We all know the value of family and we can in a sense say that the church is a family of families. It is a community of small families bonding together, growing together, praying together, healing together and caring for one another. These are certainly some of the marks of a healthy family. It is no wonder then, that those persons who have experienced this love in their families, desire to transfer the same principles and practices to the church.
On the other hand, there are persons whose families unfortunately do not experience any of this. They are marked by contentions and quarrels and abuse and failure and hopelessness. Wouldn’t it be a good thing if they could find love, forgiveness and total unconditional acceptance in the church? Wow, this would be real heaven on earth.
In a little book written by Nelson Searcy, pastor of the Journey Church in New York City and Boca Raton, and Kerrick Thomas, they explore how the church can be just that. This is what they call Activate, a new way of doing small groups in the church. Its essentially creating a church of small families.
Some of the principles they recommend to make this happen in churches is to “think church of small groups, not church with small groups- that’s another way of saying think church of small families, rather than church with small families. Do you realize that we could have a church where there
are many small families who basically do their own thing in the church? Minding their own business, promoting their own mission, but never really meeting the needs of one another. The principle enunciated here is that small groups are exponentially more effective when they stand alone, rather than having to compete with other church programmes. I often hear members complain that so many things are happening at church and it’s the same people participating all the time. What if we had a small group that covers all of those activities that are covered by many groups? But isn’t that what a family does?
Think leader multiplication, not group multiplication – In this second principle, the authors are suggesting that it is far more effective to grow your church by growing leaders. Leaders will not be developed or grow if existing leaders do not delegate and allow other persons to lead. Think of a small family. You get more families being created when parents train more of their children to lead their own families. So rather than a church splitting a group at the end of a particular period, it allows one of the trained leaders to form another group.
Each group to be effective must have a focus. Too often groups tend to want to do too many things and lose their focus. Five components of Focus are evaluate, set your calendar, set your goals, set your structure, build your list. With these five focus points a small group can be far more attractive and effective. Very often you sit in a group every week, some activities happen,but you sometimes do not get a sense that the group is going anywhere. Small groups/small families need to have a clear focus.
Promote group to new comers. – according to the authors, “every newcomer God entrusts to your church should receive a clear, heartfelt invitation to be in a group for upcoming semester. Nobody who comes to the church should be outside a family. That is the way we show hospitality. That is in keeping with the words of the Psalmist, “God sets the lonely in families...” (Psalm 68:6) – It is our responsibility as church to ensure that every newcomer is given an opportunity to participate in a small group.
Finally, group leaders should be facilitators, not experts. Though, expert leaders should be great managers of the group environment, so that the maximum life change can occur. Really sounds like what a healthy family is about. The father who leads, facilitates the growth and development of his family or her family of a single mother household. Parent or parents provide nurture, a safe and caring environment so that each member can grow.
These are just some ideas extracted from ACTIVATE, and there is a whole lot more. Some members of the diaconate have copies if you would like to borrow and you could also check with the church office for a copy.
Your action – do sign up as an indication that you want to be part of a small group on the Activate Principle. If you do not see a group you are interested in then suggest one and during the next couple of weeks we will be filling lists and training leaders for these groups. Do not be left out.
Blessings