Emerging Trends in Small Group Land – Part 2 of 2

The organic organization of group-life is a rapidly emerging trend that is changing the landscape of small group world. It follows another trend that began to spread a decade ago: Diversification of Group-Life in terms of group types, group size, and the supporting leadership infrastructure (a.k.a. coaches or community leaders).

The assumption is that with more diversity, more variety, and more flexibility – you have less conformity and control. All true! It’s also messier and harder to measure. That makes some pastors very uncomfortable because they are the very people whom God has appointed and anointed to “shepherd” the flock.

A couple of other observations about this diversification of group-life: Multiple types of groups create multiple entry-points for people into the community life of churches. Different groups appeal to different people…and that’s okay. (The ‘free market small group model’ is an example of this.) Secondly, different size groups appeal to different people. Some people will go to a gathering of 50, but not of 5. Some people will try-out a Church of 2000, but not 200.

Again…okay. Thankfully, there are so many biblical but different expressions of Christ's Body on earth.

Thirdly, small group leadership infrastructure that works in our culture needs to be flexible and not rigid. It needs to be collegial and not hierarchical / pyramidal in nature. Less control and more care. More relationship, more time. Span of care should be elastic in response to the needs of each group cluster as well as the availability and capacity of Community Leaders partnering with you.

The continued diversification of group-life is being superseded by the organic organization of group-life.

The Search to Belong by Joe Myers introduced many of us to a field of study known as proxemics. Proxemics examines how people’s perception of space and their experience of it influence the culture in which they live. He discusses four different spaces (public, social, personal, intimate) and then explains how social situations that can happen in each space impacts a person’s sense of belonging.

This book had obvious appeal to Small Group Pastors who work to help people connect and belong. A key application was how different spaces create steps to help people make progress in how they integrate themselves into church communities. This is an example of group-life responding organically to the unique needs and desires of people who belong or are seeking to belong to it.

Another way we see the organic organization of group-life is leadership helping groups launch “outside” of church sponsored / organized activities. Seth Godin’s book, Tribes, nails the essential idea: People have the potential to influence and if they were to boldly step out on an interest or idea, they would realize there are others who would likely join with them. There are people doing this in their community, and even in their church, and may not even realize it! Worse yet, nobody sees it as a real or potential group that others might want to be a part of.

Traditional small group practice is to identify and train leaders…then promote their groups for other church members to join. Members with members.

The other popular approach is the hosting strategy, where there is not usually as much training on the front-end, but the encouragement is to step-out and then leverage that first experience to catalyze ongoing connection and leadership development. This is excellent when you have the leadership and culture that supports this continuously. Built into the hosting strategy is invitation, but the groups produced are still largely members with members.

There still exists, however, another hugely untapped strategy for launching groups: members with non-members. The ‘free market small group model’ is a starting block for this.
What if leadership not only gave permission, but commissioned members to think of what they’re already doing in the community and form a “group” around that? We’re not bringing people to church but the church to the people.

The Organic Church Movement (Neil Cole, Frank Viola, et al.) is an expression of this that will give rise to more “alternative forms of church” as Barna predicted in his book Revolution. Eclectic training and tooling of group leadership will fuel this trend.

Practically all expressions of leadership in small group land seem to be less locked into their denomination and other circles of trust. They are receiving training and tools from a variety of sources like lifechurch.tv, smallgroups.com, rightnow.org, etc.

We live in a world where there are more influencers, more revolutionaries, and more contributors. We now not only have great resources from churches, but from great leaders representing different cultures and models that are enriching our library of resources for group leadership.

Paradoxically, another major catalyst and carrier of the organic organization of group-life is the online world. Technology will be used more and more as the delivery system for the training and tooling of leadership. It facilitates the center-out empowerment of group leadership and is unhindered by boundaries that use to compartmentalize.

The delivery system of technology has more outlets making online content more accessible than ever. Technology will be embraced more and harnessed to engage in networking and collaboration through social media and live meeting (webcast) events.

Furthermore, leaders are becoming increasingly competent in creating their own resources ‘in-house’. There will be more churches like North Coast and Lifechurch.tv that create their own training and study materials. The digital age in which we live allows any church and leader to create all sorts of written and video resources for people in their spheres of influence.

The spontaneous expansion of the early Church will be mirrored when small groups function as the operating system for discipleship and leadership commissions believers in the organic organization of group-life. We live in a time of unprecedented connectivity that will unleash small groups for the next era of the Church.

Emerging Trends in Small Group Land – Part 1 of 2

What is a couple of emerging trends in small group ministry? I’ll share what struck me through two blog posts when I responded to this question during a Leadership Network Innovation Lab conducted earlier this year:

1. Groups Functioning as the Operating System for Discipleship
2. Organic Organization of Group-Life

Groups Functioning as the Operating System for Discipleship

The deadliest paradigm to the community life of a church is viewing its small groups through a programmatic lens. Small groups are thought of as a “ministry” in the minds of the majority today. They stand among the many other “organized church activities” that compete for people’s time and attention.

Instead of groups being seen as the ‘other half’ of the Church – they are viewed as a ministry area, a sub-set to a larger ministry, or a program of the church that begins and ends with a campaign or some initiative.

Whether we’re talking about the first-century house churches or today’s small group movement, the biblical blueprint for the Church of Pentecost remains the same: Large and small – temple courts and house-to-house (Acts 5:42).

It is the programmatic view of the Church that makes senior-level leadership in the church want to “use” groups to fix problems they perceive in their church, e.g. closing the back door, helping the church feel small, supporting pastoral staff, etc. Many 40-day campaigns are used in this way and it’s no wonder why many churches find themselves asking what they should do on Day 41.

The motivations and end goals for initiating or re-invigorating a “small group ministry” are not inherently bad. But if problem-solving is the inspiration to groups then that stops far short of what God intended His Church, His people to be about day-to-day.

When I was training through 2orMore, I soon found myself spending less time on the practice of groups with small group leaders and more time on the philosophy of groups with church leadership. I soon realized I was focused on driving skills while the engine was broke down. Then I learned to ask questions.

What I found to be commonplace was misalignment between a church’s vision for their church community and their mission as a church. Their definitions of small groups were disconnected from their mission. There was missional and cultural confusion. This does not bode well for any ministry area, especially small groups.

What if…leadership saw groups as the operating system of discipleship? What if groups became the essential strategy for everything the church did? Groups are the building blocks of the church’s community life that have the potential of expressing the creative, life-giving array of spiritual activity that happens throughout the Body of Christ (whether it happens on church property or not).

You can build great hardware that can seemingly do great things. But if there’s no operating system to it…it’s useless. This is the state of many churches today because groups are viewed as a ministry or program of the church.

Thankfully, there is a movement away from this programmatic paradigm, which is one of the greatest trends that is breaking the mold of what we’ve known as the small group movement and reshaping it for a new era.

The result will be a more integrated, holistic way of ministry where groups are woven through every ministry area – united around core beliefs and values, but unique in their expression: Group-based ministry areas for every generation, ministry teams that function like small groups, community outreach groups, etc.

As DNA is the building blocks of life, so groups are the building blocks of a church’s community life. Groups can enable all facets of a local church to be fulfilling The Great Commandment and The Great Commission for every generation.

There also appears to be a migration of “small group ministry” occupations. For example, more small group pastors are becoming discipleship pastors, executive pastors, spiritual formation directors, etc.

I don’t see this as a bad thing. Small group point leaders tend to be the experts of discipleship anyways. They’re more in tune with what helps people grow because they get the value of relationships in spiritual growth. I’ve held a variety of titles in church leadership, but I’ve always functioned as the “small group pastor”. Ironically, as I reflect on some of the most outstanding small group initiatives I’ve gotten to be a part of leading, none of them occurred when I was known as “small group pastor.”

Recently, I felt like I was able to wear this hat when our church launched The Journey: A four-part, relationally-based, mentor-driven experience that is helping people to discover the power of community in their own spiritual growth. We intentionally moved from a teacher-student model to a highly-interactive experience organized in groups and led by facilitators resulting in hundreds of people connecting, learning, and serving together over this past year.

At the end of our orientation (“101”) event that mainly attracts those who are newer to Christ and/or Christ Fellowship, we show this video, which introduces The Journey.



Small groups are embedded in this initial discipleship series that we direct everyone to almost every month of the year. People are equipped with great instruction, resources, but most importantly, out of the gate people learn they can’t grow in the way God intends for them without spiritual friendships.

Small groups are rapidly becoming the operating system for discipleship at Christ Fellowship and the coding of relationships is opening windows of spiritual possibilities. Next week, we’ll explore the second emerging trend in small group land: The organic organization of group-life.

Finding ‘Community’ in the Bible - 2 Peter 1

2 Peter 1:1-2
The Apostle Peter is both a servant and a sent one. A believer is an effective “sent one” (apostle) when he or she is serving others in love. Serving others is evidence that one is a servant of God. Loving relationships bring the message to life. Peter demonstrates this throughout this letter, which as v. 2 notes, is to a community.

2 Peter 1:3
God has all the power we need for life and godliness and this comes through our knowledge of Him. The Lord invites us to enjoy a personal knowing of Him, which comes out of His own glory and goodness. We’re to model this same attitude and behavior. One example of fellowship is believers inviting each other to know one another. It is life-giving to be fully loved by someone who knows you fully and it empowers us to be like Christ.

2 Peter 1:4
The Lord does not invite us to know Him from a distance. To know another is more than knowing about them. As we come to more of an understanding of who He is we are told that we actually participate in His divine nature. There is a sharing of life that comes from the kind of relationships God calls us to build with Him and others. These intimate relationships guard against evil desires that invade our hearts and protect us from worldly corruption (1 John 1:6-7). This echoes Peter’s opening verses and shows the power divine community has over the power of the evil one.

2 Peter 1:7
Brotherly kindness and love are hallmarks of a fruitful life in Christ. Notice the logical progression of the list starting at v. 5. Faith is the subject to which the possessor plays a part in adding divine qualities, knowledge, and habits. When these are applied to one’s life and relationships they produce a life defined by brotherly kindness and love. Fruit is authenticated when it manifests itself in these qualities.

2 Peter 1:8-9
Community is necessary to being an effective and productive Christian. Knowledge is useless if it is not lived in love-filled relationships directed toward Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 13:2). Relationships allow us to apply our knowledge, which is necessary for it to be preserved and makes it powerful for life and godliness.

2 Peter 1:12-13
We all need to be reminded of what we’re called to do and who we are as called out ones (cf. v.10). One of the functions of community in Christ is reminding one another of the empowering truths of God’s Word. This is one of the reasons most small groups engage in some form of Bible study/reading and discussion. Community is the context for remembering and being refreshed by the truths we hold in common. The relationships we develop in small groups help us to become more firmly rooted and steadfast in living in the truth.

2 Peter 1:15
See Peter’s affection for this community! He is fully invested in this gathering of believers so much so that he makes every effort to ensure their continued spiritual growth. Peter gives us a wonderful example of a caring shepherd, which is a role that many small group leaders take on in their group. Peter, like Paul, was not an impersonal, authoritarian teacher…he was a fully-invested pastor living out the faith with those to whom he was writing. Everything was very relational, very personal, and very real (see vv. 16-17) for the apostles and so it is to be for us as leaders too.

2 Peter 1:19
God’s Word is our authoritative source of truth. It gives us direction and inspires growth. Regardless of what focus a small group takes on, the Bible is its guidebook. It is a reminder that our gatherings are far more than physical ones. We gather in Jesus’ Name and we grow together because of His Presence with us.

2 Peter 1:20-21
God uses people to convey His inspiration. Similarly, small groups convey the Good News as people witness the life that comes from the applied knowledge (serving and loving one another) of Christian community. When people are sensitive and obedient to the Holy Spirit their impact on present & future generations is unfathomable. This was true of the prophets, of Jesus’ small group (the Twelve), & it can be for us today.

Finding ‘Community’ in the Bible - 1 Peter 4:12-5:13

1 Peter 4:12-13
Trials have a way of bringing people together. Suffering together creates and cements family-like partnerships. Here Peter says that we will share in the joy of Jesus’ glory to be displayed because we have shared in his sufferings. Rather than insulating us from pain, living for God may invite pain.

Partnership with other believers helps us to bear up under this pain. Moreover, it can strengthen our partnership with Christ as we participate in His sufferings. In a way, intimate relationships are the refined product that comes out of fiery trials. This kind of partnership with God and one another is a precursor to how believers will participate in the awesome joy of God being fully revealed to the world.

1 Peter 4:15-16
Suffering comes from doing evil against others. It can be a just consequence when we are living for ourselves or it can be redemptive when it comes from living for God. In other words, suffering comes from doing wrong against our neighbor or doing right by God. When it’s the latter, it can be redemptive. When it’s the former, it is destructive. One builds partnerships and the other destroys them. Thus, personal suffering has a communal dimension to it.

1 Peter 5:1
Peter’s words in this verse are pregnant with encouragement. He is expressing his partnership with them as a leader and a believer suffering for Christ. He identifies with them in the present and the present-future. Our relationship with one another as believers stretches into eternity and brings hope for the present.

1 Peter 5:2
God wants us to be eager to serve others with the gifts He has given us. He blesses those who are willing to serve Him by serving others. We don’t do it for personal benefit, but for the sake of others in service to Him. A shepherd’s concern is for the sheep. It is not self-centered. It is centered on selfless service for the sake of the community.

1 Peter 5:3
This shows how ministry is relational by nature. The strength of a leader is shown in how he or she serves others. When it is done primarily for God it benefits others. Ministry flows outward when it is directed upward. The building up of community is not only a sign of healthy relationships…it’s a sign of healthy ministry.

1 Peter 5:5-6
Humility and respect are essential ingredients to developing healthy relationships with one another and God. Humility is the root and hallmark of healthy community.

1 Peter 5:6-7
Humbling ourselves before God and trusting Him enables us to steer our attention away from our own concerns and be effective in serving others. Caring for others helps us to continue releasing our concerns to Him. Best of all, it allows us to maximize our effectiveness for God during our short time here on earth.

1 Peter 5:9
Remembering the sufferings of our Christian siblings helps us to resist the enemy. Knowing that we’re not alone is a source of strength against temptation and a safeguard from losing faith.

1 Peter 5:10
Christ will meet us personally and make us whole for eternity. Grace is personal by nature. Grace describes who God is and how the Gospel works. Therefore, it should define how the Church is to relate to the world and believers are to act toward one another. Grace builds up people, community, and God’s Kingdom.

1 Peter 5:12
Peter couldn’t be faithful in exercising His ministry without the help of his brother, and neither can we. Partnership in the Gospel is critical to being effective for God.

1 Peter 5:13
Note Peter’s love for his brother in Christ. Loving relationships fuel our faith in God and magnifies our ministry toward others.

Small Groups with Purpose by Steve Gladen

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know Steve. He possesses tremendous heart for other leaders, genuine humility, and is one of the most consistent leaders I’ve watched up-close in ministry since the late-nineties.

What you see is what you get with Steve. He's not pretentious or wish-washy. He sincerely and sacrificially loves leaders in the Church. He has resolutely applied the principles he outlines in this book over many years at Saddleback and has coached countless others who have successfully done the same in a variety of ministry contexts.

For all these reasons, I’m really glad he opens his book with his story and completes it again sharing from the gut out of his personal experience.



What Steve conveys in Small Groups with Purpose are principles that are not confined to a particular ministry model. The reader can take comfort in knowing the author is very knowledgeable with many different types of group strategies and acknowledges that not every aspect of what he communicates in his book can be or should be applied in the same way he has at Saddleback.

Small Groups with Purpose clearly communicates the model and methodology that have undergirded the vision of groups at Saddleback while remaining highly practical. Steve’s balanced, down-to-earth, and humorous style makes it an enjoyable read from start to finish.

Health and leadership are the focal points of this book. As with most small group pastors, Steve has experienced the ups-and-downs of creating healthy communities. He correctly works from the inside-out, ensuring there is a healthy interior to group-life before smartly sowing them into the larger system of a church’s community life. The principles, assessments, and tables are not theory – they were employed and refined through years of ministry.

This book has been long-awaited by the tens of thousands of small group ministry point leaders from around the globe who have gleaned from the God-honoring, biblically-sound principles that have been preached and practiced by Steve and his team for well over a decade.

From time to time, there comes a resource in small group world that is well-worth getting for each member of your team and unpacking together. This is one such book. To help in this effort, Steve has punctuated each chapter with incisive questions that will help to make your leadership and group-life better together.

The Small Group Network was built to encourage and equip small group ministry point leaders just like you in such efforts. It’s a great way to continue the conversation that will be inspired or stoked by Small Groups with Purpose. Joining is simple and free of cost.

Discounted Group Studies Galore

Soon after I became a Christ-follower, I realized I could count on NavPress to deliver biblically sound guidance in my new-found faith. In fact, one of the very first books I read on small groups was delivered by NavPress: How to Lead Small Groups by Neal McBride. I’m happy to report that NavPress is rapidly and radically infusing the small group space with a healthy dose of great cost-doable resources.

My friend, Rick Howerton, is the Global Small Group Environmentalist for NavPress Publishing. His vision is to see a biblically functioning small group within walking distance of every person on the planet. How cool is that?!
He is in the process of finalizing a five year plan that will include all types of curriculum, training, forums, think tanks, etc – so the needs of small group leaders and pastors will be met; as well as partnering with churches doing groups in new ways…ways that need to be known.

To help this direction, Rick asked NavPress to make a large number of Bible studies available for half-off the cost. NavPress didn’t hesitate to give the go ahead with an offer that exceeded everyone’s expectations: Nearly 200 Bible studies available at 50% off the normal price through December 2011.

The NavPress Team has created a 2-page PDF called the “NavPress Study Overview” where group leaders can choose from an array of great Bible studies. These studies are categorized carefully so that a leader can consider multiple bible studies in a matter of minutes. The discount code at the bottom of this resource allows leaders to take advantage of this offer with any listed.

If you’re a point leader in your church’s group life, you’ve probably already got a hunch that this is going to help you in a number of ways. For one, this answers ‘curriculum questions’ like, “What resources do you recommend that are good for groups?”, “What should we study next?”, and “What are some inexpensive study options for our group?”, etc.

Simply link the list from your church’s website and you’ve got a live-linked, clearly categorized list chalked-full of great biblically-grounded group studies that you can make available to your leaders. Then all they need to do is click on the study they want to look at and they will be automatically directed to the resource itself available at half-off the normal price. Thanks, Rick!

Creating the link to the NavPress Study Overview is simple. Click HERE to see a letter from Rick explaining this in more detail. Jump to the NavPress Study Overview HERE.

Finding ‘Community’ in the Bible - 1 Peter 2:12-4:11

1 Peter 2:12
“Good living” influences people toward Christ. This is what we see happening in Acts 2:42-47. God used the good living of the new community to gather in people from the watchful surrounding community each and every day. Biblical community can ignite an evangelistic epidemic.

1 Peter 2:13-17
Same thought as above. The Apostle Peter is explaining how the Church is to operate in the world and defining what this looks like. For this reason, the ‘brotherhood’ (or ‘community’) of believers is ordered first in v. 17. Love for one another (true community) and reverence for God are marks of one who has placed themselves under Christ’s authority.

1 Peter 3:1-2
Here the Apostle speaks to the most intimate of community: The union of husband and wife. Just as good living of the Church wins the world so the good living of one spouse wins the other. Evangelism is relational by nature.

1 Peter 3:7
Our relationship with one another – particularly between husband & wife – affects our relationship with God either positively or negatively. We are all co-heirs of the family inheritance, namely eternal life. Our prayer life (i.e. our communication with God) can actually be strengthened when our human relationships are healthy.

1 Peter 3:8
Living in unity, showing sympathy, loving others as family, being compassionate & humble – these are marks of God’s new community on earth. In previous verses, Peter addressed certain groupings of people like slaves, wives, & then husbands. But now he is addressing the whole community. Distinctions based on occupation, gender, social standing, etc. are obliterated in Jesus. We are all one in Christ Jesus and to this Peter’s brother in Christ, the Apostle Paul, would agree wholeheartedly (Gal. 3:28; Eph. 2:11-22).

1 Peter 3:13-14
Take the encouragements of these verses to heart when thinking about small group outreach through servant evangelism. In the Greek, “you” is plural in these verses. Kind acts of service are generally well received. Regardless of whether they are or not, by virtue of reaching out, you and your group will be blessed.

1 Peter 4:3-4
All of these acts are violations against one’s body & the bodies of others. These are marks of a pagan lifestyle. Pagans are non-Christians who are anti-Christian and also anti-community (although they believe they’re experiencing community through shared depraved behavior). Paganism, as we see in v. 4, has its own kind of community. But contrary to the true community of Christians, which is humanizing and honoring to God, the false community of pagans (which is also active in gathering others) is dehumanizing and dishonoring to God.

Our motivation to gather people into community ought to be fueled by our motivation to gather people to Christ because one leads to the other. Our motivation for gathering is not selfish in nature (as with paganism), but selfless. The Church is a community of life. We gather people to the life of community under God’s authority vs. inviting others to subject themselves to the destruction that comes from being under the worldly reign Satan. The gathering of Christians is helpful & healing. (See Peter’s use of the words “flood of dissipation” in v. 4, which denotes a wasteful, harmful, scattering lifestyle.) The gathering of pagans is harmful and self-defeating in cause & effect.

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, we’re to love one another deeply. Love forgives and heals (the giver & receiver). Love defines Jesus’ ministry & it describes how the Church, His Body, is to continue His earthly ministry. Love requires two or more coming together.

1 Peter 4:9
Here Peter interjects an important attribute of Christian living: Hospitality. Hospitality invites others to share freely in what God has given to us. It is the evidence of one who is gathering in grace so that others will be gathered to God’s grace too.

1 Peter 4:10
Whatever God has given us, we’re to give one another. The biblical community of Acts 2:42-47 is a picture of “living for the will of God” (v. 2) and the fruit of what happens when we do. The Church is the steward of God’s grace to the world. We are faithful stewards of His grace when we freely serve others with what He has so generously given to us.

1 Peter 4:11
God is glorified when we use the gifts He has given us with the strength He provides. Consequently, we’re empowered to serve others in the way Christ served us. The free exchange and extension of life (God’s grace) is the community dynamic we’re seeking to develop through small groups. Small groups are the vehicle for building up the Church. God is glorified when we serve one another. Thus, community is instrumental to fulfilling what we were created to do: Worship God & glorify Him for all eternity!