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Community is a topic that can be found all over the Bible, from the Old Testament’s calling of Abraham’s lineage to establish God’s Kingdom according to the Commandments, to the New Testament’s coming of Jesus to unite Jews and Gentiles alike.
Building a tight-knit community within the church can be hard.
On a Sunday morning, you might be welcomed by a staff greeter, say hello to your neighbor before the sermon, and become acquainted with fellow parishioners after service. While doing this week after week may expose you to plenty of familiar faces, it can be hard to develop deep, meaningful relationships with fellow followers of Christ.
Of course attending church weekly is important for allowing the Body of Christ to worship in one place, building deeper relationships with members of the Body is what allows us to continue being the Church outside of Sunday mornings.
In this blog I’m going to discuss how small groups can create a stronger church community, while also touching on their challenges, and provide tips and tools that might help overcome these difficulties.
In order to talk about the importance of growing as a strong spiritual community through small groups, we must first understand why community is important.
The concept of community is a universal experience of the human condition regardless of culture, religion, or ethnic background. Clinical psychologist, Dr. Samantha Stein of Psychology Today points out two essential ways that community plays an important role in our lives:
Community is a topic that can be found all over the Bible, from the Old Testament’s calling of Abraham’s lineage to establish God’s Kingdom according to the Commandments, to the New Testament’s coming of Jesus to unite Jews and Gentiles alike under the spiritual Kingdom of God. One of the most important and quintessential ideas of the church community can be found in the book of Acts.
We see this in Acts 4:32-35, where it describes the Church:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
This passage not only paints a picture of the Church gathering for teachings, but also living amongst each other, sharing possessions, meals, and sincerity as a people united to praise God.
While the Church in Acts shows the fruit of healthy community, we can also find examples of community displayed in the following passages:
Now that we’ve looked at some reasons why community is important, how exactly can we achieve a sense of community within church?
In our modern day, fast-paced world it’s easy for our time and commitment to be divided by a number of distractions, often making church attendance on Sundays just another check on the weekly list.
If we’re meant to live out our lives as the body of Christ, spending time together, growing spiritually and overcoming adversities, then it may take more commitment than congregating once a week. Because of this, churches often have “small groups” (or sometimes referred to as “community groups”).
Where Sundays are a day of gathering to worship and learn, small groups focus on building personal relationships in the church through an intimate setting that allows for discussion and fellowship. This is done through a group of people typically meeting in a church member’s home during the week, sometimes sharing a meal together, learning about each other's lives and struggles, discussing the Bible or Sunday's sermon, and praying together.
Through this, we’re able to practice and engage more with our faith through committing to the church as a way of living.
While the benefits of community sound promising, cultivating a strong community through small groups can sometimes be challenging.
Based on my experience of attending different small groups, whether with my home church or my friends’ churches, there’s a fairly common feeling of awkwardness.
As a visitor, I’ve personally felt that at times it can be hard entering a new space of people and opening up about my life or expressing ideas on difficult discussion topics.
As a regular attendee of a small group, I’ve experienced the uncomfortable silence that can often follow a group leader’s prompted discussion question. This can be due to broad questions that are difficult to answer or even questions that people may not feel comfortable answering in a group setting.
Additionally I’ve attended small groups where a diversity of background and personal experience amongst the group’s members has led to controversial topics.
So how might small groups overcome these challenges in order to cultivate a strong community?
Leaders should have a clear precedent set for the expectations of a small group. While the general purpose of a small group is to grow as a community, a leader should decide if the group will be:
Setting a clear purpose for the group will allow members to develop a trusted network of people and have an understanding of what extent they’re able to open up about themselves around others.
As a small group leader, it’s important to be prepared for guiding the group’s discussion. A lack of preparation can lead to broad questions, followed by either silence or confusion from the group.
While understandably there may be little time in the leader’s schedule to prepare for a small group, whether it’s because of other obligations to the church, work or family, Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs can assist in streamlining the process.
AI can assist in not only putting together discussion questions, but also creating modern day examples for biblical topics or creating character studies, allowing leaders to dig deeper in personal and relatable group discussions.
Lastly, the best way of ultimately establishing a strong sense of community is through consistency.
Developing deep relationships with one another comes from spending time together, learning together and engaging in conversation.
At times there may be disagreement or confrontations, but being in community is learning to overcome those quarrels and authentically learning to love one another. Only through consistent time commitment can a community truly grow together relationally and spiritually.
As the Church, it’s important to have a place to gather every week and worship as one body. Spending time as a community through small groups is vital in growing relationally and ultimately living life the way God has called us to live, even when it can be awkward or difficult at times.
