LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Philosophy of Small Groups
Submitted to Dr. Anthony, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the completion of the course
DSMN 500
Discipleship Ministries
by
Calvary deJong
March 8, 2017
Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................1
Philosophy of Small Groups .........................................................................................................1
Traditional Model of Small Groups.......................................................................................2
Transitioning to a Hybrid Model of Small Groups................................................................2
Missional Groups as a Vehicle for Community Outreach ......................................................2
Making Jesus Famous: Serving the Community...................................................................2
Making Jesus’ Love Known: Belonging Before Believing..........................................2
Personal Status: In Community with Other Believers ...........................................................2
In Community with other Believers.......................................................................................2
On Mission with that Community.................................................................................2
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................5
Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................6
i1
Introduction
God created humanity for relationship. Relationship with God. And relationship with one
another. As God himself put it: “it is not good for man to be alone.”1 However, God has a unique
purpose and intention for different types of relationships. For marriage, it is that that the two
would be united and “become one flesh”.2 For parents, it is that they would bring up their children
“in the training and instruction of the Lord.”3 And for Christian community it is to “spur on
another toward love and good deeds.”4 With that in mind, this paper shall first outline a
philosophy of ministry taking into consideration Calvary Temple’s existing framework as it
transitions from a traditional model to a hybrid model of small groups. Second, this essay will
argue that missional groups are an important vehicle for community outreach: making Jesus
famous by serving the community and making Jesus’ love known by incarnating Christian love to
the lost by allowing them to belong to a Christian community before believing. Finally, this paper
shall summarize the author’s current involvement in Christian community and evaluate the
effectiveness of that community for mission.
Philosophy of Small Groups
Not all small groups are the same. A lot of discussion around small groups centers on what
sort of curriculum will be used, how often they should meet and what sort of delivery
methodology will be used to share that content (aka a leader or a video recording). However, these
1 Genesis 2:18
2 Genesis 2:24
3 Ephesians 6:4
4 Hebrews 10:24
1
2
are secondary issues when compared to answering the question: what is the purpose of a small
group. In short, a small group is an intentional relational environment where discipleship takes
place. This purpose is what makes small groups distinct from bible studies or social clubs. Small
groups are a vital expression of a local church were biblical content is engaged and people connect
with one another for the purpose of spiritual growth and discipleship. The next two subsections
will outline the existing structure of traditional small groups at Calvary Temple as it transitions to
a hybrid model.
Traditional Model of Small Groups
Small groups were introduced to Calvary Temple in the early 2000’s as part of a “40 Days
of Purpose” church-wide campaign. The church transitioned from an adult Sunday school model
to home-based small groups to align with the campaign initiative concentrated on the campaign
curriculum. Once the 40 Days of Purpose campaign ended, the groups didn’t. Since that time
groups have continued operating on a similar platform just with new curriculum each cycle and
there have been roughly the same number of groups, approximately 40 each year. Although the
number of people in small groups has been stable, the percentage of adherents participating as a
proportion of the congregation has significantly declined as Sunday attendance has risen. This is
attributed to the fact that these are effectively closed groups, as their membership rolls over from
year-to-year and recruitment is generally limited to replacing churned users, rather than driven by
new growth. In addition to these home-based groups the church also runs a number of centralized
small groups including men’s groups and women’s ministry, as well as a number of adult electives
each year.
Transitioning to a Hybrid Model of Small Groups
3
As Calvary Temple has been moving away from traditional small groups to a hybrid model,
there has been one significant barrier to success in the transition with several negative
implications. The leadership of the church is more focused on who they are trying to keep than
who they are trying to reach. As a result, they are willing to allow previous iterations of ministry
methodologies to run concurrently and even in conflict with emerging ones, if an existing
constituency expresses an unwillingness to embrace the new vision after the decision to implement
has been made. For example, despite having officially shuttered adult Sunday school there are still
a few rogue Sunday school groups allowed to book space and meet at the church 15 years later!
Additionally, while the discipleship pastor wants to operate open free market groups, they have
acknowledged off the record that most of the churches’ small groups are not actually small groups
in the technical definition of the term. Rather, they are closed bible studies whose membership
intends to cuddle and huddle until Jesus returns. The current strategy for addressing this issue is to
simply faze them out over time. When newcomers submit a small group inquiry, they are funneled
into one of the functional open free market groups, thus the closed bible studies are being
intentionally starved of membership with the goal of eventually seeing them die off. If leadership
is about influence, then this is not leadership. Rather, this is a coping mechanism as the result of a
leadership dysfunction. Concurrent, conflicting ministries from previous iterations of ministry
need to be shuttered and current bible study leaders need to be mandated to participate in leader
training to learn how implement programing in line with the vision of small groups of the church.
Missional Groups as a Vehicle of Community Outreach
Embodying the value of being “in the world, but not of it” means that every disciple of
Jesus should have a meaningful relational connection with at least one person who does not know
Jesus. Serving in the community is how believers connect with the lost a make Jesus famous
4
while practicing hospitable Christian community is how believers make Jesus’ love known to the
lost, by allowing them to belong, before believing.
Making Jesus Famous: Serving the Community
In Canada’s post-Christian social context, most people do not know
Making Jesus’ Love Known: Belonging Before Believing
Personal Status: In Community with Believers
In Community with Believers
On Mission in the Community
5
Bibliography
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Volume 4. Minneapolis, MN: First Forest
Press, 2003.
Dempsey, Dr. Rod. “The Role of the Church” (video). DSMN Module 4: Presentation. 2014.
Earley, Dave & Dempsey, Rod. Disciple Making Is … How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2013.
Putman, Jim, Harrington, Bobby and Coleman, Robert E. Discipleshift:Five Steps That Help
Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013.
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