Missional Small Groups (A Book Review)

After 18 years of pastoring a rather large American church, I would have to say that the second hardest challenge our leadership team has faced as we have labored to make disciples of weekend church attenders is getting people to commit to sharing life with others in a small group context. The hardest challenge, however, has been to get small groups to view themselves as distinctly kingdom communities who come together not simply to hang out or engage in an occasional Bible study, but to carry out the mission God has given us.

My friend Scott Boren, who is also the “Connecting Pastor” at Woodland Hills Church, has just published a book on this topic called Missional Small Groups: Becoming a Community That Makes a Difference in the World (Baker). Scott artfully places his assessment of the challenges facing small groups as well as his proposed solutions to these challenges in a narrative framework. For too long churches have viewed small group ministry as a sort of program to be added onto people’s already overly-busy lives. Scott argues that, if we’re going to authentically grow in the direction of participating in small groups that are missionally defined, we will need to reframe the fundamental “rhythms” that weave together our lives. This is what Scott’s insightful book helps us do.

The most helpful aspect of Scott’s book, in my opinion, is the way he combines theory and practice. Missional Small Groups is not merely a theoretical book on what small groups “should be,” but neither is it another one of those “how to” books to help small groups bond together. Scott rather provides very helpful spiritual disciplines that groups can immediately begin to engage in while also providing the theoretical context in which these disciplines make sense. In the end, becoming a missional small group is about gracefully cultivating the “rhythms” of the kingdom into the life of the group.

I suspect most readers of this blog have at least a few close friends you share life with. By integrating new “rhythms” into your shared life, you could easily become a missional community that advances the kingdom in your own lives and in your surrounding community. It’s my conviction that these sorts of small missional communities are the primary social unit of the kingdom. These are the “house churches” we read about in the book of Acts. By God’s design, every believer is called to belong in such a community. Scott’s book is a marvelous tool to help you and/or your small group begin to move in this direction.

Keep growing!