Small Groups, LifeGroups, GrowthGroups, or whatever they may be called in your local church are "in".
More and more churches are finding that encouraging people to naturally connect outside of the church building during the week and "do life together" is good.
It's good because small groups are very Biblical, and are great ways for people to become more like Christ, to get to know people, to grow in your faith and exercise your gifts.
There is a time however in the life of every small group that the members dread. That's when it is suggested that perhaps it's time for the group to multiply. "Multiply" is a nice way of saying that the group needs to split into two groups.
Multiplying groups, while likely an objective of the Pastor, isn’t always an objective of a group.
Groups enjoy the fellowship of the small community and it is in community that they derive their strength and are nurtured and become interdependent. It’s not easy therefore for the group to be completely selfless and willing to divide and multiply. However, there are ways that churches have accomplished this and still encouraged strong fellowships to emerge.
One of the devices that can be helpful is to have regular “seasons” for small groups. For example, encouraging small group formation on an annual basis (for example, every September) leads to many new groups being formed and an easy process for previous groups to be reformulated.
Another process that has worked in the past is that when groups reach a size that it becomes too difficult to stay united and meet together (i.e. in excess of twenty or thirty people). It may be better to spin off two or three smaller groups but allow them to remain within the large “mother” group. Often these spin-off-groups continue to maintain an affinity and connection with each other, and even meet all together on an infrequent basis which can be healthy and encouraging for all of the spin-off-group members.
