LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Small Group Training Manual
Submitted to: Dr. Andy Gowins, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the completion of this course
DSMN 630-B02
Small Group Ministries
by
A. R. Lou
October 19, 2018
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Motivations for Developing Groups 1
Biblical Foundations for Groups 2
What Is a Small Group 4
How to Develop Small Group Leaders 6
How to Lead a Small Group 7
How to Grow Small Groups 9
How to Multiply Small Groups 11
How to Develop/Transition to Small Groups in Your Church 12
Conclusion 13
Bibliography 15
ii
Small Group Training Manual
Introduction
If you ask people across America, and even worldwide, to describe a church service to
you, all of their descriptions will sound pretty similar. They might say, “We begin with prayer,
sing some songs, take up an offering, listen to the preacher, hear a few more songs, and then
leave.” Since when did church become a cookie cutter experience? It certainly was not this way
in the New Testament. How did the body of Christ start to resemble the local Starbucks, where
you can walk into any building, know what is on the menu, and get a relatively similar
experience? Christianity should not be a non-fat venti vanilla latte. We live in a world where
people are hurting and dying, their marriages are crumbling, their finances are struggling, and yet
most churches offer no real solutions because they rarely offer a true authentic relationship
experience. Hurting people do not need another designer coffee or Vegas-style worship service,
they need a touch from Jesus. Yet the mega-churches that have quickly grown popular cannot
possibly reach every individual on a personal level each Sunday morning. This is where a small
group ministry can step in and give people a chance at true relationship and discipleship. This
manual will take you on a journey through creating your own small group, providing the biblical
foundations, training leaders, and growing and multiplying the way Jesus Christ modeled
discipleship.
Motivations for Developing Groups
We live in a world where people are hurting and looking for something more than the
world around them can offer. We do not need more coffee bars, flashy bands, fall festivals, or
couches on the platform. “The cycle of church success, church product development, church
marketing, and church replication was invented by well-meaning, God-fearing people, but
1
stripped the church of the dignity of creativity and robbed God of the sort of finger painting that
any parent loves to hang on the fridge.”1 There is a reason that more and more people are
leaving the church as we know it today. It is because they are searching for authenticity, true
relationship, and, most of all, Jesus, and they are struggling to find Him or these things in
mainstream churches. People need to see the power of our life-transforming God. Christianity
should be so alive to them that they are drawn to its true source – Jesus.
Small group ministry affords a level of intimacy that a large church can never come close
to providing. It is also the primal training ground for developing disciples who are actively
learning how to walk out their Christianity as the hands and feet of Jesus. “Jesus Christ is our
first and greatest model for how small groups can stimulate faith and growth in others.”2 Jesus
had a very special relationship with His disciples, that went beyond mere friendship or
instruction. He modeled life for them by doing life with them, and they followed suit. The
disciples learned by living life in authentic relationship with Jesus, as He modeled teaching the
crowds, healing the sick, using authority over demons and principalities, raising the dead, and
living a life of prayer and personal sacrifice. Jesus’ disciples learned what they saw Him doing
firsthand, then He sent them out to do the same. Small group ministry offers this same type of
training, as disciples are trained up through modeling what it looks like to be the hands and feet
of Jesus today.
Biblical Foundations for Groups
Joel Comiskey lays the biblical foundation for small group ministry beginning with the
Trinity. From the very beginning, God Himself was relational as He created man in the form of
their image, the Holy Trinity: “Then God Said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after Our
1 Randy Bohlender, Jesus Killed My Church, (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 2012),
Kindle location 2053 of 2915.
2 Jeffery Arnold, The Big Book on Small Groups, Revised, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Connect, 2004), 19.
2
likeness...’” (Genesis 1:26). The plural language referring to the Trinity is also found in Genesis
3:22, 11:7, and Isaiah 6:8, where in each instance God uses “us” to refer to Himself. Thomas F.
Torrance says, “the doctrine of the Trinity is foundational to Christianity” because “it not only
defines who we worship and serve, but... also guides the church to practice love, care, and
unity.”3 Comiskey states that since God dwells in perfect unity and community, then God’s
people should be moved away from individualism, and towards living in community with one
another.4 The relationship that man has with God in the Trinity should overflow into every other
relationship. Man, and the biblical family were created for relationship. From the very
beginning, the desire for relationship was part of man’s DNA. Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey
refer to this creation aspect as “community DNA” and explain that this is why churches need a
small group ministry.5 In Genesis 2:18, God said it was not good for man to be alone. God
created Eve for the purpose of earthly relationship.
Just as Jesus and His disciples lived in community with one another, the modern-day
church needs to go back to living out life together in kingdom relationships. One of the key
principles of small group ministry is that people no longer do life alone, but they do life together
in true community.6 Jesus Christ spent three years with His disciples. He took a very diverse
group of men and taught them how to live in love and community.7 When we look at Jesus and
His disciples, we see a picture of what a family of believers should look like. Jesus modeled His
behavior and his ministry in a way that each one could replicate it. He did not just teach with
3 Joel Comiskey, Biblical Foundations for the Cell-Based Church: New Testament Insights for the 21st
Century Church, (Peabody: CCS Publishing, 2012): Kindle location 458 of 3029.
4 Joel Comiskey, Biblical Foundations, loc 529 of 3029.
5 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying Small Groups, (Lynchburg:
Liberty Press, 2015), Kindle location 284 of 2398.
6 Ibid., loc 575 of 3029.
7 Joel Comiskey, Biblical Foundations, loc 559 of 3029.
3
words, He presented everything hands-on while living out a life of ministry every single day in
front of them. Jesus chose to transform lives by employing “the most natural, practical, and
reproducible structure to extend the kingdom message – house-to-house ministry.”8 They lived
in community, shared meals and finances, and learned from every experience. Essentially, Jesus
was a small group leader. He lived life in relationship with others, teaching them what God
looked like and how to bring His power and love to everyone. “Following Jesus today means
following Him into deep relationship with other believers.”9
Acts 2:41-47 shows a picture of what the early church looked like, and it gives a model
for small group ministry. The early church gathered together in their homes, studied the apostles’
teachings, ate meals together, spent time in prayer and fellowship, met each other’s needs, and
shared the gospel and ministered together.10 They “did life” with God and each other. In the
New Testament church, community and fellowship were the foundation for living out their faith
and ministry. Their foundation for sharing the Gospel and following their marching orders in the
Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) was to live out a life of discipleship. The biggest reason
today’s Christians need small group ministry is because a large church cannot offer one-on-one
discipleship training and relationship development like a small group can.
What Is a Small Group
In defining what a small group is, it is important to also emphasize what it is not. A small
group is not just an opportunity to recreate a church service at home. It is also not another social
event to add to the already busy calendars of most families who participate in a plethora of
church activities already. Randy Bohlender writes, “The American fast food church has so
8 Comiskey, Biblical Foundations, loc 1105 of 3029.
9 Earley and Dempsey, loc 310 of 2398.
10 Rod Dempsey, Video Lecture, Week 2 in DSMN 630, Liberty University (Accessed in September 2018).
4
simplified the intricacies of God that we’re a hand wave and a signature away from the promise
of eternal life, which is then delivered in the form of a hectic but unfulfilled church schedule, as
if God so loved the world that He made them busy.”11 Salvation is not merely a prerequisite to
adding your name to a church roster, and small group ministry should never be looked at as just
another Bible study or pot luck dinner. It must be something more.
A small group is very intentional in formation, spirit-led in all things, open and friendly,
outwardly-focused, future-oriented, inclusive, welcoming, and goal-oriented on multiplying
disciples. “A small group is intent on participating with Christ in building his ever-expanding
kingdom in the hearts of individuals, in the life of the group and, through believers, into the
world.”12 Small group ministry is a chance for true discipleship, built on a foundation of an ever-
deepening relationship with God and each other. True discipleship is shown in the examples of
Jesus Christ, His disciples, and the New Testament churches. There was no formula or schedule,
there was communion with God and modeling what walking in relationship with Him looked like
to others. Disciple making is an intentional process that is birthed out of relationship and loving
community.13 “Since we learn best in relationship, we most effectively learn to be disciples that
way.”14 A small group should be a true organic church – one that is “born out of spiritual life
instead of being constructed by human institutions and held together by religious programs... a
grassroots experience that is marked by face-to-face community, every-member functioning,
open-participatory meetings, nonhierarchical leadership, and the centrality and supremacy of
11 Randy Bohlender, Jesus Killed My Church, (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 2012),
loc 2074 of 2915.
12 Arnold, Big Book, 23.
13 Ibid., 25.
14 Ibid.
5
Jesus Christ as the functional leader and Head of the gathering.”15 A small group is a body of
believers, going on an authentic spirit-led journey, doing life with Jesus and each other, while
discipling and multiplying along the way.
How to Develop Small Group Leaders
1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 give the biblical qualifications for spiritual leadership. The
qualities that one should have include: having a well-managed home, a calm temperament,
wisdom, a gentile spirit, a good reputation, maturity in Christ, a healthy marriage, and respect for
others. The reason biblical qualifications are given is because anyone in a position of spiritual
authority should strive to reach the highest godly standard in every area of his life. However,
this does not mean that God’s favor or love is ever based on man’s actions. To make
Christianity, or biblical leadership, about “what a person does” verses “who he is in Christ”
would be to make a mockery of the cross itself. Man is not meant to live by works, but by
relationship. Whether a person is a pastor, elder, deacon, teacher, small group leader, layperson,
or new Christian, he should strive to live out a life that characterizes Christ to others. “A
Christian leader’s character is evident in his or her relationship to God... and with others.”16
Every member of a small group should be trained up to be a leader, if the ultimate goal is
multiplication. Some people are born leaders, and some are not. Leadership “does come more
naturally to some people than to others, but most people develop their ability to lead with time
and experience.”17 If you have someone with a willing heart and a devout prayer life, who is
always striving to go deeper and deeper in their relationship with God, who listens to the leading
of the Holy Spirit, and whose goal is making disciples, then you have a leader. If a small group
15 Frank Viola, Finding Organic Church: A Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Sustaining Authentic
Christian Communities,” (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook Publishing, 2009), 20.
16 Arnold, Big Book, 47, 50.
17 Ibid., 45.
6
is consistently multiplying disciples in a way that every disciple is trained up to hear God’s
voice, show God’s love, and live every day in relationship with Him, then you are multiplying
leaders too.
“Leadership traits are developed by God, as the Spirit of God works in a person to bring
about deeper growth in faith, hope, and love. Leadership skills, on the other hand, are developed
by a person who practices them.”18 Jeffrey Arnold gives seven key leadership skills that can be
practiced to strengthen any new leader. A skillful group leader should: establish a covenant,
understand group dynamics, create a holistic meeting schedule, plan logistics well, ask good
questions, share group care, and prepare to grow.19 These skills may not come naturally at first,
but they can be practiced to achieve healthy leadership service that can then be modeled to train
new leaders as multiplication continues. New leaders are developed through effective leadership
and modeling what true leadership looks like.
How to Lead a Group
The first place to start in leading a small group is on your knees in prayer.20 In Luke
6:12-16, Jesus went to his Father in prayer before putting His group together and choosing those
to follow Him for the next three years.21 “The Bible puts a great deal of stress on origins. This is
because in spiritual things, origin determines destiny.”22 A small group should be birthed out of
prayer and time with God, not constructed from a man-made plan. The leader must commit to
follow the Holy Spirit’s lead in all things. Paul says, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but
God made it grow” (I Corinthians 3:6). God is the one responsible, but it takes man tapping into
18 Ibid., 52.
19 Ibid., 50-57.
20 Ibid., 63.
21 Ibid.
22 Frank Viola, Finding Organic Church 15.
7
what God has to offer, in order to work together. The apostles built the New Testament churches
on the foundation of Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:24; 16:16-18; 1 Corinthians 3:11; Ephesians 2:20).
“Having the Lord Jesus Christ as the foundation means that the church learns to wholly depend
upon, rest in, and live by Christ.”23
Prayer is the most essential ingredient in effective small group leadership. “Asking ‘How
much should I pray?’ is a little like asking how much oxygen you need to sustain life and the
function of your faculties.”24 A small group leader cannot lead without prayer. When a parent is
on an airplane and the oxygen masks come down, the parent puts the oxygen mask on himself
first. You must have life to give life. The second essential ingredient in leadership is love. God
is the very essence of love, so love must be the core element in a community of relationships as
well as the foundation of everything God’s people do. This is especially true in leadership. How
we treat everyone we come into contact with should come from the place of God’s love.
The goal in leading a small group is to “make disciples and create a loving community
within which your group can study, pray, worship and reach out to the world.”25 But many new
leaders are unsure of where to start. Dr. Rod Dempsey gives ten tips for leaders of small groups
to follow in his presentation “How to Lead a Group.” He recommends that every small group
leader begin with the following:
1. Pray at least 30 minutes a day – before, during, and after meetings.
2. Select a Good Host Home – a host that is friendly and welcoming.
3. Choose an Apprentice – Someone who is faithful, available, teachable, and has a heart
for God.
4. Decide on a Topic of Study – through prayer and the leading of the Spirit.
5. Recruit and Invite – friends, relatives, and neighbors and develop a prayer list.
6. Set a date to begin and build up to it.
7. Follow the Five W’s: Welcome, Worship, Word, Works, and Witness.
23 Ibid., 29.
24 Earley and Dempsey, Leading Healthy, loc 1006.
25 Arnold, Big Book, 63.
8
8. Create a Covenant for the Group – Do this as a group in the beginning.
9. Pray again as a group – Seek the leading of the Holy Spirit.
10. Keep the Group Going through Evangelism and Multiplication.26
It is important to not focus so much on the tasks that you lose sight of the goal. The goal
should always be multiplication, and this is achieved through discipleship and evangelism.
Using Jesus as the perfect model for true small group leadership, the group leader must never
forget that discipleship is created within relationship. Jesus and His disciples lived life together;
thus, effective small group leadership means living in community, building strong relationships,
discipling new converts side-by-side, and training up new workers in the Kingdom of God. The
most effective small group leader should lead by example, living out a life of ministry in
relationship with others.
How to Grow Small Groups
There are no formulas or plans that can be given to guarantee the growth of any small
group. You cannot create something out of nothing, as you need a source of life. Therefore,
every leader should begin by personally plugging into the source of all life – God. The leaders
and members of the small group must prioritize their prayer lives during their time alone and
together. Growth is a natural result of a healthy body, and prayer creates a healthy body. A
healthy body springs forth new life, this is true in life and in the spirit. “Churches, like the
Church, are organisms that spring out of life, which life itself springs out of the Cross of Christ
wrought into the very being of believers.”27 A healthy body of Christ is one that is born out of a
healthy spiritual life, not constructed by human traditions or religious agendas.28 Growing a
small group is not found in what you do, but in who you are. Pastor Bill Clem gives four
26 Rod Dempsey, “Presentation: How to Lead a Group,” (video lecture, Liberty University, Lynchburg,
VA), Accessed October 2018.
27 Frank Viola, Finding Organic Church, 19.
28 Ibid., 20.
9
defining characteristics seen in a disciple of Christ: they express their identity in Jesus, they
worship God through everyday life, they live in community with others, and they live out their
God-given mission to the world around them.29
Brad House reminds every leader that “our greatest ally in advancing the kingdom is not
a good strategy but the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.”30 If a leader seeks to grow his or her
group, then they should begin by strengthening their personal relationship with God and relying
on the power of the Holy Spirit. After the proper spiritual foundation is built, there are some
habits that every leader can adopt to promote small group growth. Earley and Dempsey list eight
habits that they have connected to effective small group leaders. Every struggling leader they
worked with, who adopted these habits, became highly effective and grew their small groups.
The leader of a healthy growing small group will:
1. Dream of leading a healthy, growing, multiplying group.
2. Pray for his group members daily.
3. Invite new members to visit his group weekly.
4. Contact his group members regularly.
5. Prepare for his group meetings.
6. Mentor apprentice leaders.
7. Plan group fellowship activities.
8. Be committed to his own personal growth.31
Out of all of these, the power of prayer is the most powerful habit connected to small group
ministry growth. When the leaders of small group ministries were surveyed, it was revealed that
“leaders who spent ninety minutes or more in daily devotions multiplied their groups twice as
often as those who spent less than half an hour.”32 If you want to grow your group, spend time in
prayer! Remember, growth is the result of a healthy spiritual body.
29 Brad House, Community: Taking Your Small Group Off Life Support, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011),
91.
30 Ibid., 85.
31 Earley and Dempsey, Leading Healthy, loc 1359.
32 Ibid., loc 1426.
10
How to Multiply Small Groups
The goal of small group ministry, and evangelism, is to make disciples.33 Jesus’
command in The Great Commission was to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). “From the start, God’s design has been
for every single disciple of Jesus to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples until
the gospel spreads to all peoples.”34 The New Testament church understood what it took to live
this out. Acts 2:47 says, “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being
saved.” A healthy small group will be constantly multiplying; because if evangelism and
discipleship are the goals, then growth and multiplication will be the result.
Joel Comiskey explains that slow growth relates to a lack of spiritual revival.35 If a small
group’s theology teaches about a relational God who craves relationship with each person, then
the people will understand the importance of doing life and church together and working out of a
place of relationship with God. “Theology gives wings to cell ministry because it provides the
basis for implementation in both receptive and non-receptive areas.”36 In order to multiply, a
small group must build their theology on a foundation of relationship with God and each other.
Every member must understand the importance of growing individually in God as well as
discipling others to do the same. Multiplication is a result of true discipleship.
When a small group practices doing life and ministry together, they are always training
up disciples and workers for the Kingdom. Once this starts happening, it is important to embrace
33 Arnold, Big Book, 214.
34 Francis Chan and Mark Beuving, Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples, (Colorado Springs, CO: David
C. Cook Publishing, 2012).
35 Joel Comiskey, Biblical Foundations, loc 228 of 3029.
36 Ibid.
11
growth as an opportunity to build more small groups. Maintain an outward focus and have a
plan in place to multiply your group to form other groups, who will then continue the process.
Instead of one small group leader being the only speaker each week, have everyone take turns
participating in a leadership role. Some people may host the meeting, other may lead worship,
another family might organize the food, while another prepares a message or Bible study. Make
sure every member is involved and discipled to eventually become a leader in their own group.
Facilitate relationship-building through group activities inside and outside of your small group.
If the group maintains the goal of producing a steady flow of more and more disciples,
multiplication will happen exponentially.
How to Develop/Transition to Small Groups in Your Church
In large churches, members live in anonymity. But in small group ministry, people live in
community together. It can be hard to transition from a large church to a way of community life.
Rod Dempsey suggests several tips to keep in mind if transitioning from a large church to small
groups.37 Some of these tips include: seeking God’s direction, using effective leadership training,
growing the groups in quantity and quality, and continuing to pray as you see God’s blessing.38 It
is important not to look at small group ministry as a church building program or opportunity to
provide more fellowship outside of Sunday mornings. Small group ministry is meant to be a
discipleship training ground, where believers do life together through relationship with God and
each other while producing a steady stream of new disciples. You are building the body of
Christ, one disciple and one act of love and kindness at a time.
Conclusion
37 Rod Dempsey, “Transitioning to Small Groups?” Notes for DSMN 630, Liberty University, Accessed
October 2018.
38 Ibid.
12
The church today does not need bigger buildings, larger praise bands, more fog machines,
or designer coffee bars, and they certainly do not need another building program. The church
needs to get back to the basics of discipleship. Jesus took twelve men, lived with them, ate with
them, built relationships with them, and did life with them. Through those experiences, those
men learned to heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, and declare the Kingdom of God,
while making more disciples who made more disciples who made more disciples. Let us get
back to doing things the way we were originally taught, by Jesus. People are crying out for more
than a church experience. They want to experience power and true relationship with God.
Matthew 10:8 tells each one of us to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out
demons. Freely you have received, so freely give! Small group ministry is the perfect
opportunity to put into action the original plan of discipleship. Now, go get your twelve!
13
Bibliography
Arnold, Jeffery. The Big Book on Small Group. Downers Grove: IVP Press, 2004.
Bohlender, Randy. Jesus Killed My Church. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, Inc.,
2012.
Comiskey, Joel. Biblical Foundations for the Cell-Based Church: New Testament Insights for the
21st Century Church. Peabody: CCS Publishing, 2012. Kindle version.
Chan, Francis and Mark Beuving. Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples. Colorado Springs, CO:
David C. Cook Publishing, 2012.
Dempsey, Rod. “Presentation: How to Lead a Group,” (video lecture, Liberty University,
Lynchburg, VA), Accessed October 2018.
Earley, Dave and Rod Dempsey. Leading Healthy, Growing, Multiplying Small Groups.
Lynchburg: Liberty Press, 2015. Kindle version.
House, Brad. Community: Taking Your Small Group Off Life Support. Wheaton, IL: Crossway,
2011.
Liberty University. Lecture Notes: “With/Of/Is Chart” and “Church Structure Chart” from Week
2 – DSMN 630 Small Group Ministries. Liberty University (2016).
Liberty University. Lecture Notes: “G.R.O.U.P” from Week 3 – DSMN 630 Small Group
Ministries. Liberty University (2018).
Liberty University. The Five W’s of Healthy Small Groups, Liberty University PowerPoint
Presentation – DSMN 630 Small Group Ministries, Liberty University (2018).
Viola, Frank. Finding Organic Church: A Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Sustaining
Authentic Christian Communities. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook Publishing,
2009.
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