Discover Why Small Groups Often Fall Short of Meeting Expectations
I’ve been in small groups, I’ve led small groups, and I’ve overseen a church’s small group ministry. Small groups have the potential to connect people, helping them on their faith journey and better navigate life. Yet small group failure seems a more common outcome.
Don’t worry. This isn’t just a rant about small groups. After discussing reasons why they may not work as well as hoped, I’ll share two small group success tips. But first we’ll look at the reasons for small group failure.
Formation
When a church first starts a small group ministry, the initial groups are often self-selected. They’re the outcome of existing relationships and connections. But this isn’t always the case.
Sometimes people are assigned groups. Often the selection is based on potential commonalities, such as life stage, vocation, or location. As new people are integrated into an existing small group network, this is almost always the approach taken.
It doesn’t work so well. This is because the people in the group wouldn’t normally get together.
Though they may have similar traits, these alone are not usually enough to bind them. The result is that when the group gets messy or life gets busy, the easy response is to withdraw from participation or completely retreat from the group.
When formed this way, the most likely result is small group failure. It may occur quickly or happen over time. But it is a likely outcome.
Format
Small groups have a prescribed format, often situated around a churchwide initiative. This could be a Bible study, book talk, or sermon discussion.
Those some churches allow their groups to determine which of these options to pursue, a more common approach is to direct every group to follow the same path. This also lends itself to small group failure.
Bible Study: Bible studies are a safe pursuit for many groups. They’re easy to implement and require little from the participants. People get out of the study what they put into it. Success also depends on the skill of the leader.
Yet the main shortcoming of Bible studies is that most people already know more about the Bible than they’re putting into practice. Rather than study the Bible, a more meaningful approach is to apply it. This is uncomfortable, confronting, and challenging for most people to accept.
Book Talk: Reading and talking about a book is another option. Selecting a book within a small group is difficult, as it’s impossible to please everyone. Even worse is when the leader picks the book without truly hearing what the participants want. Most detrimental is when the book being studied is mandated by church leadership. Regardless, some people will engage, others will struggle, and a few will check out—or leave.
Sermon Discussion: Last is discussing the sermon. Too often, however, this becomes a critique of the minister or the message, which is neither productive nor God honoring.
Pray: Small groups may also have a time of sharing concerns and praying. Most do and all should. Yet without careful effort, the sharing expands, and the praying is curtailed—or may not even happen at all.
Disclose: Another common small group activity is the participants talking about their life struggles. Yet this can easily balloon out of control and fill all the time allotted to the small group, sometimes even expanding beyond the scheduled meeting time.
Focus
The result of these various formats is an inward focus of the group. Their effort becomes addressing the internal needs of the group’s members. Some members will often—or always—end up on the giving side; others will always be taking.
Yet collectively, the focus of the group is keeping the group together and helping each participant in their journey through life. None of this is bad.
In fact, this sharing of burdens is a common purpose of small groups. But not every item should be shared, and not every struggle is suitable to a small group setting. These issues are better suited for a trained counselor and don’t belong in a peer group environment.
Yet groups often have one person or one couple whose needs dominate every meeting. Though everyone has moments when they need help, some people seem to need help every week.
Yet persistent, ongoing struggles are better suited for professional therapy. Few small group leaders have the training or the skill to serve as counselors—and few participants have the patience to let it happen.
Small Group Success Tips
Given these inherent small group characteristics of their formation, their format, and their focus, it’s not unexpected that the result is small group failure. This, however, need not be the case.
There are two primary elements that produce small group success.
Organic Formation: The first is that they form organically. If people come together naturally, they’re more likely to stay together and function in a positive, helpful manner.
Unfortunately, organic formation can’t occur through a top-down mandate; it happens at the grassroots level. As a result, a church can’t orchestrate a small group program if it is to occur organically.
Outward Focus: The second element that fosters small group success is to have an outward focus. Internally focused small groups tend to have a short life cycle. They don’t typically last more than a year and a half. Sometimes they splinter after only a couple of months.
Small groups with an outward focus—a shared objective—tend to last longer. These groups center around a common goal. This may be an area of service or outreach. Everyone rallies around this initiative, and the group is much more likely to thrive as a result.
Though these groups may at times meet to address internal needs, this must be ancillary. The focus of their energy and their activity needs to be outward looking if they hope to be meaningful and successful for the long term and in a significant way.
Small Group Action Steps
If you’re in a small group that’s not working—or is draining your energy—consider starting your own. Pick an outward focus to address. Then look for people who truly share your passion.
If you lead small groups at your church, seek ways to minimize the above reasons for small group failure and capitalize on the traits for success.
It won’t be easy, and participation will drop, but the groups that remain will be more resilient, impactful, and meaningful for the group members and the people they help. You can do it.
May you find a spiritual community and thrive.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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