Institutional v. Missional Church: Small Groups

Author: art rogers

Institutional v. Missional Church: Small Groups

Thursday, August 14th, 2008 @ 12:01 am

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In the Institutional Church, Small Groups are often used for discipleship (with a little fellowship on the side) - and it works. I am not convinced that many who do use Small Groups really understand why they are effective. It has been my experience that they do it because it works elsewhere and are content to do what is “new” and works.

And that’s a real shame, because Small Groups can be so much more than that.

When Small Groups are simply discipleship oriented, as they are in a typically Institutional Church, they are merely extensions of the center serving as a program of the church.

A centralized Institutional Church is one that may do small groups.

A de-centralized Missional Church is one that is small groups.

And those Small Groups take on more than discipleship adding evangelism, fellowship - worship, to some degree - and, most importantly… ministry. And remember, ministry is evangelism, especially in our culture.

Small Groups in a Missional Church become Missional fellowships that work together as its individuals mobilize and recruit one another to projects and relationships. This makes group ministry lean and mean, fighting against bureaucratic sluggishness and excess.

Moreover, these Small Groups are much more accessible to those outside the church, building the sphere of influence. This allows for some level of attractionality to work starting first with the individual as they invite friends into the Small Group.

So then, the ministry and evangelism breakdown is this: the individual is primary in service, relationships and the spread of the Gospel across every possible avenue; the small group follows in service, relationships and the spread of the Gospel in more narrow avenues, but ones that are more than the large institution can accomplish effectively; followed finally by the larger body that streamlines its programs in order to stay as lean as possible and do whatever it chooses to do as well as it possibly can be done.