The below reflection was written by a member of our congregation who led a group for 40 years! Have you had similar experiences in your small group? Feel free to share them in the comment section below. If you would like to talk about joining a small group, Michelle would love to hear from you.
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The blessings of small groups
By Behan McCullagh
After forty years in a small group, I can affirm what I’m sure that others would say about the value of small groups for Christians.
Christian fellowship - The Bible encourages us to love one another, under the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit. In a small group we have a chance to do just that: share our joys and worries, and pray about them together. In time members deepen their trust of one another, and I found that after a while we developed strong friendships. Our care for one another was expressed in helping those who were in need, often outside our regular meetings. In our small group everyone took a turn to host a meeting, and provide supper, so that no-one was excessively burdened.
Worship - A good way to pray for one another was to form small groups of two or three who could share their concerns, and pray about them. Then we would all pray for our church, its leaders and its needs. We would regularly sing hymns together in praise of God, often accompanied by a piano.
Bible study - It is good to read the Bible every day, but in a small group you can discuss what it means and how it relates to life today. As leader of our group I would suggest an overall topic for a few weeks, such as a book of the Bible. If it was approved by the group, I would break it up into eight or ten particular studies and invite members to prepare to lead one of them in turn. Not everyone feels confident to lead a study, so leadership of our studies was entirely voluntary. I would sometimes find a commentary to assist those leading the studies. In this way our understanding of the Bible deepened, and we strengthened our love for God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Festivities - Our small group would begin the year with a barbecue, and end it with a Christmas dinner. In between, we went out to dinner on the fifth Wednesdays of the month, when they occurred, to enjoy a meal together. And if a regular meeting fell on someone’s birthday, we would celebrate that over supper. When our group was young, we would sometimes spend a weekend away together, with all the children.
I thank God for our small group, and urge everyone to join one if they can.