LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
History of Small Groups Assignment
Submitted to Dr. Dempsey
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 630-001
Small Group Ministries
by
Kaitlyn Burrell
January 13, 2022
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Chapter 2 of Joel Comiskey’s book, “Biblical Foundations for the Cell Based Church”,
discusses the history of the cell movement. It gives a chronological account of small groups,
starting with the Old Testament. Joel discusses Moses and Jethro and how Moses was able to
develop leaders to delegate and share responsibilities with because of Jethro’s advice. Next, he
discusses small group in the New Testament, starting with Jesus and moving through the
disciples and the early church. He talked about the house churches that were forced to form
because of persecution.
Joel then goes on to discuss small groups in early Christian history. He talks of the
dissimilation to small groups and house churches because of the legalization of Christianity.
Once Christianity was adopted there was an establishment and clergy and laity and various
factors worked to continuously widen the gap between these two classes. There were small
groups within the clergy, but lay people had no participation. Joel writes, “Many believers, after
the legalization of Christianity, felt that the church had lost its vision and succumbed to the
worldliness of the age.”1 In retaliation to this, a group of people called monks strived to
strengthen their Christian walk and in turn formed a community of believers. There was also the
formation of the Brethren of the Common life which was primarily a reform movement for
priests and lay people who were willing to live together for the promotion of sanctification and
holiness.
Next, Joel writes on the time of the reformation and the development of small groups
within different movements. The anabaptist movement stands out from the many movements
during this time. They took Luther’s ideas a step further, emphasizing believers’ baptism and a
1 Comiskey, Joel. Biblical Foundations for the Cell-Based Church: New Testament Insights for the 21st Century
Church. CCS Publishing, 7.
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local church that consisted of these believers. This movement was vigorously persecuted so
small, private gatherings in homes became necessary. Joel then touches on Martin Luther’s
hesitation of small groups and Martin Bucer’s embrace of them, implementing small groups in
the face of criticism.
Next, Joel discusses small groups after the reformation. He starts with the Pietists and the
small groups that formed within the pietism movement. These groups had a leader that prompted
discussion, created opportunities for participation, and balanced groups with the church
gathering. The Moravian movement built on these ideals. Count Zinzendorf created a band
system that is arguably one of the most successful uses of the small group principle in church
history. These micro communities emphasized fellowship and sharing, mutual correction and
confession, prayer and an urgent sense of mission to spread the gospel. The Methodist movement
was greatly influenced by the Moravians. John Wesley adopted Zinzendorf’s band system and it
grew till eventually hundreds of thousands of people participated in the small group system.
The one main thing that I learned in this book was how this push towards small groups
and intimate discipleship is not a new idea. It was humbling and eye opening to read of all of the
people before me who had sought to return to the devoutness of the early church. I can now draw
on the experience of these forefathers, knowing what models worked well and which ones did
not succeed. Looking at the successes of the Methodist movement and the bands and class
system, I think it would be important to adopt some of their ideals into the small groups of today.
The type of accountability and intimacy between believers in those groups that encourages
sanctification and holiness is unmatched. Gleaning from these principles will make me more
effective in my future ministry.
