SmallGroups.com

Becoming ingrown is a natural tendency in Christian small groups. Small groups are usually comprised of believers who become comfortable with each other and tend to resist adding newcomers to the mix. The following is a real story of an attempt to break out of this cycle and reach unchurched non-believers.

Keith, Becky, and I were standing in the food line at one of our church activities, discussing the small groups we attended. It quickly became obvious the three of us felt restless in our present groups. "Would you be interested in helping start a new group?" I asked. "Yes," was the almost immediate reply. This happened during the summer, before the fall congregational activities had begun. Then our small group director announced a training class for those interested in starting a Seeker Group.

Prior to the beginning of this class, Keith, Becky, my wife, and I shared a meal and discussed what we wanted to do. All of us had been praying for God's leading in this idea of a new group. We felt that it was more than a coincidence that a training class on outreach groups was being offered in our congregation. The four of us, along with fourteen others, enrolled in the eight session training class based on Gary Poole's book, Seeker Small Groups.(1) The sessions lasted from September to late November. The material focused on how to invite people and to stimulate conversation in a group of seekers.

Our target date to launch our group was early in January, but we soon realized that it would take longer to pray ourselves ready and to gather a sufficient list of prospects. During December 2006, we began amassing a list of people that each of us wanted to have in the group. We would meet for a meal, share the names we had, discuss how to approach them, and pray for God's help in this. None of us had ever started a seeker or outreach small group. The first name on my list was a person in our neighborhood I had been trying to reach for Christ for several years. We had many informal spiritual talks about his relationship with Jesus. Early on, I began to describe the type of group we were planning, and he exhibited a lot of interest. This was very encouraging to me.

Each of us had a list of names and began the invitation process. Later we met with our Guest Relations Director, whose ministry is to locate, meet, and introduce newcomers to the various activities of the congregation. Getting the new people into face-to-face environments like Sunday school classes or small groups is essential in retaining them. She supplied us with several more contacts.

January found us contacting additional prospects for our group. One afternoon I was in a rural nature paradise. It was a secluded sixty-acre wilderness sanctuary for wild animals. Carl, the owner, along with his brother, are both employed in other jobs but have converted their family farm with acreage along a creek into a sanctuary for wild animals. Carl was a newcomer to our congregation and was serving as a greeter. He welcomed me warmly and showed me the nature sanctuary operation and the plans he and his brother had for further development. Over cups of coffee, I explained the nature of our coming new group and invited him to participate. He was excited and attended our first meeting.

My wife, Phyllis, felt called to invite our neighbors who lived across the street. Our group had been watching Bill Hybel's video's about Walking Across the Room, emphasizing life-style evangelism, so she just walked across the street. We had sort of a "wave-as-we-drive-out-of-our-driveway" relationship with them. I was skeptical about the chances of their being interested.

Keith and Becky were busy in their neighborhood knocking on doors and inviting various people who had no relationship with Jesus. We followed Poole's recommendation to have them come to the first meeting to answer a question something like: If you had an audience with God and He would answer one question for you, what would it be? (Poole, p. 105) The four of us were also meeting regularly to pray and to continue planning. We selected Keith as our leader and the rest of us as support staff to him.

From the summer of 2006 until early in February of 2007, I had prayed almost daily over this ministry. Despite more than fifty years in active ministry, this was a first time venture for me. Prior to this, I would plan out what I wanted to do for God and then ask Him to bless my efforts on His behalf. This is not necessarily wrong, but it neglects to seek God's wisdom before the fact rather than after the plans are made. Now I was actively seeking where God was in relation to this new adventure. From this experience, I have learned humility and a new dependence on God.

Finally our first meeting night arrived. Our team was nervous and kept going to the front window to see if anyone was coming. What was God going to do with all the effort and prayer we had poured into this venture? Soon the doorbell rang and there stood Carl. He had a big grin on his face as we invited him in. Soon our two neighbors, Sandy and her husband, walked across the street carrying their Bible. This made seven in all for our first meeting. The neighbor whom I had contacted first and who had initially showed interest decided not to join our group. Conversation flowed like a river during spring thaw. Our three newcomers knew each other, and the two men were employed in joint agricultural services. Our neighbors had been looking for a group to join (so much for my faithless skepticism). God was showing me to let Him do His work. We did some icebreaker activities and discussed the nature of our group. We reintroduced the opening question: If you had an audience with God, and He would answer one question for you, what would it be?

This question proved to be a productive source of discussion for the next few meetings. It gave each person a chance to share his own spiritual life story, and this greatly facilitated the get-acquainted process.

We met at our neighbor's house for the third meeting. Sandy had invited two of her friends, Lisa and Judy, and Lisa's husband, Tom, also joined us. They had been looking for a group as well, so there were ten of us at just our third meeting. There I sat in my faithless shame. The ones about which I had been so carelessly skeptical were the very ones God was using to grow our group. It was a faith growing and very humbling experience all rolled into one.

Over the next months, we continued to grow, only a bit more slowly. Ethel, a visiting missionary, and a couple, Jennifer and Henry, friends of Keith and Becky, began coming. Several weeks later this couple became members of our church. During our small group's fair, two single ladies, Judy and Cheryl, signed up and have become regulars.

At first, we used the opening question about our query to God. This proved to be very successful. Several life issues surfaced from among the group. Three of the families in the group had lost adult children to disease or car accidents. Another was seeking his meaning for life; another wanted to know what had happened to his father who had died not being an active believer. We studied Scripture, reassured people, and helped them grow in faith.

At this point, we came to terms with the fact that we did not quite have a group of unbelievers seeking God. Our group had hurting, sincere people who wanted to learn more about the Bible and the abundant life in Christ they now sought.

Next, we undertook a discussion about spiritual warfare. Our missionary couple, through their time in another culture, had personally experienced spiritual attacks on their faith. They were very helpful in helping us get a handle on what spiritual warfare is and how to combat it. Our next study is going to be in the Book of Revelation.

Two activities outside of our regular meetings were also very helpful in strengthening relationships among the group. First, we had a garage sale to raise money for supporting a trip to Tanzania, Africa, being planned by our church for the summer of 2008. Judy is very service oriented and wanted the group to help finance this trip. With the help of several others in the group, she spearheaded the sale. It came off on a summer Saturday morning with each member and other church members donating sale items. We netted $250.00 plus a lot of leftovers that were donated to a women's recovery ministry in our community.

Second, Carl hosted a cookout at his place to celebrate a new house for him and his brother. Nineteen people attended this event. These two activities have done more to cement the group relationships than anything else. They have provided both energy and optimism.

Keith, a former preacher, with his background as a counselor, and now a painter, has provided good leadership. He has been sensitive to the life issues of members and moved to minister to their pain and needs in creative ways. He is nurturing the group's identity as our spiritual family, the people we can call in the middle of the night when visited by a crisis.

While our original goal of establishing a group of seeking unbelievers was not entirely achieved, we did develop a group of people seeking healing, Scriptural literacy, spiritual growth, fellowship, and encouragement. Personally speaking, I have found the group a great joy.

Topics:	Evangelism, Great Commission, Outreach, Seekers, Witnessing
Filters:	Group Leader, Seekers, Train
Purpose:	Evangelism
References:	1 Peter 3:15
Date Added:	February 08, 2008