Interestingly enough, I do not know of one church that does not have small groups in one form or another. Many of them do not have a declared small group ministry, but people will get into small groups regardless of whether or not small groups is an official ministry. People naturally and automatically seek out relationships.

Many churches, with purity of heart, discuss the success of their small group ministry based on the numbers, typically the percentage of people ‘connected’ in small groups. Numbers can be an indication of success, but we can be misguided by them too. For example, we cannot presume that we are SUPPOSE to connect 100% of our congregation with other members of our congregation.

"We are committed to becoming a church of small groups." "Life-change happens best in small groups." "Everyone needs authentic community." These statements, and others like them, are heard often in churches around the country. Small groups have become a big deal. Churches desiring to help members connect relationally and to grow in discipleship have turned to the small group (5 to15 people meeting regularly in a home) paradigm. They have hired small group directors, highlighted groups in sermons, and promoted groups in their ministry strategy.

Many, if not most, churches employ something I call a "funnel strategy" for building community. The funnel strategy focuses on moving people from a large group (e.g. a weekend service) to small groups and is based on the premise that people will experience more community as they get "closer" to others.

As part of an academic research project, the author recently  searched the world wide web to discover the 50 best small group ministry resources available. Here are the results.