LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Small Group Training Manual Final
Submitted to Dr. Rod Dempsey, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the completion of the course
DSMN 630-B01
Small Group Ministries
by
Brian C. Mclaughlin
July 3rd, 2019
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Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………3
Motivations for Developing Groups………………………………………………………..4-5
Biblical Foundations for Small Groups………………………………………………………6
A.) God’s Big Priorities………………………………………………………………..6
B.) Jesus Was a Small Group Leader………………………………………………7-8
What Is a Small Group?.........................................................................................................8-9
How to Develop Small Group Leaders……………………………………………………9-11
How to Lead a Group………………………………………………………………………...12
How to Grow Small Groups……………………………………………………………....13-14
How to Multiply Small Groups………………………………………………………………15
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………..16
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Introduction
Christians are commanded to go out into all of the world and make disciples of all men as
seen in the Great Commission, (Matt 28:18-20, ESV)1 Sadly today, there are a lot of church-
goers in America alone, whose pews are replete with uninterested members not helping each
other or their community in the way that the Lord commanded. Even church leadership have
become lethargic in their lives spiritually, not even desiring to grow their own relationship with
Jesus Christ. The lethargy bleeds into the congregation and as a result, molds into a ‘normal’ and
acceptable way to have church. These churches that are going through these tough times, are for
certain not seeing a healthy number of people added either. As it is seen widely in churches, the
question becomes, “How will this be rectified?”
Small groups can fix a lot of the issues, by educating and the correct usage of the
church’s programs. The intent of this small manual is to build growth potential, through spiritual
and numerical means. This will enable people to desire the Lord and church. There are two
strong methods for the reason to have small groups in the local communities to the church. These
examples will be given in this paper. Such examples will be, the motivation for starting small
groups, the Biblical foundation for small groups, and an explanation of what exactly a small
group is.
Later, in this manual will be the direction of the way small groups operate. In it will be
the discussion of how to develop a small group and its leadership, how to lead your small group,
how to multiply your small group and lastly how to transition from your current program to the
use of small groups.
Motivations for Developing Groups
1 Unless otherwise noted, all scripture is taken from the English Standard Version
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Paul writes about being like Christ in (Eph 5:1, ESV). Even in the way Jesus commands
discipleship to occur should be imitators of Him. Earley and Dempsey state, “If we want to live
as Jesus lived, we must do as Jesus did. One of the main things Jesus did was invite a handful of
men to be gathered together with Him in an intensive, ministry-focused small group. Jesus was a
small group leader.”2 Jesus Christ discipled and developed through intimate closeness of
relationship to twelve men of His choosing. Everything that Jesus Christ did was intentional to
prepare those that He discipled to be small group leaders themselves. These disciples had the
closest and deepest relationship with Jesus Christ that they knew exactly what to do once Jesus
did ascend into heaven. Christians today looking at the examples of Jesus and His disciples
should see the value of small groups in how effective they truly can be. There also should be
motivation to grow people for the Lord by showing love the way they did.
Even though Jesus Christ had a close relationship with His disciples, He still was Lord
and Master to them as well. He led with meekness and greatness at the same time. Leaders in
small group can do the same. Meekness by showing a genuineness about themselves through
character, integrity, and piety. Followed by greatness where being led by the Spirit is emptying
out of oneself to be fully used by Him. Jesus often used the word, ‘friend’ in scripture to show
that He is for His brother or sister. His love was deep and is deep for mankind. There is a
scripture that Jesus spoke of too that drove home the point to not waste time in being a support.
His words, “Go and do likewise” are found in (Luke 10:37, ESV). Discipling others in small
group is one that should be done out of love, and out of respect for each other. It also needs to be
a two-way street. This is the example that Jesus Christ gave to us.
2 Rod Dempsey and Dave Earley, Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying Small Groups, (Lynchburg, VA:
Liberty Press, 2015),26.
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Another influential way to have small groups is through community building and
relationship bonding to one another. The reason why true discipleship can and often will occur is
in part due to people will open more in a comfortable environment. There also is a stronger felt
genuineness that happens too. Walton says, “Some of the most effective small groups are those
that combine personal responsibility for spiritual growth with the work of the group.”3 Spiritual
life needs to be evident and real to all who are in the group. People were made to be relational to
one another. Made to have deep, personal relationships to each other and have a more satisfying
relationship with Jesus Christ. The word of God shows how mankind is not meant to be left
alone found in (Eccl 4:10-12, ESV). The body of Christ must be about building relationships,
and how using small groups, will be the catalyst to help in profound ways that cannot be
discovered easily in the church.
A third motivation for small group development would be to facilitate a non-threatening
environment for the evangelism of the lost. It is a prerequisite to the Great Commission that
Believers must have regular contact and relationships with non-believers. This should be a given
considering the purpose of evangelism is to lead those who do not possess a saving relationship
with Christ into one. Alex J. Kirk in his book Small Group Leader’s Handbook… says, “Small
groups that have achieved true community are some of the most fulfilling places to be.”4
Community based small groups embolden its members to branch out of their regular group and
invite non-believer to informal comfortable gatherings in which discipleship takes place. Small
groups that meet outside the campus of the local church provide Christians with the opportunity
to fulfill the Great Commission.
3 Roger L.Walton, author. Disciples Together Discipleship Formation and the Role of Small Groups /.
London, England: SCM Press, 2014.128.
4 Alex J. Kirk Small Group Leaders' Handbook: Developing Transformational Communities. New ed.
Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Connect, 2009;2013;56.
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Biblical Foundations for Small Groups
When small groups are being formed under Biblical reasons, it is important to have solid
reasoning behind it. There would be a strong cohesiveness that would occur. Largely it was due
to Jesus Christ setting the bar of how to lead people and what to do in any type of situation.
Earley and Dempsey outline two different ways to have Biblical Foundation in the group. Those
are called “God’s Big Priorities” and “Jesus was a Small Group Leader.”5 God has since the time
that He created mankind to be communicators to each other. God chose to send us His Son as the
number one way to show to His creation, His desire to communicate with Him on our level.
God’s Big Priorities
Earley and Dempsey communicate how the body of Christ is connected, and how people
need to remain connected. Truth be told, no one in Christ can do without another person. This is
explained as, “We are the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:23), and as such every part of the body is
important to the proper functioning of the whole body.”6
All of creation from the beginning belonged to God and it was not until the fall of man
that people separated themselves from God. Ever since the fall, God used His Son on the purpose
of bringing His body; His bride back together again. This is one of the reasons why small groups
work and fit together well and, it could be argued stronger than in church settings. Loving God
and His word bring about love for those that the small group is surrounded by. This love reveals
strongly out of being a servant to the people that the group gets the opportunity to serve. It
should be a natural desire to serve others in the group. There is no greater satisfaction outside of
the life’s own experiences, to see someone’s life be powerfully transformed. One of the reasons
5 Rod Dempsey and Dave Earley, Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying Small Groups, (Lynchburg, VA:
Liberty Press, 2015),23-27.
6 Ibid, 23.
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why the Great Commission is very fulfilling, is for the same reason that small groups work. The
Great Commission commands Christians to ‘go’ out into the world, and then to ‘make’ disciples.
The making of disciples is a process that requires people being close knit together. Jesus Christ
does not just want people to find one another. He wants to take it a step further and have the
group build up him or her that decided to join. The Great Commission should be top on the list
for every believer to do daily. Peace states, “The bottom line. In order to engage in holy
conversation, we need to learn to tell our own stories of God. We need to recall various incidents,
both big and small, in which we experienced the aliveness of God. Then we need to craft these
into good stories that will fit into our ordinary conversation.”7 Making disciples is a process that
allows someone to speak into another’s life on their own experiences and it is a powerful witness
to Jesus Christ pulling him or her out of a situation, and back into His glory.
Comiskey believed the success of small groups was rampant in Biblical times, “God
crafted a reproducible strategy that depended on the believer’s home property for the early
meetings. Only those transformed by the gospel’s message would risk opening their homes. Yet,
all those who opened their homes exemplified God’s love and power for their neighbors and
friends to see and experience.”8 This is the target today. People need to see the love of Jesus
Christ in homes. They need to see how people connect in the community as well. Jesus Christ set
the example as He was also a small group leader Himself.
Jesus Was a Small Group Leader
Jesus only chose twelve of His disciples to greatly pour into. The way that He poured into
them is by making Himself a servant to all of them. He washed their feet, taught them how to
pray, how to believe in greater things beyond anything they ever expected. The small groups
7 Richard Peace, Holy Conversation: Talking about God in Everyday Life. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP
Connect, 2006.36.
8 Joel Comiskey, Biblical Foundations for The Cell-Based Church: New Testament Insights for the 21st
Century (Moreno Valley, CA: CCS Publishing, 2012.99.
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today should have His teachings constantly set as a reminder of how to be effective to others
showing Jesus Christ’s love. In Biblical times, the disciples used what Jesus taught and gave
their own teachings of how to live for Him themselves. In (Acts 1:8, ESV), the Bible declares
that believers will be not only empowered, but also to have Holy Spirit power given to them to
complete the work. As a result of this, the church added daily to its numbers. People were being
‘led’ by God to go out and reach into their community by opening their homes to complete
strangers. Yet, they were all in one accord. The Bible shows this in (Acts 2:42-47, ESV)
Jesus Christ was with them. They already knew what to do because of the way they saw Jesus
live His life as an example. His Holy Spirit guided them and led them into all truth. What the
difference maker then as it should be now was, the church did outreach daily to their surrounding
communities. They would pray together, share their belongings and break bread.
What Is a Small Group?
Arnold makes a profound statement when it comes to living for Jesus Christ in a small
group setting, “It doesn’t matter who we are, or what we are doing—we must learn how to make
disciples for Christ. A humble, loving, confident witness meet’s people’s needs while living the
gospel story.”9 Small groups must not turn into social gatherings. The whole purpose of them is
to grow them not for numbers sakes, but for Jesus Christ’s sake. The goal is to please God and
serve Him in the community. Trusting in the Lord enough to open up their homes to anyone in
the area they live. There is a leader who is led by the Spirit of God whose only purpose in the
group is to lead others to do the will of God. Small groups come together to do things in seeking
Jesus in spiritual, worship, and the message of God settings. The group constantly is seeking
ways to bring others to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. As the group grows stronger, then
9 Jeffrey Arnold, The Big Book On Small Groups, rev. ed. (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Connect, 2004), 221.
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the discipling of one another is evident to the point where new leadership is born. Then other
groups are formed, and the cycle repeats itself. The beauty of the small groups flourishing is
where people go from the groups and join churches and as a result, the church grows stronger
too. The next section of this manual will discuss the how to of the group and how it should be
running.
How to Develop Small Group Leaders
Rod Dempsey and David Earley in their book Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying,
Small Groups, speak of a joy that comes from building small groups, “One of the greatest joys,
however, is when you see someone who has been a part of your group grow and develop to the
point where he or she begins a new group.”10 Although, he does believe that a small group leader
should possess certain attributes. He presents these attributes in an acrostic that spells out the
word FAITH: (Faithful, Available, Integrity, Teachable and Heart for God).11
Dempsey and Earley also relay specific guidelines that are critical to the effective leadership
in a small group. Place together are listed methods of Eight Habits of Effective Small Group
Leaders. These habits are:
1) Dream of leading a healthy, growing, multiplying group.
2) Pray daily for your group members.
3) Invite new people weekly.
4) Regularly contact your members.
5) Prepare for the meetings
6) Mentor an apprentice.
7) Plan fellowship activities.
10 Rod Dempsey, and Earley, Dave. Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying Small Groups. Lynchburg,
VA.: Liberty Press, 2015.75.
11 Ibid, 75.
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8) Be committed to your own personal growth.12
These are vital to having small groups be successful of the topics mentioned by Earley and
Dempsey. Christian men and women can acquire this through the discipling of one another.
Being specific in the teachings to people who desire to lead, is paramount to be done by
leadership who has been in a leadership capacity for years. Small groups need to not be mundane
either. Everyone needs to be involved. In Steve Gladen’s book Leading Small Groups with
Purpose he states, “Many small group leaders lead the study, hold group meetings in their home,
and provide snacks every week. This is a surefire way to experience burnout and begin dreading
your small group meetings. Your group belongs to all of the group members. Sharing ownership
of the group helps them move from a your-group mentality to an our-group mentality.”13 This
will be greater achieved when the leadership that is building up others, relinquish some of their
responsibility to those who are wanting to lead. Considering the necessities of small group
leadership, it is understood to have solid, Bible, God fearing leadership to further grow their
group. There are differing ways one can lead within the small group ministry. What is great about
this is that it helps to avert the exhaustion of small group leadership, as well as aid in discipling
new small group leadership. Earley and Dempsey suggest the following positions:
1) The Small Group Leader – This is the one that determines that their requirement is to
ensure he or she harnesses growing up of all the people in the small group.
2) The Small Group Apprentice – This is the one who leads by what the main leader
delegates out of the purpose for discipleship for him or her to do. Eventually, he or she
will be a small group leader of their own group.
12 Ibid, 114.
13 Steve Gladen. 2012. Leading Small Groups with Purpose: Everything You Need to Lead a Healthy
Group. Grand Rapids: Baker Books. Accessed July 4, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central.90.
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3) The Small Group Host – The ones who are willing and able to help out the small group in
any way they can. This is where the host will willingly open his or her home for the
purpose of having small group sessions. The people in this setting are most of the time
bringing in the refreshments, as well as providing the ways for people to be comfortable
and make their space as convenient and Bible study ready as possible. This will make
everyone who arrives feel comfortable in their surroundings.
To be an effective leader in the small group ministry, he or she needs to be on top of what they
are teaching, not being distracted or even losing their identity in Jesus Christ. The apostle Peter
uses this example as, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8). Leaders especially need to be
careful where Satan already has a target on them aiming to destroy what God has started.
How to Lead a Group
There are ten specific ways to have a successful start of an effective small group ministry.
These are: (Open up in prayer, Already have a host home selected, have someone in mind who
will be the next in charge (this can happen well after the group has formed.), have something
very specific of the Bible to talk about, look for ways to add the group and invite more people,
speak of future events coming up, then stay committed to the dates that are set.) People like to
have specifics in mind when coming to anything. Anyone would be hard pressed to see how a
time would change for any professional even that takes place. One such way is to have people
know what to expect in time slots.
Below is a possibility for a schedule of the meetings.
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6:30 – 7:00 Fellowship and Refreshments
7:00 – 7:15 Start off in prayer and pray for more seats full
7:15 – 7:45 Worship, Start of topic of choice
7:45 – 8:15 Group discussion
8:15 – 8:30 Closing remarks and prayer for God’s favor14
There needs a uniquely designed small group covenant once it has been created. What
this does is help the small group in comprehension and responding in ways like these examples:
Arnold states these as, “identity, task, communication, and group roles. Identity defines: the type
of small group, second, who can join and when, third, attendance expectations, and fourth group
logistics.”15 Having input from everyone chip in on the group covenant creates buy in and a
healthy small group. Arnold also lists the ways leaders can operate small groups as, (Pray,
Maintain the focus, Develop your own growth and leadership, Recruit your group (or work with
small group coordinator in your church, Coordinate and lead group meetings and activities, help
build a group covenant, Develop leaders from within the group, Prepare the group for outreach
and multiplication, Evaluate as necessary, Continue to pray at all times.)16
How to Grow Small Groups
God gives mankind the strong pull from deep within them for communities to thrive in
Jesus Christ and for small groups to exist. The way that groups will build, and grow is through
community involvement. More importantly though is for the small group to be intentional in
what needs to be accomplished which is pointing others to Jesus Christ. Having the desire to
grow the group and as individuals spiritually, the group will see Jesus Christ more clearly. Scott
Boren et. al, say in the book Leading Small Groups…, “In order for group members to journey to
14 Arnold, Jeffrey. The Big Book On Small Groups. Rev. ed. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Connect, 2004.54.
15 Ibid., 68-70.
16 Ibid, 76.
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the cross and out from the tomb, we have to lead in such a way that the Spirit resides in and
among us in our groups, even when we don’t fully see or understand what the Spirit is doing.”17
Then they will have desired to share Jesus Christ more so and spread the good news as much as
possible. Outreach will come natural to them. Which in turn will lead to stronger community
involvement. Brad House states in his book Community Taking Your Small Group off of Life
Support of outreach ministry, “Outward ministries, on the other hand, require the group to go.
These spaces are active. They require the group to get involved outside of their living rooms. If
you are going to win a championship, you need to learn to win on the road. Consider these
spaces the testing ground for being a good road team.”18Some examples of developing a strong
group is having impacting community events with willing volunteers. There could be people who
willingly serve in events locally, being consistent on the restaurant of choice, being on the city
board to be involved in any type of development, and willingly helping local team gatherings.
Other ways are going around doing yard work, washing people’s clothes, helping with food
banks, etc. Arnold talks about how this all turns around back to God’s plan, “God’s plan is for
evangelism and mission to be the result of his blessing that comes through study, worship, prayer
and community. He has brought salvation so that we would offer salvation to those who are
lost.”19
Being transparent to one another in the group will make it easier to accomplish being
transparent to the community. Having this type of integrity provides for the group the true
meaning of being real to each other. Having an openness to grow in trust and love with each
17 Scott M. Boren, Cindy Kiple, and Beth McGill. Leading Small Groups in the Way of Jesus. Downers
Grove, Illinois: IVP Books, 2015;2011;204.
18 Brad House, Community: Taking Your Small Group Off Life Support. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2011.
(Ebook, Ch.6)
19 Arnold, Jeffrey. The Big Book On Small Groups. Rev. ed. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Connect, 2004.224.
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other, will show those who do not know Jesus Christ the opportunity to be drawn in to see how
much of an impact He can be on their lives. They also will be open to hearing the gospel.
How to Multiply Small Groups
Jeffery Arnold provides three aspects of creating discipleship in small groups. “1)
Relationship with God 2) Personal Life. 3) Relationship with others.”20 Small groups especially
the one leading must have a solid relationship with Jesus Christ. With their lives personally
standing on the truth and standard of God’s word. Their life must reflect Jesus Christ and build
upon the relationship that they can have with everyone. According to Dempsey, “A vision to
multiply your leadership abilities will give you passion and purpose as a small group leader.”21
He or she must be passionate and compassionate in leading their group and providing continual
training and developing them to one day have small groups that they can use to further grow the
kingdom of God. There must be a runner up or an apprentice who is next in line of the small
group. This is an absolute necessity in order to have the group grow. Jesus Christ knew how this
would happen too. This is shown right before the night that Jesus was crucified, “28 I came from
the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the
Father.”29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech!
30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we
believe that you came from God.” (John 16:28-30). With this example, it is plain to see that small
group leaders will need to be looking for the ‘one’ who is willing to lead others in his or her own
small group. This leader will need to have themselves aligned with the word of God just as
much or even more than the original small group leader. Heather Zempel says in her book
20 Ibid., 47.
21 Rod Dempsey, and Earley, Dave. Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying Small Groups. Lynchburg, VA.: Liberty
Press, 2015.46.
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Community is Messy, “…a new leader is assigned to a coach who meets him or her three times to
talk through his or her faith journey, what it means to be a leader worth following and how to
cultivate the biblical community…”22 This is all part of what the Great Commission is and will
continue to be. Making disciple is an important step but going out to find them is and forever
will be just as important. Not only that, but it also commanded of us to do so. Any small group
leader who chooses to operate in this way, will greatly multiply their small group.
Bibliography
Arnold, Jeffrey. The Big Book On Small Groups. Rev. ed. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Connect,
2004.
Boren, M. Scott, Cindy Kiple, and Beth McGill. Leading Small Groups in the Way of Jesus.
Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Books, 2015;2011;
Comiskey, Joel. Biblical Foundations for the Cell-Based Church: New Testament Insights for the
21st Century Church. Moreno Valley, CA: CCS Publishing, 2012.
Dempsey, Rod and Earley, Dave. Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying Small Groups.
Lynchburg, VA.: Liberty Press, 2015.
Gladen, Steve. 2012. Leading Small Groups with Purpose : Everything You Need to Lead a
Healthy Group. Grand Rapids: Baker Books. Accessed July 4, 2019. ProQuest Ebook
Central.
House, Brad. Community: Taking Your Small Group Off Life Support. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway,
2011.
Kirk, J. Alex. Small Group Leaders' Handbook: Developing Transformational Communities.
New ed. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Connect, 2009;2013;
Peace, Richard, Holy Conversation: Talking about God in Everyday Life. Downers Grove, Ill:
IVP Connect, 2006.
22 Heather Zempel, Community Is Messy: The Perils and Promise of Small Group Ministry. Downers
Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2012. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=630302&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
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Walton, L., Roger, author. Disciples Together Discipleship Formation and the Role of Small
Groups /. London, England: SCM Press, 2014
Zempel, Heather. Community Is Messy: The Perils and Promise of Small Group Ministry.
Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2012.
http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=630302&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
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