Small Groups: Starting and Multiplying Them

Lyle Seltmann

Objective:

To start a number of small groupsthat will grow by reaching the lost/unchurched, develop new leaders from the newly reached, and reproduce once 10-15 are attending. These small groups can be used to:

  • Form external cells from an existing church that would worship weekly with that church, and over time, may be assimilated into that church.
  • Form a core group for a traditional plant by combining several small groups.
  • Begin a house church network (HCN).

The formation and early development of these small groups is similar for each of the above purposes. However, ongoing development is somewhat different, so it is important to determine that final path as soon as possible. These small groups may gather into networks for periodic joint celebrative worship and will have regular network meetings of the Small GroupLeaders (and apprentice leaders) for encouragement, accountability, and training. These networks will also reproduce once they have 10-15 small groups.

Small Group Network Leader

The Small Group NetworkLeader is a catalytic/apostolic kind of person who helps get the network started, identifies initial leaders, keeps them focused and encouraged, trains them, holds them accountable, and insists on rapid growth and reproduction of the individual small groups. The Small Group Network Leader will often lead one of the small groupsin the network.

The Small Group Network (for core group formation or HCNs)

The Small Group Network is the entity that would most closely correspond to a traditional church. It is the entity that could be sponsored by a mother church. A simple covenant (a sample is included in the appendix) between the Small Group Networkand the mother church may be helpful. However, sponsorship must not become overly burdensome, delaying, or a barrier. The Small Group Network Leader would most closely correspond to the church planter in a traditional plant. As the number of small groups in the network grows to perhaps 3-6, the network may well be considered for admission into the local association and the state convention. If so, the network would need to incorporate, constitute, establish simple bylaws, and set up its own bank account. The individual small groups, while completely legitimate as church, would not normally, as a practical matter, seek admission individually.

Getting Started

The Small Group Network Leader(or Small Group Leader) begins one or more small groupsin one of the following ways (a sample invitation flyer is included in the appendix).

  • Using his own relationship web, he invites the lost/unchurched from his web to a Bible study. It is best (although not mandatory) if it is hosted by one of the invited guests. To invite, he may say, “We are going to see what the Bible says about some of the most important issues and challenges in life.” Alternatively, he may say, “We are going to see what the Bible says about how we can be truly happy.” As a rule of thumb, invite 3-4 times the number you desire to come.
  • Identify a “person of peace” who is willing to invite the lost/unchurched from their relationship web into their home for a Bible study (Matthew 10 and Luke 10).
  • Start a Bible study in a given household that is open, without making any attempt to combine this household with others – except for periodic network wide celebrative worship gatherings. This is the approach recommended by CITYTEAM and others.
  • Start same sex groups of 2-3for weekly meetings (anywhere), where group members agree to heavy scripture reading and re-reading (25-30 chapters per week), to be accountable to live Christ-like lives (specific, pointed questions), and to identify and pray for specific lost individuals. When a 4th person joins the group, it must multiply into 2 groups of 2 within 2-4 weeks. This approach is recommended by Neil Cole in what he calls “Life Transformation Groups.” These groups normally would/should be/become part of a larger small group (of 10-15). Several of these “Life Transformation Groups” could be combined to form the start of the larger small group (of 10-15).

The Small Group Network Leader (or other proven leaders) will typically be the leader of these first startup small groups, until potential leaders from within each small group can be identified and begin training.

Multiplying Small GroupsOnce the Small Group Network has Begun

This is the beautiful, exciting, and challenging part of a movement of making disciples through small groups and Small Group Networks. For every new person who is saved in these startup small groups, teach them to share their testimony in a simple way and then invite the lost/unchurched from their own relationship web to come to a new Bible study (which will become a small group), or to join a young small group. This means that every newly saved person represents a potential new small group, and every lost/unchurched person in their relationship web represents a potential new small group and so on and so on. This is what provides the possibility for explosive growth in numbers of new believers and numbers of new small groups. This is what happened in the early days of Christianity. This is what is happening today in China and many other parts of the world.

Where Will the Leaders Come From?

The leaders will come from within the small groups. This is possible by using the most simple and easily reproduced leadership and formatmodels, and by using the MAWL (model, assist, watch, leave) approach for training new leaders. New and apprentice leaders also learn at regular meetings of the Small GroupLeaders with the Small Group Network Leader.

What Does a Small GroupMeeting Look Like?

Small groupsdo not have a uniform meeting format, but may include elements such as the following:

  • Greetings and introduction of new guests
  • Food – from light snacks to a full meal
  • Lord’s Supper celebration
  • Fellowship
  • Prayer needs & prayer
  • Singing (varies widely)
  • Testimonies (sometimes)
  • Bible study
  • Offering (once basic new believer studies are complete)
  • Baptism (as new births occur)

Some have one meeting per month (or so) that is more social in nature and especially geared toward receiving new guests. Food and fellowship will typically be emphasized, and Bible study somewhat abbreviated.

What About Children?

The number and ages of children will vary this answer, but in general, keep as much of the entire group together for as much of the meeting as possible. This will help Dad’s and Mom’s learn to lead and grow their children spiritually.

What Is Taught at the Small Group Meetings?

The needed teaching can be broken into the following phases:

  • New group – get acquainted – the first meeting, or part of the first meeting. For some suggestions, see the appendix.
  • New group – go through a basic salvation study series (generally 4-8 weeks)
  • Newly saved – go through a basic new believer series (generally 6-12 weeks)
  • Ongoing – facilitate an inductive Bible study of about one chapter per week, or select from more Bible stories (if narrative approach is chosen).

Think out curriculum choice and sequence carefully. Look at the T4T sequence (outlined in the appendix). It begins with casting a vision for multiplication. It soon gets to baptism as a matter of following Jesus. Second generation groups begin after 7-8 weeks. The church is studied, and a decision is made to be church. If questions such as these are not thought out and purposely introduced in the flow of a study sequence, introducing them otherwise can become difficult and clumsy.

The number of sessions required to complete salvation and basic new believer studies is also an important curriculum consideration. There must be sufficient depth, yet if the studies are drawn out too long, you may lose participant interest and reproduction potential.

Another factor to consider is literacy and how people best learn. The T4T version I prefer is an oral/story/narration version. Even among those who are “literate,” several studies show that under 10% of the U.S.population learn best by opening a book, reading and discussing it. There is a reason Jesus did much of His teaching with stories and parables.

A number of curriculum choices are available for the salvation and new believer phases, some of which are outlined below, and detailed further in the appendix:

  • T4T (Training for Trainers) – developed in China, very simple. This is my overall personal favorite because it works all over the world, it is all from the Bible, it is very purposefully sequenced, it is relatively short, and it is geared for storying. I recommend you use this curriculum.
  • Discovery Bible Study series – developed by CITYTEAM - all from the Bible
  • Serendipity New Testament for Groups – 10 courses of 6 sessions each
  • The Bible League – 3 Discover (Peace, Joy, Purpose) Series booklets
  • Operation Lydia – 3 Bible study series (Happiness Is, Discovering Jesus, The Powerful Jesus) with 5 lessons in each series – all from Bible
  • WMU/New Hope – one year study series (Promises, Life, Security, Freedom, Faith, Joy) for small groups
  • Basic Training by Larry Richmond, IL DOM
  • Church Growth International (Charles Brock) – Good News for You, and I’ve Been Born Again! What Next?
  • For the ongoing inductive Bible studies, consider the following initial study sequence (one chapter per week): a Gospel, Romans, Galatians (particularly if works vs. grace is an issue), Acts, Another Gospel, Etcetera. Or – if you are using the narrative approach, select additional Bible stories. If you need help with Bible stories, you can acquire 400 from fjseries.org for $100.

For inductive Bible studies, ask each person to repeatedly read the designated passage during the week, and to come prepared to discuss a set of inductive questions. Many use questionssimilar to the following (which I believe were first developed by the World Home Bible League):

  • What did you like about the passage?
  • What did you not like about the passage?
  • What did you not understand about the passage?
  • What was the main idea of the passage?
  • What does this passage teach you about God?
  • What should you do as a result of knowing this passage?

T4T suggests using the following inductive questions:

  • What is the story saying?
  • What do you not understand?
  • What does it teach you about God?
  • What should you obey?

It is generally advisable to place each small group member in an accountability group of 2-3. The members of each accountability group hold one another accountable to make growth commitments, and to follow through on them. These accountability groups meet at the end of the small group meeting, at another time during the week, or on occasion, by phone/email. They could function in the manner recommended by Neil Cole for “Life Transformation Groups.”

CITYTEAM recommends that participants write the verses (at least key ones) in their own words, and then for each verse, write the “I will . . .” statements they intend to do as a result of their understanding of the verse. This is another way of enhancing application and accountability.

In addition to the inductive questions to be used at the small group meeting, many recommend some additional inductive questions to guide each individual in preparation for the small group meeting. This will tend to stimulate more rapid growth in the individual as well as liven the small group discussion. Questions such as the following (along with a number of sub-questions) are recommended by groups such as CITYTEAM (a Bible Study Guidelines sheet using this approach is included in the appendix):

  • What does it say?
  • What does it mean?
  • What should I do?”

Guidelines

  • Trust the Holy Spirit (God) to have prepared hearts to be hungry for spiritual truth – some of whom are “persons of peace.”
  • Trust the Holy Spirit to guide you as you invite, lead, share, and prepare new leaders
  • Trust the Holy Spirit and God’s word to have a powerful and transforming impact on the students
  • Invite the lost (no more than 2 saved/churched families – to host, and to lead)
  • People who are “down and out” or “desperate” are often the best soil. Think of those Jesus chose and ministered to – fishermen, tax collectors, lepers, Samaritans, prostitutes, beggars, lame, blind . . .
  • Use only easily reproduced leadership methods and materials – no lectures or sermons or complex materials
  • Must see people getting saved. A radically transformed life is very compelling.
  • Must see new leaders being raised up
  • Must reproduce regularly
  • Must maintain a strong personal devotional life
  • Maintain a prayer warrior support network – this is spiritual warfare
  • Rotate the host home every month or so, once the small group is established

Appendix – Invitation Flyer (on following page)

Appendix

Sample Covenant between Sponsor Church and the Small Group Network (that is expected to become a core group for a traditional start, or for an HCN)

Summary

Believing that God desires to grow His kingdom through new churches of all kinds, and recognizing that new churches need a sponsor for legitimacy in Southern Baptist life, but that they also need freedom to expand and grow, this Sponsor Church and Small Group Network covenant together as follows.

SponsorChurch Agrees to:

  • Officially sponsor this Small Group Network (which should have “Church” somewhere in its name).
  • Recognize, and if necessary, defend small church as a legitimate form and expression of church.
  • Acknowledge that “constituting,” is not a likely path for individual small groups in the network.
  • Recognize/report (for purposes of external reporting) the network as a mission church once the network has at least ___ (3?)small groups, with a combined steady core of at least ___ (20?) people.
  • Recommend the Small Group Network as a church (vs. a mission) to the association and state convention when ongoing function and continued multiplication of the small groupsin the network appears to be certain.
  • Just prior to this, the Small Group Network will have to constitute, prepare simple bylaws, incorporate, and open a bank account.
  • Approve the general framework for the training, mentoring and accountability that the Small Group Network Leader will provide to leaders of each small group.
  • Provide a designated fund and accounting for offerings given by small groupsfor use outside their individual small group.
  • Disburse funds from this account as requested by the Small Group Network Leader, within the guidelines provided by the small groups.

Small GroupsAgree to:

  • Retain a Southern Baptist (biblical) theology and identity
  • Support the Cooperative Program and Associational missions (generally in a 2:1to 3:1 ratio range – for CP and Association, respectively), and with a combined minimum of ___ (20%?) of offerings
  • Support the Small Group Network Leader at an appropriate level
  • Be diligent in evangelizing and growth
  • Be diligent in discipling the newly saved
  • Be diligent in leadership development through the mentoring and training provided by the Small Group Network Leader, to continue development of present Small GroupLeaders and to prepare new leaders for multiplication
  • Be diligent in forming new small groups once a small group reaches about 10-15 in number (which should occur every 6 months, but at least every 12 months)
  • Be accountable to the Small Group Network Leader and the SponsorChurch in all these matters with regular reporting

Signed:

______

Sponsor ChurchSmall Group Network Leader

Date: ______Date: ______

______

Small GroupLeader 1Small GroupLeader 2

Date: ______Date: ______

______

Small GroupLeader 3Small Group Leader 4

Date: ______Date: ______

Appendix

Get Acquainted Questions

These are some get acquainted questions suggested by the World Home Bible League:

1)When is the first time you remember winning at something important? How did you feel about that?

2)What is a good thing happening in your life right now? What makes it good?

3)What is one responsibility you must fulfill this week? How do you feel about that?

4)What is the best vacation you ever took? What made it the best?

5)What is your favorite place in the house? Why?

6)When you have free time, what do you like to do?

7)If you could receive one unexpected present, what would you like it to be?

8)What character on TV do you most identify with?

9)What is one thing you are worried about this week?

10)What is one thing you rejoiced in this week?

11)What is the best place you ever visited?

12)What place would you most like to see in the United States?