size doesn’t matter

I’m not long home from my small group. It was excellent tonight! We were studying through Philemon and discussing the theme of inclusiveness in Christian community. We discussed at great length how we thought we did, as a Christian community, at including people and accepting them where they’re at. We then spent about twenty minutes in prayer, which felt so… so *real*… so in touch with the Spirit… at one point the group spontaneously broke into a prophetic song. It was awesome. It was humbling. It was obvious God was in our midst.

I love my small group. I miss it when we don’t meet over the summer break. (Why on earth do we need a break from such refreshing and energising things?!) I’ve been a member of a small group for many years now and I truly believe that they are essential for a healthy church. The intimacy, the accountability, the partnership, the advice, the encouragement, the fun and the genuine concern for health, well-being and spiritual state are all found in my small group. There is just no way that I can conceive of that this sort of pastoring/mentoring/discipleship/shepherding/all those things can be done adequately or even at all in a big church meeting – it’s too impersonal.

More people need to get into these small groups and experience all this. I’m on a mission!