Illustration by InterCristo

A friend of mine, concerned about those in his circle of business and professional friends, had spoken with them on many occasions about Christianity. They were interested in varying degrees. Yet none of them had come to grips with the reality of Jesus Christ. Christianity was only of academic interest to them.

After long thought and prayer, he decided to invite this group to his home to discuss John Stott's Basic Christianity. He proposed that they meet once a week, for eight weeks. The reactions of his friends to this invitation varied from real delight to outright fear. But, with only a few exceptions, they came. And they continued to come, week by week, drawn by the vitality of Jesus Christ and by the sheer fun of being together with other like-minded people. By the end of the series, several had decided to follow Christ. Others, who had been dormant Christians for years, rediscovered a vital faith.

Such stories are becoming increasingly common—stories of men and women, on the fringe of Christianity or completely "antichurch," drawn into a small group in which they have the opportunity to consider for themselves the claims of Christ. They then find, to their amazement, that they are drawn into deep commitment to Christ.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SMALL GROUPS

What is it about a small group that makes it such a splendid means of witness? First, a group provides the continuing exposure to Christianity so vital to spiritual discovery. As Sam Shoemaker put it: "Before the average person comes into a vital Christian experience, he usually needs a period of exposure to the experience of others."¹

Second, groups are familiar to all of us, since we spend hours in informal groups discussing everything under the sun. Therefore, a group is a natural way of exposing people to Christianity. The same cannot be said of the lecture or sermon. Also, groups generally meet in a familiar place—a home, an office, a favorite restaurant. Consider the implications of this. Which would be easier: to get your neighbors to come to a special series of meetings at your church, or to your home for a meal and discussion with several other couples? Your church is an unfamiliar building, full of unknown people following unfamiliar procedures ("Do I stand or kneel now?").

Third, small groups provide opportunity for face-to-face interaction. So often we ask people to consider Christianity without giving them a chance to interact with the presentation. But interaction is necessary if they are to understand how Christ can meet their unique needs.

Fourth, in a successful small group, love, acceptance, and fellowship flow in unusual measure. This is the ideal situation in which to hear about the Kingdom of God. In this context the "facts of the gospel" come through not as cold propositions but as living truths visible in the lives of others. In such an atmosphere a person is irresistibly drawn to Christ by His gracious presence.

Small outreach groups also have great value for Christians who want to share their faith. First, it is usually more comfortable to talk about Christ in a small group, which has met for that purpose, than in a one-on-one conversation. Not only is the topic known and agreed on, but the discussion is not the responsibility of only one person. Invariably a group of Christians will have more wisdom, more insight, more sensitivity, and more data than a solitary Christian. The Christian learning to witness will also benefit by watching more experienced Christians share Christ in the small group. Finally, the small group provides exactly the kind of support a Christian needs in every attempt at evangelism. You need your brothers and sisters to pray with you, for you, and for your friends; to support you when you've had a bad time of it; to rejoice with your successes; to hold you accountable for your commitments; and to give you the kind of encouragement we all need when seeking to share Christ.

Being convinced of the value of small group evangelism is one thing. Executing a viable outreach program is quite another. How is a successful small group outreach planned? What are the decisions that have to be made? Where are the potential problems? Planning for small group outreach will involve decisions in at least five major areas: who to invite, where to meet, when to meet, format, and content.

ISSUING INVITATIONS

Who will you invite to your small group? This is a crucial question which must be approached with some care, since the composition of the group is vital to its success. The answer is simple: Which group are you a part of? With whom do you feel most comfortable? This is the group you should start with.

You must then decide which individuals and couples from this general group you are going to invite. Aim at putting together a group that is half Christian, half nonChristian. Begin to pray for these people right away.

But here arises a problem: some Christians have no nonChristian friends. After a seminar on "Using the Home for Evangelism," a middle-aged couple wanted to talk to me. They were quite excited by what had been said. It all seemed to make good sense to them. They were willing to use their home as a center for evangelism. "But," they said, "we've racked our brains to think of people to invite over, and we just don't seem to have any friends outside church circles. What do we do? Can you perhaps send over some interested nonChristians to our house?" At the time I was rather startled. But later, when others said the same thing, I realized that this was a real problem.

If your list of nonChristian friends contains only one or two names, your first job is to get to know more nonChristians. Numerous opportunities exist already: you undoubtedly live surrounded by non-church people. You work with nonChristians. Your relatives are probably not all Christians. Resolve, therefore, to get to know the nonChristians around you. You will be amazed at their openness to your friendliness and interest. And who knows where your friendship may lead.

As you consider who to include, invite more people than you plan for. Last-minute cancellations are not uncommon. And it is better to have too many people than too few. You can always split a large group. Be cautious, though. One group invited eighteen people in order to ensure that five or six would attend. And fourteen people accepted!

The crucial factor with invitations is honesty. Never trick a person into coming to an evangelistic group. Not only is manipulation not the loving way to act, it will create tension during the group session. "John, you invited Marge and me to dinner. You didn't tell us that you invited all your Christian buddies as well, and that we are supposed to study the Bible afterward!"

Be candid. You have nothing to hide. Tell your friends exactly what you are doing. "We're starting a weekly group at our home with a few friends from church and some other folks who don't have a strong church commitment but are interested in discussing Christianity. We're beginning next Wednesday. We'll have dinner together and then spend about an hour talking about a passage from the New Testament. We'd love to have you and Marge join us. Incidentally, the first week is really just a trial run. If you find it's not your sort of thing, there are no obligations to come for the whole seven weeks."

When you are forthright in your invitation, your nonChristian friends, by accepting it, are committing themselves to serious participation in the group. They did not have to accept. But they did. They come because they want to.

We often hesitate to invite our friends to groups like this. "Oh, they won't be interested. They won't like it." My experience is quite different. I found that my friends greatly enjoyed the chance to engage in meaningful, purposeful conversation. And it is not only the appeal of serious dialog (versus aimless chit-chat) that is appealing. More and more Americans are out of touch with Christianity. They don't go to church. They never have. So they really don't know much about Christianity. But they are curious. This curiosity is part of a general renewal of interest in America in religion. ("Religion" must be understood here in very broad terms.) Thus they welcome the chance to investigate Christianity. Even if their interest in Christianity is little more than curiosity about a religious institution and their understanding of the Bible is simply that it is a "great book," this is more than sufficient. Invite them! They will be glad you did.

Once you invite folks—in person or over the telephone—it is sometimes wise to follow up with a hand-written invitation containing the details of place and time.

WHERE TO MEET

Once you have a sense of who you will be inviting, you need to think about where you will meet. Familiarity is the key criterion. Where will this particular group feel most comfortable? The answer will vary according to the target group. A group of businessmen might feel most comfortable meeting over breakfast or lunch in a private dining room of the local restaurant. A group of teenagers might enjoy the recreation room in a home or at church. University students might use the dorm lounge.

Probably the best place for most groups to meet is in a home. Everybody is familiar with homes. We know how to act in homes and apartments. We are comfortable in each other's living spaces.

WHEN TO MEET

The "when" question has two parts to it. On what day of the week and at what hour will you meet? And how many group sessions will you have?

Again, the crucial question is, what time is best for the schedule of this target group? You can meet any time of the day. Look for gaps in the schedule. Perhaps an evening is best. Which evening? Sunday evening? (Beware: more people view television on Sunday evening than any other evening.) You must be both shrewd and sensitive.

The choice of when you meet will determine how much time is available for the group meeting. Two to two-and-a-half hours is ideal. This will give you great flexibility in the content of your sessions. A typical evening might begin at 7 p.m., with people actually sitting down by 7:15. The formal meeting would last until 8:30. Refreshments and informal conversation may go on until 9:30 p.m.

Often, the most significant interaction occurs during the informal time afterward. Then, in one-on-one conversation or in informal groups of three or four, the real issues come out and are discussed. The small group session provides the content and raises the questions, which are later dealt with informally.

Two-and-a-half hours is ideal, but you may have only forty-five minutes. If so, structure your sessions to fit comfortably within the time. Don't fight time limits. You will never have enough time. Simply plan realistically and then stick faithfully to the schedule. Start on time and, especially, end on time. If people expect to be at a meeting for one-and-a-half hours, they will sit comfortably for that period. If they expect to be there fifty minutes, at about sixty minutes many will be decidedly fidgety. Work with your time limit, not against it.

"But what if we've just got to the good part?" As a rule, go five minutes over your time limit but no more. One principle of good small group leadership is to quit while you are ahead. Stop on a high note, when everyone could go on longer. Don't wait until you have dragged every bit of life out of the topic. The exception to this is when you are involved in deeply personal sharing or crises. Then time is of secondary importance. But even in this case, say to the group: "Our time is up and I know some of you must leave, but it is important for the rest of us to carry on for a while longer."

If you have had a good group meeting, people will stick around—even when the coffee and cake are exhausted. This is one sign that something good is happening in the group.

Another time question is, how many weeks should your outreach group meet? It depends on the topic (how much time will you need to cover it?), the group (what is a reasonable length commitment?), and the calendar (what are the natural breaking points? a holiday? the semester's end? the season's conclusion?).

Most people tend to operate in thirteen-week cycles geared to the four seasons. Therefore, it is probably best not to plan a series longer than thirteen weeks. In fact, half a cycle—six or seven weeks—is often an ideal length. Even four sessions (one month) are of value.

Normally, the greatest benefit comes from a series planned from the start. On several occasions we have conducted Bible studies for businessmen, consisting of one lunchtime study a week for five weeks. We found that men were quite willing to commit themselves to the five weeks—if they knew in advance that it was just for five weeks. An invitation without indication of duration ("We are starting a Bible study on Tuesday. Would you like to come?") is often refused because the person does not know if he is committed for five weeks or five years.

FORMAT

You may have done a superb job in planning all the other details. But if people come together and nothing significant happens, all your effort is to no avail. How will you present the content that forms the basis for the small group interaction? A rich range of options is available.

You may want to show a film or videocassette to the group and then discuss it. Good films make a great impact. Research by Moody Science films indicates that their films have a greater impact on a small audience than on a large group, and that a series of related films, shown over a period of time, tends to have a cumulative effect.

Or perhaps you will want to play a tape of a lecture or sermon. This can be most stimulating if the material is really good. (Always evaluate materials before you use them.) It is not often that we get to interact with this kind of presentation—we are usually just passive recipients.

Slide shows and filmstrips are also very useful. Twentyonehundred Productions, the media division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, has productions designed specifically to stimulate discussion about basic life issues and Christianity. The really energetic group might wish to produce its own slide show and then invite friends to its premiere performance.

Music is another way to provide content for a group. An evening of contemporary music that discusses the dilemma of modern life might be the perfect starting point for discussion. (Be sure to provide copies of the lyrics so everyone can follow the words.) There is a wide range of Christian music available today that can be juxtaposed with problem-setting secular music.

Speakers also provide good content. It is really appealing, for example, to invite the pastor—not to give a sermon but simply to field questions ("everything you ever wanted to know about Christianity but were afraid to ask"). Or invite an "expert" to give a brief presentation and then lead a discussion. A Christian family counselor, for example, could lead a fascinating discussion. Or a Christian professor talking about how she integrates her faith with her discipline would be of great interest. Group members might prepare a special presentation. It is crucial that any and every speaker see this as an opportunity not to lecture, but to lead a discussion.

Or you could plan a meeting around an event. Some years ago my wife and I invited a group of friends to celebrate C. S. Lewis's birthday. After cake and coffee, we spent the evening reading aloud and discussing excerpts from his many books. We also used the anniversary of Martin Luther King's birthday to discuss the political and social implications of the gospel. Special events of this sort have great appeal, but they do require extra work and creativity.

When it comes right down to it, often the best medium is to discuss the Bible itself. The Bible is rich, fascinating, and largely unknown to most of our contemporaries. And of course the Bible is the standard for defining Christian realities.

Serious Bible study appeals to many today—especially if this study is an exercise in self-discovery and is not just a lecture. The Bible will speak for itself. There is one problem, however. The Bible is "our" book. Christians know it. We love it. We even seem to understand it. And sometimes nonChristians are intimidated when they try to study it with us.

From their point of view, we know so much about the Bible, who are they to venture an opinion? So they are silent. Take great care to ensure that what you do is the group study in which all can participate.

WHAT TO PRESENT

The topic you choose depends on the target group itself. What are its needs, interests, and aspirations? For young married couples who have begun to think about having children, "A Christian View of the Family" could be a stimulating topic. A group of midlife professional people might rather discuss topics related to the issue of meaning and purpose in life, since this relates to needs they feel.

You might also choose a general topic such as "What Christians Believe," "Who Is Jesus?" "Does God Exist?" "Problems in Daily Living," "What Christians Believe and Why," "Learning to Love," or others.

If you pick a topic of real interest to the group, the interaction will be rich. Make sure, however, that the topic interests the nonChristians and not just the Christians in the group!

The best strategy is to plan as well as possible, then be flexible during the event itself so as to adapt to the need and mood of the group. Don't try to do too much in one evening (a common mistake). It is better to have two or three really effective interactive exercises than five or six rushed efforts. And make sure your topic is not too broad. One group actually tried to deal with "The Meaning of Life" in two hours!

Remember that you have fairly limited objectives for this small group discussion. Seek to raise the question of the truth and significance of Christianity in such a way as to whet the people's interest. You will discover, as others have, that the best formats are the most direct. People want to get at the real issues—not politely talk around them.

Most people will enjoy the experience. I have yet to hear that any invited friend has had a bad time. Typically, friends ask: "When can we do this again?" In fact, the most uncomfortable people (if there are any) are the Christians, worrying about all kinds of reactions that seldom occur. Relax and enjoy the experience!

Richard Peace is associate professor of evangelism and media at Gordon-Cornwell Theological Seminary. This article is adapted from his book Small Group Evangelism (InterVarsity Press, 1985).