Although Sunday School goes by many names today, it is still a time-honored and effective ministry for teaching the Bible, reaching people for Christ, assimilating them into the church, and growing them as disciples. But many churches are asking how their Bible study groups are doing after the disruptions of the past few years.
Lifeway Research conducted a comprehensive study on how churches are conducting groups in the United States. The State of Groups study surveyed 1,021 adult Bible study groups ministry leaders in Protestant or non-denominational churches. The resulting report answers the question, “How healthy are our groups?” and included practical guidance for taking groups to the next level.
“When it comes to Bible study groups, it’s less about the name we give the ministry and more about what the groups actually do,” said Ken Braddy, director of Sunday School and network partnerships at Lifeway.
“If a group learns and obeys God’s Word, invites others to follow Jesus, forms deeper relationships, and engages in acts of service inside the church and out in the community, you can call a group ministry whatever you like,” he said.
What do groups look like?
Groups remain a vital part of disciple making in the local church. These ongoing adult small groups go by a variety of names depending on the church, including adult Bible studies, Sunday School, small groups, adult Bible fellowships, LIFE groups and connect groups.
Churches are most likely to say they want the primary focus of their groups to be on studying Scripture. At the average church, around 2-in-5 worship attendees (44%) typically participate in small groups.
“Involvement in worship and small groups are not in competition,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Studies have shown participation in ongoing Bible studies bolsters worship attendance. The higher a church’s percentage of weekend worship attendees involved in a small group, Sunday School class, or similar group, the greater likelihood of five-year worship attendance growth.”
When churchgoers find a group, most stick with it. Nearly 9-in-10 group ministry leaders (89%) say most group participants have been in the same group for at least two years. Only around a third of leaders (34%) say they started new ongoing adult Bible study groups in the first half of 2024.
And when groups start to grow, most leaders are not going to intervene. Although experts suggest forming new groups out of ones that begin to grow too large, 9-in-10 groups ministry leaders say they do not limit the size of ongoing adult Bible study groups.
In any church, groups ministry is dependent on volunteers to lead each small group. And in many cases, these small group leaders do not have formal theological training or educational experience. Yet more than 1-in-3 churches (36%) say they do not provide any training for their small group leaders.
Where do churches go from here?
No matter a church’s size or context, there are some key challenges churches face when it comes to groups ministry. But equipped with practical tools for navigating these challenges, leaders can step into opportunities to grow their groups ministry and increase discipleship in their churches.
Churches struggling to see movement from “rows to circles”—meaning from worship attendance to small group participation—are not alone as they face this reality. However, churches do not have to accept dwindling groups participation as their settled fate. Rather, The State of Groups invites church leaders to implement the ideas presented in this report to help worship attendees become small group participants. This will produce a spiritual impact in the lives of those moving into small groups and will have lasting ramifications in the life of the church.
In this report, insights based on data encourage pastors and groups ministry leaders to start new groups, proactively help worship attendees become small group participants and regularly provide training to equip group leaders to teach and disciple their group members. Based on the latest groups research, pastors and church leaders will be challenged to take steps toward building a groups culture where churchgoers participate, groups multiply and disciples are made, advancing the kingdom of God through the local church.
To explore the complete findings, download The State of Groups Insights Report from Lifeway Research.