Jesus gave his church one mission: to go and make disciples. This means that we are to reach, teach, and baptize people. This is why a solid, gospel-focused groups ministry is so vital to a church. A thriving groups ministry introduces people to studying the Word and invites them to a deeper dive into the Scriptures. In other words, when church leaders dedicate themselves to going both wide and deep in their groups ministry strategy, people are changed by the power of God’s Word.
At Together Church, formerly called Springfield Southern, we had experienced a revival of sorts. The neighborhood around the church had been in deep decline as drug addiction, homelessness, crime, and hopelessness were all around. The church itself was also in a decline.
Thankfully, the members, led by Pastor Doug Morrow, began to face the challenges head on. They renamed their church Together Church. They renovated the building and initiated new ministries to the community. As the community was engaged, people began to show up, and worship attendance had grown significantly.
Anytime a guest comes to a worship service, there needs to be a next step, a process to connect them with the rest of the church. Thom Rainer, in his book High Expectations, stated that 84% of all new members in a church will disappear if they are not connected to a Bible study group. In other words, if there is not a thriving groups ministry and a process for getting people into this ministry, they will leave.
Groups are key to a resurgence in the church. Statistics show that people in groups stick more, serve more, give more, share their faith more, and are more welcoming to guests. Groups produce people who are more discipled and more likely to disciple. Groups matter.
Groups were how Jesus often operated. He connected to the three, Peter, James, and John, as well as the twelve. He went deeper with the three, taught more frequently with the twelve, and was able to multiply his twelve into what we see today. Basically, Jesus spent time with the few to affect the many.
At Together Church, there was a need to connect people to groups. This meant that everyone needed to connect consistently through the Sunday School, but also a deeper, more engaging discipleship study in an even smaller setting. There needed to be “a wide and a deep” strategy to help everyone grow in their faith. So, what did we do?
We cast a wide net. Almost 100 years ago, Arthur Flake of the Baptist Sunday School Board (now Lifeway) formulated key principles for growing and multiplying the Sunday School. (Ken Braddy of Lifeway wrote about Flake’s Formula on his blog, kenbraddy.com.)
Following these principles, we started thinking about the possibilities of our groups ministry. We knew that we needed to start more classes through the Sunday School as a good first step toward Bible study. Our first class was to be aimed at younger and middle adults who attended worship but were not currently in an existing class. Now that we decided a group to target, we prepared a good space for the class that was both inviting and conducive for Bible study. Last, we reached out by text, email, and phone calls to our target group. The response was exciting: that first Sunday, we had 11 people, with several new to Sunday School!
We dove deeper. While Sunday School (or any small group) is vital for the church, we also had a need for deeper discipleship that didn’t necessarily take place in this setting. As a result, we went with D-Groups as a companion strategy to Sunday School to help people dive deeper.
D-Groups are micro groups of three people of the same gender who study Scripture in a safe atmosphere that encourages spiritual growth. Utilizing mature, godly men and women in the church as leaders, we started D-Groups on Wednesday nights and let them invite people into their D-groups. They connected with each other each week by praying and studying a section of Scripture. As a result, we have seen a greater spiritual growth, closer relationships, and better accountability in the church as these D-Groups have met together.
As Jesus spent time with the few to affect the many, so should we. When we focus on a groups strategy to engage more people and yet give opportunities for deeper discipleship, people grow. The two-stage principle of going “wide and deep” worked at our church, but this strategy can work anywhere.
– Fran Trascritti is Team Leader for the IBSA Growth Team.