Why Small Groups Don't Work (Part 3)

The missing link

Yesterday I wrote about what I believe is THE missing link in many church small groups; a driving missional focus. While small groups are great for relationship, discipleship and service; they become outrageously effective when they are formed around a mission from God to change the world. Jesus' small group didn't just do life together; they rocked the foundations of society. Tomorrow I'll address why groups without a strong missional focus don't "work". But before that we have to look at a fly in the small group soup.

The fatal flaw

There is a flaw in our small group thinking that can inhibit just how effective our groups can be. Most churches have decided that the ideal size of a group should be 10-14. When a group grows beyond this size our mindset is usually to split the group. There are many good reasons for this size, not the least of which that was the size of Jesus' small group. I am not arguing that the 10-14 number isn't a good building block; it is. The challenge is that a group of that size is limited in the size of the mission they can accomplish.

You form a group around your passion to be Jesus to the homeless of your city. You gather a group of 12 people who are equally passionate about reaching out to the homeless and you decide you will start by serving in the local homeless shelter one Saturday a month. The first Saturday two members of the group are out of town, but the other ten show up. The next Saturday two other members are gone, three have kids with soccer games and one is sick. So now you are on mission with only six people. And you find that five to six is about the average participation. About half of the group. You can serve, but your impact will be limited.

The conundrum (My big word of the week)

So is the answer just to grow really big small groups? I don't think so. Once a group gets beyond about 15 the dynamics really change, discussions become difficult and the leader is really stretched to care for his group. To take small groups from anemic to strong to explosive in impact we have to find a way to keep them "small enough to care, but large enough to dare" in the words of my friend Mike Breen.

And that is why traditional small groups don't work:

1. Groups have to have a driving, passionate mission. If they do not they will never accomplish the revolutionary change they are capable of.
2. But if the mission is big enough then a small group is too small to accomplish it. 

Friday I'll post a picture of where I believe God is moving small groups which addresses these two issues. But before we get there I want to talk about why I think we are measuring the wrong things and why coaching doesn't work. That's what we'll do tomorrow.

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Be sure to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 4 for more of the story

Comments

[Clayton Bell]

I'm a church planter that's on the verge of launching weekly and implementing small groups in some way/shape/fashion, so this discussion is top of mind for me.

I did a search of Young Adult life groups at Seacoast, and the majority of them say "Join us for fellowship and spiritual growth. Come engage in discussions on studies designed to help us strengthen relationships with each other and God." The many others are studying a book of the bible. Would you say these are on your missional bent but just described differently, or is this something you're working to see implemented in a greater measure there?

[Geoff Surratt]

Hey Clayton,

On this blog I speak only for me. I'd hate to hold Seacoast responsible for my craziness.

That being said, we are experimenting around the edges with some of the stuff I'm writing about this week. I will write more about that on Friday. The cool part is the young adult groups are really at the forefront of what is happening; you just can't see it on the website.

[Jason Usry]

I have a couple thoughts.

1. Whether intentional or not, I think the author downplays the importance of discipleship and fellowship that are part of almost all small groups. Let me ask it this way: is a small group only being missional when it goes out into the community? Or could it be considered missional by its very existence?

To be sure, some small groups fail at being missional, period. But as long as a group is a) open to newcomers, and b) actively impacting the lives of its members for the better, then I think that's being missional.

Let's say you have a small group based on the book "Case for Christ." Someone finds the group listed on the Seacoast website, and they're a skeptic, but they're open-minded so they come to the group. Is the group being missional? I think so.

In short, I would say we shouldn't assume that missions only takes place outside the church walls.

2. Regarding large small groups...I recall an adult Sunday School class at a church years ago that grew exponentially. It got so large that the senior pastor stepped in and split it up...and guess what happened? Both classes shrunk. Eventually they realized what was happening and they combined the classes back together, but the momentum was lost and it never fully recovered.

So naturally I have an aversion to suggestions that "large" is a problem. I think it can be a problem, but whatever solutions are proposed, they mustn't disrupt the original causes for the growth. A lot of people actually find solace in large groups as opposed to small ones.

[Sam O'Neal]

Geoff,

I think it's really cool that you are thinking through these issues and bringing them forward for discussion. I'll be sending the readers from my blog to check out what's been on your heart this week, and I appreciate that opportunity.

That being said, I think I'm missing the conundrum (definitely a good word, by the way). Most studies seem to show that having between 6 and 12 people is ideal when it comes to discussion, worship, and group dynamics. So I understand what you are saying there.

But if a mission opportunity gets too large for a group that size, isn't it an option to broaden out and find help from the larger church body? Join up with another small group, for example, or set it up so that the small group takes a leadership role in managing that ministry opportunity (recruiting volunteers, raising funds, setting up schedules, etc.)?

[Wendy Thornton]

I understand why Jason felt compelled to question the comment on small groups not being about`discipleship'although do I detect a certain amount of hyperbole? I agree that discipleship occurs one on one and sitting on a beach with CS Lewis, but the language used might be interpreted as dumbing down discipleship as a principle. To be a disciple and to disciple others is essentially a missional dynamic. The Great commission, Matt 28:19-20 "go and make disciples" is a mandate for all believers, it's not optional, in fact I believe that understanding discipleship has been neglected in the past and with the emphasis on the Pastor/Leader, being the centre of all provision, power and direction has created a culture of dependancy in the church.

Bill Hybels made some interesting comments following Willow Creek's qualitative study;
Speaking at the Leadership Summit, Hybels summarized the findings this way:

Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back, it wasn't helping people that much. Other things that we didn't put that much money into and didn't put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for.

Having spent thirty years creating and promoting a multi-million dollar organization driven by programs and measuring participation, and convincing other church leaders to do the same, you can see why Hybels called this research "the wake-up call" of his adult life.

Hybels confesses:

We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ?self feeders.' We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own. The relevant links for this are here http://revealnow.com and http://revealnow.com/story.asp?storyid=48/story.asp?storyid=49 This is probably a bit of a digression from the discussion on small groups but I think it's interesting!

[Geoff Surratt]

Great feedback, love the discussion. Let's see if I can add anything.

Jason: Thanks for the comments. You don't have to call me "the author", you can just call me Geoff. But if you'd like to call me THE Author that would be cool. I don't mean to downplay the role of discipleship and fellowship. For me discipleship should be the major outcome of the whole process; everything Jesus did with his disciples discipled them. And fellowship is essential. I just believe a group needs a clear outwardly focused mission. And by outwardly focused I mean outside the group, not necessarily outside the walls of the church. And I love large groups, but they have a different purpose then small groups.

Sam: Thanks for the link off your blog, love having your readers drop by. I'll send you the "Why Small Groups Don't Work" t-shirt later :) As to the mission being too small group for a small group to accomplish I think you are pointing in the right direction. How can a small group be large? We'll talk about that on Friday.

Wendy: You win comment of the week; you get TWO "Why Small Groups Don't Work" t-shirts. We are on the same page about discipleship. I don't mean to downplay it at all. I agree with Hybels that we have tried to program discipleship and it just doesn't work. If small groups don't lead to discipleship then we've really missed the boat, but again I think it's outcome rather than an ingredient.

[Stretch Mark Mama @stretchmarkmama]

I'm in charge of outreach at a missional church plant in Portland, OR. At 40-60 members we're like one big (disjointed) small group, that also has 2-8 smaller groups going on at the same time. And, even though 95% of our people are in their 20s and 30s, it's hard for me to get everyone moving together towards one mission.

The idea I've been toying around with is having our small groups join up with (drag in, invite) people from the community when they go out to serve the neighborhood. First, the small groups would have to pick a cause that the neighborhood would also rally around. And then plan from there.

Interested to see what you come up with. :)