Two Trends in Small Group Ministry

March 2, 2015 By Rick Howerton 1 Comment

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My definition of a trend is something that is a prevailing way to think or do something for a given period of time. Most trends come and go. In fact, being trendy is exciting when the trend is a trend. But, when what is trendy becomes passé, those who had been known as trend setters are simply out of style. Just ask those 50 something’s that still have a mullet.
There are trends in the small group world. Now, don’t be confused, biblical principles of group life aren’t trendy, they’re forever non-negotiables. Only groups that live by the principles established by God Himself unearthed in His Word can ever experience true Christian community.
Here are a two trends I’d like to share with you.
1. Bible-Only Small Group Studies.
Some churches and groups have chosen to do away with purchasing Bible studies from Christian publishers and use the Bible only in their groups. These churches and groups believe they can choose almost any passage of Scripture, read that passage of Scripture, then utilize the same series of questions each week to create discussion, and the outcome will be a transformational Bible study. While the Holy Spirit is the primary teacher any time a group gathers, there is also a need for someone to know the context of the passage, God’s truth that is seen in that passage, and for the application that comes from the discussion to flow from the truth that is found in that passage. There’s a reason that Paul told young Timothy, “…the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Timothy 2:2) He wanted to be certain the truth was passed on by someone who knew what God was saying, not have a discussion hoping someone might possibly land on the truth.
I was once with a group of church staff members as they experimented with the concept of Bible-only Bible studies. The passage they were discussing read like this, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) As the application part of the conversation occurred, two of the church staff members in the circle stated that they were no longer going to conform to their senior pastor’s wishes. They were going to go back to the church and do what they believed was the right thing to do as they led the ministries they were responsible for.
Because the truth of the passage wasn’t established before the application part of the conversation occurred, a perversion of the truth was embraced by these church leaders. Imagine what could happen in a group where there was no one who had any biblical training.
Please know that I’m not saying this concept is completely flawed. I am suggesting that, if you’re going to do a Bible study of this nature, the group leader must take the time to study the passage in context, know what God is saying through the passage, and be certain that the group embraces that before they leave the small group gathering.
2. Sermon-Based Bible Studies.
Sermon based Bible studies are studies based on the pastors sermon. In many churches a small group of people gather after the first weekend worship service to pen about six questions. They then email those questions to small group leaders. Those group leaders then use those questions to host a discussion at their next group meeting.
The pros of this approach are as follows:

• The group doesn’t need to spend any time discussing what the passage is saying as the pastor told them what the passage means when preaching the sermon.
• Group members love this approach as they never have to worry about embarrassing themselves during the group meeting… they already know what the passages being discussed means.
• The small group leader need do no preparation. There’s no teaching to be done. The pastor has already done the teaching.
• Because the small group leader has no responsibility to prepare for the gathering, it’s easy to get people to lead small groups.

The cons of this approach are as follows:

• Discussing what the passage means in a group is how people learn to process God’s Word when studying it alone.
• In many instances, the group ends up discussing the pastor’s clichés or talking about his illustrations, rather than discussing God’s perfect Word.
• Small group leaders do not need to study God’s Word so that they can lead a truth seeking discussion. The problem with this, the greatest learning comes from teaching something and these small group leaders are not teachers at all.
• Unbelievers who will never come to a weekend worship service will be much less apt to consistently attend a group meeting. After all, the group is discussing something they know nothing about, last weekend’s sermon.

The sermon based Bible study trend can be extremely effective IF the group is discussing the same passage of Scripture as the pastor utilized and is using a true Bible study during the discussion.
LifeWay is now offering a way to customize Bible studies for your church. By using this tool you can alleviate the issues just mentioned. To check it out go to SmallGroup.com.

Rick Howerton is the discipleship and small group specialist at LifeWay. He is founding pastor of The Bridge Church in Spring Hill, Tenn., and author of Countdown: Launching and Leading Transformational Group, Destination Community: Small Group Ministry Manual and A Different Kind of Tribe: Embracing the New Small Group Dynamic. You can follow Rick on Twitter @rickhowerton.