#144 The Importance of Small Groups
Taking a look at Spiritual Formation Is… chapters 18-22. Earley writes “There is no Christianity without community. Therefore, any efforts at spiritual formation are remiss unless they include the discipline of doing life together.” This shows us that small group community is essential to our understanding of what it means to be a Christian. This community needs to be expressed in three ways: “love (love for God, love for one another, and love for our neighbor) is to be lived out in a community of believers.”
The growth group model is based on Methodist tradition. It is a group that keeps you accountable in your spiritual formation. As you work upwards, outwards, and inwards. I recall five years ago I led a group like this of four men. We met weekly to be accountable to each other in our spiritual growth. Participating in the group helped to better gauge my personal progress and learn additional ways to grow closer to God.
In reading the article on Digital Discipleship I was not overly compelled. The advice offered in the article was reasonable enough but none of it was based on anything other than personal opinion. The advice offered was on the line of “Every church should have a website.” That sort of advice is trivial and not a helpful addition to the conversation. That said, I would agree with most of what Sagnor wrote. It has been my experience working with churches and nonprofits the past couple years on digital presence that having a website is extremely helpful for Millennials and Gen Z. As they judge a church before they walk in the doors. I am not sure I would call any church related thing online discipleship as it is more akin to evangelism. For example, my home church live streams the Sunday services, and does a podcast. This boosts the audience size from 600 a week to 2000 a week. Those other viewers are not being discipled by the church but many of them are coming to faith through the sermons. Furthermore, there is a lot of opportunities available to nonprofits online. Churches can easily get over $15,000 in grants for websites and advertising. Which can translate into hundreds or even thousands of new visitors to the church each year. Here is a list of grants that I recommend to churches: https://www.rinehartmissions.com/articles/free-resources-for-non-profits
Dave Earley, “Doing Life Together,” in Spiritual Formation Is...: How to Grow in Jesus with Passion and Confidence (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2018), 158.
Rod Dempsey, “Participating in a Healthy Small Group,” in Spiritual Formation Is...: How to Grow in Jesus with Passion and Confidence (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2018), 165.
Holly Sagnor, "Digital Discipleship: Definition, Strategies, & Warnings," Just Disciple, April 1, 2020,https://justdisciple.com/digital-discipleship/
