Creating Small Groups…Outside the Church.

The small group movement has exploded in the American church. It seems like everyone who gets plugged into a church is directed towards a small group. What about the people who don’t go to church?

Over 70 years ago, Jim Rayburn started going after those types of high school kids. He later started the organization now known as Young Life. In high schools and junior highs around the country, adult leaders are starting small groups (called Campaigner groups) with kids that might never go to church. Could we apply that same mentality to adults?

I believe, if we followed the same steps that Young Life leaders take and apply them to adults, we could progress the impact of small groups even further. As Andy Stanley says, “life change doesn’t happen in rows, but in circles.” Could we bypass the rows and jump straight to the circles with those neighbors, coworkers and friends who don’t want to go to church?

Follow these steps to develop a Bible study of unchurched people.

1) Show up

Contact work is at the core of what Jesus did, he went to where people where. We need to show up where our unchurched friends hang out, spend time with them and care about them for who they are. Learn names, earn the right to be heard and learn about what they like. God doesn’t need our abilities, but our availability.

2) Live Life with Them

In this step you go from Their Turf to Mutual Turf. Do stuff with your neighbors. Invite them over for dinner, go to ballgames with them, double dates, movies, and work on your houses together. Get a group of people together for fun activities that make everyone excited for the next time. Here you are building a foundation of fun, learning their schedules and building relationships with them.

3) Develop Consistency

In this step you go from Mutual Turf to Consistency. What you were doing at different times...at different places...on different nights, you now want to settle in to the SAME TIME...AT THE SAME PLACE...ON THE SAME NIGHT. This step is huge. Consistency is very important. You want to own a night of their week. You can continue to do craft nights or movie nights or whatever else, but you want to hone in on one night.

4) Develop a Strategy

Here you move from Consistency to Routine. Now that you have a constant group meeting, you want to think about the norms you want to have for your group and establish a strategy to ensure these happen. You want to put into place a schedule for your time, and include things like fun, laughter, content, etc.

What you put in your 'content' time will change as your group moves along. It may be a 10 minute time to catch up at first and develop into a 45 minute Bible study down the road. What is important is that you build this 'content' time into your strategy and establish it early.

5) Put a Bible Study into your time

Now that you have a routine established with your friends, when it is appropriate for them, you want to open up the Bible and study it together. This is the goal; it's what you have worked so hard for. You can start off with a verse or two, but we all know that studying Scripture is attractive and they will be eager to learn how to read it together.

Be bold. You might be the only one reaching out to them. 

Todd Pinkston is on Young Life staff in Dallas Texas. He serves as the Area Director for Richardson and trains the region's leaders as the Campaigners Training Coordinator. He speaks regularly for Bible study groups, high school retreats and athletic teams. His passion is empowering leaders to multiply. You can find Todd's blog at www.CampaignersTraining.com and follow him at @ylcampaigners on twitter.