8 Quality Characteristics

NCD: Holistic Small Groups

All churches have small groups.  A small group is any regular gathering of 4-20 church folk.  These groups include committees, choirs, fellowships, studies, prayer groups, youth groups, and classes.  Holistic small groups ensure that they deal with the whole person every time that they meet.  They care for the emotional, relational, spiritual and ministerial needs of every participant, and they don't just use people to get done the "work" of the church at the expense of caring for one another and God.  Some questions to ask about the small groups in your church could be:
  • How frequently does God "show up" in your congregation's small groups?
  • How are prayer, music, and worship used in your small groups?
  • How well do people within a group know each other? 
  • Do they share what's really going on in their lives, or are they just being polite?
  • How often are you starting new groups to reach out to new people?
  • What intentional system do you use to multiply group leaders?
Some good resources are:

 

8 Quality Characteristics of Natural Church Development
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congregational development office      978-682-8055 ext 210      curtis@neumc.org