Missional (Small) Groups

I am about to embark on a 30 page writing adventure. In many ways, I have preparing to write this paper for over 15 years. I also see this project as the foundation for further reflections that will truly last a lifetime. The subject of the study is small group ministry. I have been involved with a zillion different small group ministries ever since I became a Christian during my freshman year in high school. I have seen all kinds of approaches and emphases. I can't say that I have seen one perfect model but I have seen God work in and through these ministries to change lives.

This paper is the intersection of my small group ministry experience and my studies in missional theology. I could go into a full description of my understanding of missional theology here but that would make this post longer than any human would care to read (it may already be that long). All that matters right now is, in my view, a missional church is one that does not exist for itself but is called together, equipped and sent out to the world to accomplish God's purposes together.

All of the small group literature that I read in the past semester pointed to small groups following the pattern of their churches, namely, existing for themselves. Small groups are often described as places for community where individuals become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. This is true. However, I will borrow a phrase from one of my professors George Hunsinger and say that this description is necessary but not sufficient. Small groups exist for more than community and personal growth.

To be fair, the small group books that I have read do include service or mission as a component of small groups. Over and over, however, I see two extremes with this assertion. On the one extreme, a group exists only to do a specific act of service such as repairing cars for people in the church. These groups lack the Christian practices that contribute to the group's spiritual formation. On the other extreme, a group exists for community and service/mission "spills over" from the group after the group arrives at a certain level of intimacy or growth. These groups rarely move beyond an internal focus and end up splitting up or staying a comfortable level.

I suggest that a group can seek the Lord's face in discovering its specific mission apart from these two extremes. I believe that the Lord calls individuals together in a local church to fulfill a specific mission in that local context. The church community provides relationships that encourage spiritual formation for that mission. In the midst of this, I believe the Lord can work through smaller groups of 8-12 individuals to allow them to discover their specific vocation in the local church and, therefore, in the church overall. Churches often talk about the individual's vocation or sense of calling and the entire church's mission/vision but this can and should occur also at the small group level.

In light of this, I propose that God uses small groups to provide the context for missional formation where the group grows into fully devoted followers of Christ not for themselves but for being used by God to fulfill its specific mission in the world as long as they are called together to serve.

Let's see if I can capture these ideas in a more rigorous manner as I embark on 30 pages of writing!