People were faithfully attending services, but many of them were not involved in ministry. They loved God and supported the church, yet they had not found a place where their gifts could be used.

I also noticed another problem.

Visitors and new converts would come into the church, attend for a while, and then disappear. We had prayed for them. We had preached to them. Some had been baptized and experienced wonderful moments with God.

But many had never developed meaningful relationships within the church.

They had attended our services without becoming part of our lives.

That troubled me.

• We were reaching people without always discipling them.

• We were counting decisions without always building relationships.

• We were bringing people through the front door while quietly losing others through the back door.

• We were asking one pastor to care for needs that should have been shared by the body.

I began asking whether there was a better way.

Trying to Build a Church

A short time later, my wife and I started a church in Chesterton, Indiana.

Within the first year, I became frustrated.

I was attempting to build this young church using the same structures I had observed in larger, well-established congregations. Those churches had more people, more leaders, more resources, and years of developed systems.

We did not have those things.

I was attempting to reproduce a structure without having the people required to support it.

Around that time, I began hearing about cell ministry, home friendship groups, and what we now commonly call small groups.

I read about churches that were using small groups to evangelize, disciple believers, develop leaders, and provide pastoral care. I learned from the experiences of churches such as Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea, and Saddleback Church in California.

Then the Lord connected me with Pastor Anthony Tamel’s church in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. I attended their New Wineskins seminar, and what I heard changed the way I thought about church.

I wept as I began to see a ministry model that addressed the very problems that had been troubling me.

This was not merely another church program.

It was a way of helping people become connected, discipled, and involved in ministry.

We Brought Small Groups to Chesterton

With help and training, we introduced small groups into our church in Chesterton.

We began watching something happen.

People who had never considered themselves ministers began caring for others. Relationships formed outside the regular church services. New believers had a place to ask questions. Needs were discovered earlier. Potential leaders began to emerge.

Small groups created room for people:

• To pray together

• To study the Word

• To build friendships

• To share personal needs

• To care for one another

• To invite neighbors

• To develop spiritual gifts

• To learn how to lead

• To become active participants in ministry

The church was no longer limited to what happened inside the main building.

Ministry began taking place in homes and through relationships.

Small Groups Are a Biblical Idea

Small groups are not merely a modern church-growth strategy.

The early church gathered in both larger and smaller settings.

Acts 2:46 says:

“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.”

They gathered in the temple.

They also gathered from house to house.

Paul later reminded the Ephesian elders:

“And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house.”

—Acts 20:20

The early church understood both expressions of ministry:

• Public teaching

• House-to-house discipleship

• Corporate worship

• Personal fellowship

• Large gatherings

• Close relationships

We do not have to choose between the church building and the home.

We need both.

The church building gives the entire congregation a place to gather around shared worship, preaching, vision, and doctrine. Small groups give people a place to develop relationships, ask questions, receive care, and practice ministry.

People Need More Than a Service

A powerful church service can introduce someone to the presence of God.

But one service cannot provide every part of discipleship.

New believers need people who will walk beside them after the service is over.

They need someone who will:

• Learn their name

• Answer their questions

• Pray with them

• Notice when they are missing

• Help them understand the Bible

• Encourage them during temptation

• Celebrate their spiritual growth

• Correct them with love

• Help them discover a place to serve

Programs do not disciple people.

People disciple people.

Jesus did not merely preach to crowds. He spent time with disciples. He ate with them, traveled with them, answered their questions, corrected their thinking, and allowed them to observe His life.

Discipleship requires proximity.

It requires time.

It requires relationship.

Belonging Helps People Remain

Through the years, many statistics have been repeated about how many friends a person must make and how quickly those friendships must develop for that person to remain in a church.

The exact numbers differ, and I do not believe we need an unverified formula to understand the principle.

People are more likely to remain where they are known, loved, and needed.

Think about the difference.

A person can sit in a crowd without being known.

A person can attend every Sunday without developing a close friendship.

A person can hear excellent preaching while privately struggling with questions no one knows to ask.

A person can disappear from the church without anyone noticing until months have passed.

Small groups help close those gaps.

Within a healthy group:

• A guest becomes a familiar face.

• A familiar face becomes a friend.

• A friend becomes part of the family.

• A new believer becomes a disciple.

• A disciple begins serving.

• A servant can eventually become a leader.

That process does not happen automatically. But small groups create an environment where it can happen naturally.

Every Member Can Become a Minister

For years, many churches have operated as though the pastor is the only person called to minister.

The pastor preaches.

The pastor counsels.

The pastor visits.

The pastor prays.

The pastor solves the problems.

One person can only do so much.

Ephesians 4:11–12 tells us that God gave ministry leadership to the church:

“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

The pastor’s responsibility is not to perform all the ministry personally. The pastor must also equip the saints to participate in the work of ministry.

That does not mean every person is called to become a pastor.

It means every believer can serve.

• Someone can lead a discussion.

• Someone can welcome a guest.

• Someone can prepare food.

• Someone can pray for a need.

• Someone can visit a sick member.

• Someone can teach a new believer.

• Someone can encourage a discouraged family.

• Someone can help organize the group.

• Someone can reach a neighbor.

• Someone can begin developing as a leader.

Small groups create ministry opportunities that may never exist on a platform.

A person does not need a microphone to minister.

Sometimes the most important ministry happens across a kitchen table.

Small Groups Extend Pastoral Care

Pastors care deeply about their people.

But as a church grows, one pastor cannot personally know every need as soon as it arises. That is not a lack of concern. It is a human limitation.

A healthy small-group structure extends the church’s ability to care for people.

A good group leader can recognize:

• When someone is discouraged

• When a marriage is struggling

• When a person has missed several gatherings

• When a family needs food

• When someone is in the hospital

• When a new believer is confused

• When a member needs pastoral attention

• When a future leader is beginning to emerge

The group leader does not replace the pastor.

The group leader helps the pastor care for the flock.

Moses learned this lesson when Jethro told him that the work was too heavy for one person. Moses needed capable people who could help carry appropriate responsibilities.

Small groups can provide that same kind of support within the local church.

Small Groups Develop Leaders

When our time in Chesterton came to an end, I felt the Lord directing me to turn the church over to the man who had assisted me.

I also felt that I should not immediately take another church. Instead, the Lord began opening doors for me to help other pastors train leaders and establish small groups.

Two pastors of larger churches asked me to help train their people and begin small-group ministries. I watched potential leaders discover that they were capable of more than they had believed.

Small groups provide a place where developing leaders can learn:

• How to prepare

• How to communicate

• How to listen

• How to care for people

• How to handle questions

• How to pray for needs

• How to recognize problems

• How to remain accountable

• How to develop someone else

A person may not be ready to lead a department or preach to an entire congregation.

But that same person may be ready to help facilitate a discussion, host a group, contact an absent member, or lead a time of prayer.

Leadership grows through responsibility.

Small groups provide a safe place for that growth to begin.

Small Groups Make Room for Growth

Pastor, what would happen if God suddenly answered your prayers for revival?

What if your attendance increased significantly?

What if dozens of new believers entered the church?

What if several families needed immediate discipleship and pastoral care?

Would your present structure be able to care for them?

Growth creates needs:

• More people must be contacted.

• More questions must be answered.

• More relationships must be developed.

• More children must be cared for.

• More leaders must be trained.

• More pastoral needs must be recognized.

• More opportunities for ministry must be created.

If every need must pass through one pastor, growth will eventually stop at the limit of that pastor’s time and energy.

Small groups make room before the growth arrives.

They create a network of relationships through which new believers can be welcomed, discipled, and cared for.

Small Groups Strengthen the Church During Disruption

There are times when a congregation may be unable to gather in its usual way.

Severe weather, illness, building problems, community emergencies, or other disruptions can affect the church’s normal schedule.

A church built only around one weekly gathering may struggle to remain connected during those seasons.

A church with healthy small groups already has:

• Established relationships

• Trained leaders

• Places where people can gather

• Systems for communicating needs

• A network of pastoral care

• Opportunities for prayer and Bible study

• People accustomed to caring for one another

Small groups do not merely prepare a church for crisis.

They strengthen the church every week.

Small Groups Must Be More Than Meetings

Calling something a small group does not automatically make it healthy.

A group can become another weekly event that consumes time without producing discipleship.

Healthy groups need a clear purpose.

They should help people:

• Grow in their relationship with God

• Understand and apply Scripture

• Develop meaningful Christian relationships

• Receive and provide pastoral care

• Discover their spiritual gifts

• Serve others

• Reach people outside the church

• Become disciples who can disciple someone else

A small group should not become a private club.

It should remain open to new people.

It should not revolve around gossip, complaints, or criticism of church leadership.

It should not compete with the mission of the church.

Every group must share the doctrine, values, vision, and spiritual direction of the congregation.

The group is not a separate church.

It is an extension of the church’s ministry.

Choose and Train Leaders Carefully

A small-group ministry will rise or fall largely upon the health of its leaders.

Do not select leaders based only on personality or popularity.

Look for people who are:

• Faithful

• Teachable

• Spiritually mature

• Trustworthy

• Relational

• Accountable

• Supportive of the church’s doctrine and vision

• Willing to care for people

• Able to keep private matters confidential

• Interested in developing others

Then train them.

Do not hand someone a lesson and assume that person knows how to lead.

Teach leaders:

• How to prepare for a meeting

• How to guide a discussion

• How to involve quieter members

• How to handle a person who dominates

• How to respond to difficult questions

• How to recognize a need requiring pastoral attention

• How to protect confidentiality

• How to invite new people

• How to develop an assistant

• How to remain accountable to church leadership

What we fail to teach, we should not be surprised to see handled poorly.

Do Not Launch Before You Are Ready

Small groups can transform a church, but they should not be launched carelessly.

Before beginning:

• Pray about the purpose.

• Clarify the vision.

• Identify potential leaders.

• Train those leaders.

• Choose appropriate materials.

• Establish pastoral oversight.

• Create a plan for reporting needs.

• Explain the ministry to the congregation.

• Begin with a manageable number of groups.

• Evaluate what is working and what needs improvement.

Do not begin twenty groups if you have only five prepared leaders.

Start healthy.

Grow carefully.

Develop leaders before you need them.

A small-group ministry built slowly upon prayer, training, and accountability will be stronger than one launched quickly through excitement alone.

Why I Am Passionate About Small Groups

I am passionate about small groups because I have seen what can happen through them.

I have seen:

• People discover their ministry.

• New believers develop friendships.

• Future leaders begin to emerge.

• Pastors receive help carrying the work.

• Needs recognized before they became crises.

• Believers begin caring for one another.

• Homes become places of prayer and discipleship.

• Churches create room for growth.

Small groups are not the only way to disciple people.

They are not a perfect solution to every church problem.

They require leadership, training, accountability, patience, and work.

But they can help move ministry:

• From the platform to the home

• From one pastor to many equipped believers

• From attendance to belonging

• From belonging to discipleship

• From discipleship to ministry

• From ministry to leadership

• From leadership to multiplication

That is why small groups remain my passion.

The church should be more than a place people attend.

It should be a body in which every member is known, cared for, equipped, and given an opportunity to serve.

Related Ministry Resources

• Article: Small Groups—Helping Close the Back Door — Practical encouragement for helping guests and new believers develop relationships that connect them to the church.

• Article: Why Christian Fellowship Is Important — A biblical look at the value of Christian relationships and shared spiritual life.

• Article: Why Home Friendship Groups?—Community — Guidance for building Christian community through home-based ministry.

• Small-Group Lessons: Explore editable Bible studies and teaching resources at PreachIt.org Small Groups.

• Pastoral Books and Training: Visit PastoralHelps.com for books and practical ministry-training materials, including Momentum in Ministry.

• Missions and Humanitarian Ministry: Learn how OpportunityHope.org is serving orphaned and at-risk children, pastors, families, and communities in India.

About Pastor James Smith

Pastor James Smith of Valparaiso, Indiana, is the founder of PreachIt.org, OpportunityHope.org, and PastoralHelps.com.

For more than two decades, he has equipped pastors and church leaders with sermon resources, practical leadership training, and encouragement for the challenges of ministry. His writing grows out of a burden to help pastors lead with wisdom, remain faithful to their calling, and develop healthy, growing churches.

Through OpportunityHope, Pastor Smith also helps care for orphaned and at-risk children in West Bengal, India. The ministry provides food, shelter, education, clean-water wells, livestock, and other practical assistance to children, families, pastors, and communities in need.

Books and practical ministry-training resources, including Momentum in Ministry, are available through PastoralHelps.com.