People Spots
Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
A Good Class or Small Group
by James W. Moss, Sr.Small groups have four significant purposes:
1. Evangelism. Christ is most effectively communicated through the context of a relationship. The building of relationships promotes the opportunity for conversion to occur.
2. Incorporation. Small groups are the bonding arm of the church. When people are both attending worship and participating in a small group, they've become incorporated participants of the body.
3. Fellowship. Our culture promotes loneliness. The church needs to provide fellowship opportunities. It is particularly helpful if food is provided.
4. Instruction. Worship doesn't provide sufficient instruction for needed spiritual growth. The opportunity to teach and impart knowledge comes through small groups.
There are at least five different kind of small groups. Each of these groups has the same bonding power as any other.
1. Sunday school classes. One strength of Sunday school classes is that if many people—particularly boomers—are to be in worship and a small group, it must all happen on Sunday morning because you won't get them back a second time. In addition, Sunday school classes tend to live longer than other groups.
2. Care groups. The purpose of these groups is to have prayer and Bible study. The study is frequently the same as Sunday's sermon and will be prepared by the pastor. The care group leader provides the pastoral care for the group, thus the title: care group.
3. Support group. These people have like interests and needs. Examples would include parents of pre-school children, divorced persons, parents of adult children who have moved home, and 12-step groups.
4. Task groups. These groups exist to do something. Others could be designed to provide specific assistance. Mt. Holly men put roofs on two parishioners' homes. One church has a group that buys old used cars, fixes them up, and gives them to people who need cars but can't afford them.
5. Athletic teams. These can be used for outreach. I like the rule that half of each team must be from the unchurched world. Such a team might have to participate in a secular league.
What is a good Sunday school class or small group? There are four primary characteristics of a good class. They are:
1. The teacher loves the pupils and the pupils love the teacher. The teacher must model for the class the attitude of caring desired for the group. The pupils must feel loved within the context of the class.
2. The pupils love each other. The class must foster an atmosphere of love. The pupils need to enjoy being together.
3. The pupils are growing and maturing spiritually. Every good class has a dimension that will encourage spiritual maturation.
4. The pupils are appreciating the curriculum.
However, there has to be an intentional strategy to build the relationships. Someone other than the teacher has to assume to role of shepherd in the class. There must also be times of fellowship away from Sunday morning on a regular basis so that pupils get to build relationship with each other. For a class to be what it might, it is necessary to work hard at building relationships. Remember, Christians seldom communicate the gospel and spiritual growth seldom is fostered apart from a relationship with another human being.
There are two warning signals for danger in a group:
1. Groups that ignore announced time frames frequently die. Sue says, “We have this great group. It lasted three hours.” The announced agenda was for one hour. The group is heading for trouble. Announced time frames must be honored.
2. Groups that pour out all their venom each week usually die within 10 weeks. Harry is attending a new group. He says, “We have this wonderful group where everybody can be brutally honest.” What he means is that everyone says anything that comes to mind. People are hurt. People frequently leave with a feeling a stress or depression. After a few such meetings they don’t return.
Persons who'll become incorporated into the body must have two friends in the church besides the pastor. The term friend implies much more than casual acquaintance. They must become part of a face-to-face fellowship group. In this context, they'll be known by name, feel needed and wanted, and be missed if they're absent. This kind of bonding occurs most frequently in small groups.
A Good Book:
Aubrey Malphurs, Developing a Dynamic Mission for Your Ministry. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1998.
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Read about Jim's seminars and books.
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September 16, 1998. Volume 6, Issue 12. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way with proper credit. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.