story of Jethro, who came to visit his famous son-in-law Moses after hearing about the incredible events that led to Israel's deliverance from Egypt. But when Jethro arrived at the Israelite camp in the desert, he saw something that bothered him. Moses was in charge, that much was clear. But the people of Israel surrounded him with their needs and difficulties from sun-up until sun-down.

Jethro, being a practical man, questioned his son-in-law about this system with its obvious drawbacks. Moses became defensive and explained how it was his duty to explain God's will to the people. Sending them away was out of the question. The wise old man pointed out that the people were frustrated and that Moses was certain to bum out before long on this fast track of ministry.

So God used Jethro to recommend small groups and delegated care- givers as the divinely-approved method of care for God's people. That way the people would be well-served and Moses could survive! The wise man said in verse 23: "If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied."

Timeless truth! God created small group ministry so people could go home satisfied! If Jethro were around today, he would call this system of pastoral care the "Meta-Church Model". In fact, whenever God has moved powerfully in revival and renewal, small groups have played a major role.

Centres of Community and Caring

The people in Moses' camp had many personal needs. Some of them wanted to know God's will for their fives, others needed solutions to disputes, some were searching for wisdom to help make important decisions and so on.

If this sounds familiar, that's because 3500 years have come and gone and we're still a needy people who are looking for solutions to our questions and problems. We still need care, love, friendship, support, empathy and a host of other things that small groups are designed to handle!

At Grace Community Church, small groups function as centres of community and caiing. After the initial start-up time, they become a loving family where people care for one another as they face the routine stresses of life like sick children, financial hardship, tension at work or home. They also provide support at the major intersections where people wrestle with heart breaking changes and unexpected turns in the road.

Schools of Leadership Development

The people of Israel were not well-served with Moses' leadership style. He was a bottleneck strangling potential and limiting what could be accomplished. Neither is the Body of Christ well-served with just one leader acting as a bottleneck. There is tremendous potential in Christ's Body, potential that often goes unrecognized and unused. Too often it dies because it couldn't find its way out of the bottle! Small groups break the bottlenecks and open things up, allowing people to develop and work with their potential as leaders.

A certain man found the Lord at his small group here at Grace and in a few months began discovering his spiritual gifts of encouragement, mercy and pastoring (shepherding). The people of his small group recognized and affirmed these gifts in him. After a year he became the group's assistant leader with the responsibility to use the very gifts God had given him! His gifts can flourish as he bears much fruit to the glory of God. How far will he go with these gifts? As far as God grants. One day he may become a Home Group leader or even a Home Group coach (with responsibility for five Home Groups). His potential has been unleashed!

Birthing Rooms and Nurseries

Hospitals are wonderful places to have babies. Doctors, nurses, and specialists are all in attendance and the birthing room is well-equipped to handle both foreseen and unforeseen circumstances. Most of us are quite happy to have babies in this supportive and helpful environment.

The ideal place for someone to be born again is in the supportive environment of a small group, because one member can give the love and attention of a spiritual mother, another has the protective tendencies of an older brother, and someone else serves as a nurse, checking up and making sure that growth is proceeding normally. 'Mere are very few infant mortalities in a Home Group environment.

Compare the ongoing care and attention a new believer receives at a Home Group with the stark and uncertain beginning of someone who receives Christ at a mass crusade. 'Me crowds surge, the evangelist sounds the Gospel trumpet, but after a few weeks or months, the infant mortality rate begins to climb. Better to be born in a birthing room than on the street!

By the same token, small groups are wonderful nurseries for baby Christians. They can ask their questions, have their dirty diapers changed, be taught about hot stoves and warned about steep stairs! They are excellent I environments in which to grow, especially in those early years.

Welcome Mats

A church without small groups is like a castle without a drawbridge - its possible to scale the walls and get in, but very few actually try. Despite sermons every week about love, evangelism and reaching the lost, a church is like a fortress to the average newcomer. A small group is the church's way of lowering the drawbridge and extending a meaningful welcome. Relationships are formed. Friendships are struck. And in short order, the newcomer feels like an insider. And they are.

Conclusion

Small groups are not trendy. They are not the latest in church innovation. Neither are they the invention of Grace Community Church. They are God's organizational plan, God's battle formation, God's way of "doing church" to ensure that His people are caring and cared for, growing and helping others to grow, ministering and being ministered to.

When Jesus started His public ministry, He formed a small group. When the early church exploded with growth. they formed small groups. At the height of the Apostle Paul's ministry, he taught people in the temple and from house to house.

That's the plan. Teaching and worship celebration at the large group gatherings. Care-taking, fellowship and assimilation at the small groups. Individually they are incomplete. But together they are dynamic. Like Jethro said, "If you do this and God so commands, you will go home ... satisfied."

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