Four Strategies for Growing Your Small Group
A study on small groups entitled, Small Groups - Big Impact: Connecting People to God and One Another in Thriving Groups (2011) by Jim Egli and Dwight Marable, discovered that groups that see people accept Christ, increase in size, and multiply into additional groups have four things in common. These groups have small group leaders who model and facilitate prayer, outreach, care and the empowerment of group members.
Prayer
The study found that 83% of groups that had a leader who modelled and facilitated prayer saw someone come to Christ in the past nine months (versus 19% of groups that did not have a praying leader). Praying leaders spend time with God. They actively pray for group members and group meetings. They pray for unsaved people in their lives and in the lives of others within the group. As the leader and others in the group engage in a lifestyle of prayer, people sense God’s presence in the group. Life change happens. People get saved. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that kind of group?
Outreach
When group leaders and their groups have an outreach focus, they are much more likely to see people come to Christ. The study found that 90% of groups with this kind of focus saw someone come to Christ in the last six months (versus 11% of groups without this outreach emphasis). In the book, Egli and Marable talk about the five I’s of reaching out:
- Investment - Members spend time with friends in order to share Christ
- Invitation – Leaders encourage members to invite others
- Intention - Outreach is a stated purpose of the group
- Intercession – Group members pray during their meetings for unsaved friend
- Imitation - Leaders model relational outreach
If we want to grow our small groups, outreach needs to be an important part of group life.
Care
A strong caring orientation is another key strategy for growing our small groups. The study showed that 44% of caring groups added at least four new members since starting (versus 18% without this emphasis). Caring groups spend time with one another outside of group meetings. They pray for each other, support each other and have fun together. Group members function like a family.
People sometimes assume that they will sacrifice care if their small group focuses on outreach. Egli and Marable found that the opposite was true. "If you want to experience deeper community in your small group, you should make it an open group that actively reaches out to others" (p. 37).
Empowerment
Growing groups often have group leaders who empower group members to live out God’s calling on their lives (62% of groups with empowering leaders had multiplied or sent out new leaders versus 27% of groups without an empowering leader). They see the potential in people and encourage members to take risks to realize their potential. They are constantly looking for and developing leaders who will be able to lead the existing group and possibly lead a new group in the future.
Egli and Marable’s research has been extremely helpful to me as I think about growing small groups. What comments or questions do you have as you think about the four strategies? Feel free to contact me with your thoughts and questions. You might also want to visit MinistryLift's small group training page to view additional articles, training videos, and equipping ideas.
Dr. Randy Wollf is Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Leadership Studies at MB Seminary and Director of MinistryLift.
Note: You can read more about the research by checking out the Small Groups - Big Impact or by visiting Jim Egli’s website. In addition, MinistryLift provides small group ministry workshops on their research along with other related workshops.