What Is The Purpose of Your Groups?
When you talk about groups at your church…how do you talk about their purpose? When someone asks why they need to belong to a group…what do you tell them? When you hear one of your group members (or leaders) talk about the best thing about their group…are they ever talking about something that really isn’t the reason that you think groups are important?
I was in a new leader orientation meeting not long ago and the leader of a brand new group said,
“Our group decided that the whole curriculum thing…really not what we want to do. We thought it was going to be an opportunity to get to know some other couples. So we’re going to meet, but we’re going to pass on the Bible study part. We think we’re getting fed on Sunday and what we’re missing is really just the relationship part.“
Now…admittedly, I’m paraphrasing what he said to me. This is not intended to be a word-for-word account. But it does give you a glimpse into a moment, an opportunity to talk about why we believe that groups are important. Here’s what I said.
“First, thank you for your honesty. We love feedback because it helps us better understand how we need to talk about why we’re doing what we’re doing.
“Second, I’d love it if you’d take some time this week and get back to me about how we might advertise the event that you attended so that its purpose would be more clear. We really want everyone who comes to the Connection to feel like they’re getting what they signed up to get.
“Last, you need to know that our leadership believes that our Sunday services, as important as they are, are a lot like a difibrillator. With great worship and excellent teaching, what our services really do is temporarily restore our spiritual hearts to a regular rythym. But they’re not surgery or therapy. They rarely bring lasting change. And that’s not to say that God doesn’t use the worship service. He does. Clearly the Holy Spirit is at work. It’s just that when the service ends and you’re driving out of the parking lot on your way to lunch, if the traffic backs up and your kids are acting up in the back seat and the argument resumes with your spouse…what the difibrillator accomplished will often be right back to where it started. Because what’s needed is surgery or therapy. What’s needed is accountability and support. What’s needed is personal encouragment and challenge. And that’s all about life on life. That’s why we believe that group life is an essential ingredient.
So here’s my own assignment this week:
- Make sure that the website makes it clear that the purpose of group life is not just relationship development.
- Make sure that we’re championing the truth that life-on-life is an essential life-change ingredient.
- Evaluate our Life Group brochure to make sure that we’re being clear about the purpose of group life.
So how about you? How clearly have you described the purpose of group life at your church?
