Draft Version

          The Ministry Model for church planting emphasizes the use of home meetings as the basic structure of ministry.  The missionary church planter wants a way of gathering those who are drawn to Christ so that they can function as a body and provide the mutual support for one another that characterizes the church.

          The most common approach to meeting this need for gathering is the launching of a Sunday worship service.  Though every church will want to worship on the Lord’s day, the timing is critical for initiating this regular service.  Home groups are the best initial gathering of believers who are drawn to Christ through the work of the church planter.  They allow the congregation to grow until the time is right for regular corporate worship.

           Home groups of 6 to 12 are the most effective format for genuine koinonia.  This unique in-depth fellowship is an essential mark of the Christian church.  Small groups are advantageous in this personal interaction; but more than that, they are essential.  Communication and spiritual fellowship can take place in small groups in a way that is not possible in larger public settings.

          The missionary church planter will want to keep the home group ministry central to church structure even when the church constitutes with facilities and programs as an institution.  Home groups can be formed with much less effort and have many advantages for the building up of the body. 

 

            Home groups may seem like a luxury to some church planters.  They see them as another program designed to “feed” people into the worship service.  This institutional thinking misses the value of home groups for the church planter’s basic strategy.  Here are some of the advantages and strengths of home groups as a central aspect of church planting strategy.

            Home groups provide an experience very different from corporate worship meetings.  Though they do not substitute for a regular worship service of the congregation, they provide an indispensable opportunity for the congregation to grow in numbers as well as in discipleship.  Here are some of the features of home groups that are distinct from corporate worship meetings:

Once the timing is right for scheduling weekly corporate worship services, these larger meetings will provide a new dimension to the body life of the growing congregation.  Here are some of the features of the corporate worship service that differ from the home group experience:

          Critical to the Ministry strategy for church planting is the timing of launching regular corporate worship services.  As a general rule, the missionary church planters should wait for scheduling regular Sunday worship until there is a viable congregation.  This means there should be enough people involved in the ministry to make a “large group” as opposed to a “small group.”

          In communication studies, a small group is defined as from 5 to 12 persons.  Beyond 12 the group begins to function less effectively in the ways small groups are especially useful.  The intimacy, interaction, and involvement of participants tends to decrease as the group grows beyond 12.  It becomes a large group.  Large groups do not have an upper limit as to number, but they do have a lower limit.  If the group could function better in a small group format, it may not be big enough for the large group approach.

          Let’s review some of the differences between small groups, such a home groups, and large groups, such as corporate worship serves.

 

          In reality the perception of  “small” and “large” in group size has to do with factors other than number.  The primary factor is the size of the room where the group meets.  If a person enters a room large enough for 200 people but finds a group of only 15, he interprets the group as small and insignificant.  He may immediately think that the endeavor is of little value, that these people are “losers” because no one is interested in their meeting.

          On the other hand, a newcomer entering a home and finding a group of 10 or 12 people thinks of them as quite a crowd.  Seldom does one see that many people in a living room.  The perception has changed because the size of the room sets expectations.  Even 5 or 6 in a living room does not seem like a group of “losers” because not one expects a larger crowd in such a setting.

          Attempting to “launch” corporate worship services with only a small group gives the impression that the leaders are presumptuous and that people are really not interested in what is taking place here.  If, however, the corporate worship is started after the home groups have 50 to 100 people the perception is entirely different.  Those who have been involved in groups of 8 to 12 in homes are suddenly aware that this is quite a large group by comparison.  They have the impression that something important is going on here and that all these people are interested.

          It is much better to engage a place small enough to “have a crowd” than to provide a meeting place that swallows up those who attend.  Whatever the size of the room, it is better to set up enough chairs to accommodate expected attendance than to have them scattered across a too large seating area that seems mostly empty.

These common dynamics for small and large groups makes it wise for the missionary church planters to begin in homes with small groups and wait until there is a sufficient number to make a corporate worship meaningful in ways small groups are not.  The larger meeting impresses the growing body that God is at work, that many others are involved they have not met, that something significant is taking place.

          The missionary will remain alert to indications as to when the regular worship service should begin.  Several occasional rallies will precede regular Sunday worship.  These give participants in various groups the opportunity to get acquainted and to enjoy the celebration level of participation together. 

          Once the congregation begins to recognize the need for regular Sunday worship, they can set a “Covenant Sunday” six months away and begin work on preparations.  They will need to write a church covenant, prepare a constitution and by laws, choose a church name, select initial officers, establish a budget, and seek a meeting place.  Representatives from the various home groups will form the necessary teams for this work. 

          All of this preparation for Covenant Sunday will require a lot of energy and attention.  These efforts will tend to take away from the outreach along relational lines that is normal to the home groups.  It will be obvious that the initial institutionalization requires energy and that the congregation must be strong enough to sustain continuing outreach and prepare for the launch Sunday as well.

          During the intervening preparatory period, the congregation will work to expand its ministry through the addition of more small groups.  An arbitrary number of groups or participants cannot be set as a trigger for preparing to constitute as a church.  However, it seems wise to have enough groups meeting to make clear that the ministry is effective and that local people are interested.  Less than seven groups would seem presumptuous, as would less than 75 adult participants.  Only then would the congregation be strong enough to take up the necessary institutional work without damaging ongoing outreach.

          Launching corporate worship services too early has a number of disadvantages that should be avoided:

          A church planting team can begin a home group almost immediately in their own home.  As interested contacts begin to participate, the team will seek to involve them in helping.  One couple (or single) can host the meeting.  Another person or couple can bring refreshments.  A third couple (initially team members) can lead.

          Though the missionary church planters may begin having the Bible Reading meeting in their own homes, they will move to a more normal pattern of having someone else host the group.  If this does not work out soon, do not be concerned about it in this initial stage.  Keep expecting God to provide from the group a host home other than your own.  This will free up the ministry couple to keep starting new groups.

          As the initial group begins to grow to normal group size of about a dozen adults, the church planter will pray for a leader who can take it while he goes on to start another group from this one.  The new convener should be trained by allowing him to lead the group after going over with him in detail the plan and purpose for the group format, along with guidelines for effective leadership of the group.

          The missionary team will be able to lead several groups by meeting on different nights of the week, having early morning men’s groups, or daytime women’s groups.  This will be the primary organizational activity of the movement—small groups.  However, the team will be cautious as to the effect of so many meetings on their home life, especially when some of the groups are in the home.

          Naming the home groups should take outsiders’ understanding into account.  The groups should not be called “Bible Studies” since most people do not want to study.  “Fellowships” may not be a good name either, since secular people do not use it.  The name “Home Cells” sounds too much like a jail cell or a terrorist unit.   The simplest and most appealing name may be “Home GroupsBible Reading Group.”

          The groups can be described as “Bible reading groups.”  This description has several advantages.  It suggests low expectations of participants, that there is no extra “homework” involved.  It takes advantage of general confidence in the Bible.  It fits well with the inductive approach to the Bible.  This terminology may be best as a description of what the group does rather than a name.

 

          The home group meeting follows a casual schedule.  The format is designed to maximize koinonia and allow for discipleship growth.

            7:00     Refreshments

            7:20     Testimony and Needs

            7:35     Prayer

            7:50     Bible

            8:30     Close and Refreshments

          Begin with Refreshments [15 to 20 minutes].  Beginning with refreshments allows getting acquainted with relaxed conversation. It also allows for a good period of welcome and greeting in which all the relational connections are made at the outset.  Beginning with refreshments allows late arrivals to come in without disturbing.  Refreshments should be very simple: cookies, coffee, soft drinks—no meals or heavy food.  Someone other than the hostess should bring refreshments as well.

          Testimony and Needs  [15 to 20 minutes].  The group leader convenes the group to be seated in a circle at about 7:20 to tell about their week.  Reports can be mundane or serious, with testimonies often given.  The leader tries to set the pattern by not using religious terms and pious talk.  Leaders of beginning groups may use “icebreakers” that ask participants to tell something specific about themselves.  If a special concern is shared, the convener can ask that they stop immediately and pray for that need.  He may ask, “Who can pray for Charlotte in this need?” and ask all to bow while that person prays.  When the group is new, the missionary may wind up doing much of the praying, but always ask.  Eventually others will become involved.

          Prayer Time [15 to 20 minutes].  The leader is alert to the tone of the sharing so that a transition can be made to prayer. If the sharing has already developed into prayer time, this shift may be seamless.  The group is asked, “How can we pray for you?  What requests do you have?”  As requests are mentioned, the leader asks for a volunteer to pray about each one. 

          The entire group bows together after all the requests have been named.  Those who have volunteered to pray for specific needs voice those prayers and others.  The group follows a conversational prayer format, with each person praying about one topic.  The convener may need to remind the group that this is conversational prayer, with no speeches by one person covering all the bases.  Several may chime in on a single need.  Some may just say a brief word of thanks. 

          The convener will model the brief, conversational prayer approach (see Rosalind Rinker, Conversational Prayer). Modeling prayer that is not “religious” and ostentatious will be very important for the convener and other team members.  The convener allows the prayer time to continue until he can bring a natural close to it with his concluding prayer.

          Inductive Bible Study [30 to 35 minutes].  The Bible study should begin at 7:50 to 8:00 to allow plenty of time for the passage.  Having this part last allows the convener to keep close control on the quitting time at 8:30 sharp.  The leader uses three questions to guide the Bible study:

          1.      What is the text writer talking about in this passage? [theme]

          2.      What is he saying about his subject? [treatment]

          3.      What significance do these ideas have for us? [application]

          The group opens to a text announced by the leader, even giving the page number if they have like Bibles.  They read one portion of reasonable length, generally one complete thought, but not more than 8 or10 verses.  Sometimes it is a paragraph. 

Someone reads, other than the leader if possible.  Then he asks someone else to read again and asks the group to listen carefully so that they can identify the writer’s subject.  Several suggestions may be made. 

          The leader asks participants to look at the words for clues to the writer’s main subject.  The context may help in identifying the subject.  The group soon settles on a single theme for the text that they take to be the writer’s subject, based on a careful look at his words.

          After the group settles on the writer’s main subject, they are to look for what he says about that subject in the text.  The group looks for clues in the words of the text and notes the writer’s ideas about his subject.  The leader keeps participants focused on the words of the text rather than allowing speculation.  When the writer’s message is clear, the leader asks participants what it means to us.

          The group will usually bring up application as the discussion proceeds.  The leader will raise the third question nonetheless, “How does God want us to respond to this message?”  Application can be general or very personal.  The leader should emphasize that any response to God should be based on our trust in him.

          While the group works through the whole passage this way, the leader will be aware of the time so they can close precisely at ninety minutes.  He will make sure there are several minutes to reflect on how we can respond to the teachings of the text.

          The leader does not prepare notes or bring any study helps with him.  The Bible alone is the textbook and curriculum for the groups.  Participants may share comments from study Bibles at points of need.  The leader tries to involve everyone in the discussion, not passing judgment on comments.

          Close and Refreshments.  At precisely 8:30 (or ninety minutes) the leader closes the meeting with a prayer.  Participants are invited to stay longer and continue with refreshments and conversation.  It is vital to close on time, since this allows those with children to get them home and to bed at a reasonable hour.  It also assures participants that the meeting will be well managed and not leave them trapped for longer than they planned.  The leader will stay a while for follow up questions or further discussion.

 

          Team members serving as leaders add new groups initially.  A group should not be allowed to get much beyond a regular adult attendance of 12.  Groups are not divided; rather the leaders start another group, with one couple going with them.  The present leader can move on when a group is stable, has a dozen regulars, and a new convener has been trained.

          Participants will be reminded of the importance of reaching out to others with the group’s love.  They should be asked to share prayer concerns for family or neighbors they hope to reach.  The leader will help the group understand the nature of the web of relationships for outreach.  Participants can be urged to partner with another person or two for prayer for outreach and needs.

          Outsiders can be comfortable in home groups where they are welcomed and greeted warmly.  Participants naturally follow their own network of acquaintances in seeking to influence others to come to the group meeting.  The home setting is more comfortable to outsiders than a worship service.

          Home groups can multiply by the addition of new groups as leaders emerge to take over.  This does not happen in worship services, where the math is addition, not multiplication.

          The normal cycle of group life is important.  A group can be initiated by the missionary team plus at least one other couple or singles, preferable six adults.  The ideal is one couple as leaders, one as hosts, and one bringing refreshments.

As the group develops, a different host home is arranged to give ownership and commitment by group members.  The missionary can suggest another home as a temporary relocation for variety’s sake. 

          A significant phase of group development begins with the identification of a potential leader or leaders in the group.  The missionary prayerfully watches for a participant in the group to arise as the most obvious new convener.  If there is more than one, they can both have a part as plans are made for starting additional groups.  As a likely convener is identified the present leader will approach him, meet to go over the basic format and guidelines for groups, and ask him to watch closely for a few weeks and then discuss how various situations were handled.  Then, with the missionary still present, the new convener leads the group.  They meet and talk about that experience as well.

          The next important phase of group development is when the missionary couple leaves the group to start a new one, taking one other couple with them.  New groups are not started by dividing a group.  The people do not like splitting up their group.  But two couples can leave to start another group without affecting the original group as much.  Before they finally leave, missionary couple should be absent a few times so that their on and off participation gets the group used to the new leadership in the group.

 

          Leaders emerge naturally in the home groups as participants interact with each other.  Leaders will soon have the group’s confidence because of their insights, their social skills, their enthusiasm, their spiritual maturity, and their concern for others.  Leaders can also be trained effectively in home groups, where they can exercise the qualities appropriate to leadership in a safe context and under careful guidance.

          Discovering potential leaders is always a challenge.  The missionary team may think that those in the embryonic ministry are too immature, too spiritually insensitive to be leaders in the body.  However, there is a simple way to recognize those who are rising as leaders in the work—analyzing the spiritual metabolism of the growing Christian.

          The spiritual metabolism of a believer is either in the grasping mode or the giving mode.  The baby believer is naturally hungry, focusing his attention on how his needs can be met.  The shift from this grasping mode to the giving mode is a work of God in which the Christian is awakened to the reality of God’s grace in his life.  Though he may not be constant in the giving God intends, the shift is apparent in a growing Christian.

          When the missionary notices a believer paying attention to the needs of others, expressing faith in God’s provision, and encouraging others, he is seeing the giving mode expressed.  He can then take that person aside and tell him or her, “I have noticed that God is giving you a heart for the needs of others for ministry to them.  Is that right?”  If the response is affirmative, he or she can follow up by suggestion that they get together to talk about it and see what God is doing in the believer’s life.  Men on the missionary team can work with the men and women with the women.

          The missionary team will continue to be alert to potential leaders in a group by watching for the shift in spiritual metabolism.  The missionary will want to meet regularly with the growing believer to share the vision and methods.  The leader asks the candidate to lead the group while he is present, with evaluation that week.  When the group begins to be comfortable with the candidate’s leadership, the leader moves on. 

          As soon as a new convener is leading the group, he will meet with the minister every week to pray and discuss the working of the group, the outreach aim, the needs of various participants, etc.  This sets the pattern for weekly accountability for all group leaders that will continue throughout the development of the movement.

            The church planting team monitors home groups weekly in meetings with leaders.  Home groups are more than meetings, with participants and leaders caring for their flock.  Home groups are the center of concerted prayer for ministry contacts.  Home groups are not independent as to format, curriculum, purpose, and leadership. 

All group leaders meet weekly with the minister for accountability and discipleship.  If a group leader becomes unfaithful, he is asked to step aside for a while to deal with his issues.  Group leaders are to see themselves as shepherds of their groups.

 

Principles for Leader Training. 

·        Expect God to draw potential leaders into the ministry.

·        Pray for discernment to recognize leaders when they emerge.

·        Commit the personal time to a mentoring roll with potential leaders.

·        Train leaders by having them function in ministry roles.

·        Train leaders by demonstrating effective ministry yourself.

·        Train them for ministry, not administration or policymaking.

·        Use the home groups as a primary venue for leadership training.

·        Balance accountability with freedom in the leadership team.

 

Children can be cared for in another room, with a monthly volunteer to guide them.

Sometimes groups like to leave an empty chair to remind the group of a person to reach.

The group shouldn’t wear out its welcome in the host home; nor make changes too often.

Groups should be made aware of the existence of similar groups.