#148 How to Grow a Small Group
Summary of Readings
In chapters 4-7 of Community: Taking Your Small Group off Life Support by Brad House, House explores the idea of redefining community groups. House compares the way that many American churches have approached discipleship in the past and offers a new model of thought. House’s goal becomes clear when he writes, “The challenge is that churches and pastors have gotten in the habit of doing what God has called his disciples to do. In this chapter we want to begin equipping the saints, his disciples, for ministry by first giving them some new categories for what it means to be in community and on mission.” Discipleship is then something that is taught to the community for mutual growth rather than something necessarily done from the top down. While Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying, Small Groups from Earley and Dempsey in chapters 29-39 discuss methods for growing small groups. Earley and Dempsey write that, “The most effective and healthy groups maintain an emphasis on multiplying leaders and forming new groups from the existing group.” This seems to be sound advice that aligns with what I have experienced. Furthermore, the Verge site offered advice on how to be missional in your community. One idea that stood out to me was “Do a summer BBQ every Friday night and invite others to contribute.”
The Importance of Growing a Small Group
There are many ways to grow small groups and the value in doing so is immense. But in many ways there is no reason to multiply small groups. It really comes down to the purpose of the group and the goals of that group. The goals of the group should reflect the church and Christianity as a whole to some degree. Jesus called His disciples to Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (NASB). When Christ gave this command it was to all Christians in all time and place. Small groups are an outpouring of that purpose. Where individuals learn more about what Christ taught and how to be better Christians. To completely follow Christ’s command though requires us to reach out to more people especially to unbelievers. When groups grow this may happen, but when groups multiply individuals have more of the responsibility for growth and space is made available for new people.
Many methods of small group growth were suggested in the reading. The reading from House focused on aspects of small groups like the who, what, where, how, and why. While the reading from Earley and Dempsey focused on methods of growth. Some of the methods mentioned were prayer, invitation, parties, and preparation.
Identify the top 2–3 suggestions on how to grow your small group.
While there were many ideas for helping groups to grow, some stood out from the rest. I am a part of multiple small groups and small ministries. Some of them function quite well and others not so much. One of the groups that I am marginally involved with is the men’s ministry at a local church that supports my missions work. That group in many ways is similar to another men’s ministry that I am a part of called Holy Smoke. Yet the differences are drastic in terms of group growth and multiplication. This course has given me words to describe why the Holy Smoke group functions well while the men’s ministry does not. One of the suggestions that stood out to me from the reading was to “Open groups—when fully understood—give each member a sense of purpose and direction.” Open groups are both physically open and available to outsiders and have well formed beliefs about new people in the groups. I recall the first time attending the men’s group, I could not find it. The group meets at a small church. I went to the front doors and they were locked. I ended up having to call the senior pastor to find out that everyone went through the unmarked side door to go to the group. Once at the group some of the people knew who I was and others did not. Yet nobody spoke to me. I had to start every conversation. This is drastically different from the Holy Smoke group which has a sign outfront, and claps whenever someone new comes to the group.
Growing groups only matters if God is behind the ministry. Therefore it is of first importance to pray. If there is one thing to be done “to make your group more effective, that one thing would be to pray.” Prayer helps to ensure alignment of action with God’s will. Group leaders need to pray for the group and for God’s guidance regularly. The group leaders must be an example to the members of the group and teach them to pray regularly for others in the group. This can be done by purposely taking time during each week to pray for the members of the group. In the Holy Smoke group this is done by spending ten minutes each week on prayer and prayer requests. As well as having all members carry a challenge coin that is a daily reminder to pray for the group.
The third thing that stood out to me from the reading is the idea of equipping. House wrote, “Developing life-giving groups requires equipping them to apply the truths of the gospel to the trials, hopes, joys, and relationships of life.” This may look like studying the Bible as a group and applying the concepts and concerns from the Bible to the present time. At a group I attended this past week we studied Acts 20:25-34 where Paul described to the Ephesians that he has not coveted their gold, silver, or clothing. In studying this passage questions were asked about do we covet, and what coveting looks like, and how to stop coveting. By doing this the passage was made real and then applied to the lives of everyone in attendance. This follows the pattern of first experiencing life and then speaking life that House wrote about.
Mention the 2–3 greatest challenges of growing a small group.
The greatest challenges of growing a small group have to do with friendships. The dynamics of a small group change when people come and go. This of course cna cause new friendships and ideas to flourish but it also takes away from the good friendships that have already developed. When a group grows, issues over the purpose of the group may start to arise unless there is a strong group covenant and culture already in place.
Another issue is finding new people to join a group. Group members can be hesitant to invite their friends and family to groups. While groups may not always be a high priority at the church. Finding ways to invite new people to a group can be a real challenge. This is something I appreciate about men’s groups like Holy Smoke which are organized around an activity. In this case cigar smoking, it is normal to talk to strangers at a cigar lounge and it is easy to invite people to smoke cigars in another place too once you have gotten to know them. To see a good way to invite people into groups we can turn to the Bible and Jesus’s ministry “you will see a master at inviting people to make the appropriate commitment at exactly the right time.” To it easier to invite people to make small commitments than it is to make bigger commitments. When Jesus started to recruit disciples in John 1:35-39 we see smaller commitments leading to bigger ones. John’s disciples heard about Jesus and started to ask Him questions so Jesus invited them to a small commitment, “He *said to them, “Come, and you will see” John 1:39.
The third challenge is overcoming stagnation in the group. The group needs shared goals and to continue growing in some way or else it may lead to stagnation. This can be a challenge to work through if the growth is ongoing. One method of combating this though is purposely ending groups at the end of a season leaving people in anticipation of the next thing. Stagnation comes out of no new growth. In a group, “A mature group moves from establishing community to building strong disciples (upward dimension) and sharing God’s love in Christ with the world (outward).” Without the outward dimension growth becomes stagnation. The call on Christians is to “serve in his name, caring for people and ministering to their needs, we draw attention to him whose name we bear.” Discipleship and being a part of a small group ought to lead to action that draws others into the community.
Bibliography
Arnold, Jeffrey. The Big Book on Small Groups. Revised Edition. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017.
Dempsey, Rod, and Dave Earley. Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying, Small Groups. Wordsearch, 2018.
Earley, Dave. “Winning the Lost—A Passionate Pursuit.” In Disciple Making Is . . .: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion and Confidence, 140. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2013.
House, Brad. Community: Taking Your Small Group off Life Support. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011.
Terry, John Mark, Ebbie C. Smith, and Justice Anderson. Missiology: An Introduction to the Foundations, History, and Strategies of World Missions. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998.
Reeves, Josh. “25 Simple Ways to Be Missional in Your Neighborhood.” Verge Network. Accessed April 25, 2025. https://vergenetwork.org/25-simple-ways-to-be-missional-in-your-neighborhood/.
