Calvary Christian Reformed Church

Co-Pastor: Bruce Ballast

The Value of Small Groups In Our Church: Our house fellowship groups are a vital part of our ministry for at least three reasons.

"First, our small groups facilitate healthy biblical relationships and ministry among our people. We now have two morning services, and we will soon add another. Because of our numbers, people simply can't get to know one another in the worship services alone. And how can we be the church without really knowing our Christian family? We believe this is so important that we make becoming a part of a house fellowship a prerequisite for joining our church. It is through these small groups, where people care for one another, that real ministry happens.

"Second, we've found that our house fellowship ministry has been the primary means to bring new people into the church. Furthermore, we encourage each group to have a community service project. This helps our people become more aware of the needs in the community and provides an opportunity for them to build bridges to nonChristians.

"Third, without small groups we would have a much larger ‘back door.' Prior to beginning our small group ministry, a little more than five years ago, about nve hundred people attended our worship services. A lot of visitors came in the front door, but almost as many went out the back door. We had maintained the same level of attendance for more than two years. After we developed our house fellowship ministry, we began to retain a much larger portion of the visitors."

A Snapshot View:

• Sunday worship attendance: Between 900 and 1,000
• Church growth: Over the past five years we've grown from approximately 500 to more than 900. As I mentioned earlier, since we began our house fellowship groups, we have a much higher rate of retention.
• Number of people involved in small groups: "Approximately one-half of the adults in the congregation."
• Name for small groups: House Fellowships
• Average number of people per group: 12–16
• Frequency of group meetings: Groups hold a regular meeting plus an additional social gathering once a month. Each house fellowship contracts to meet for approximately eighteen months.
• Leadership training: "Each quarter we conduct a Ministry Institute. We offer a wide variety of courses, including ‘Prayer,' ‘How to Study the Bible,' ‘Parenting Young Children,' ‘How to Manage Your Money,' ‘Growing Through Grief,' and ‘Stress Management.' These courses generally last from four to twelve weeks. We also offer courses specifically for those interested in leading a house fellowship group, including ‘Small Group Dynamics,' ‘Leading Bible Discussions,' and ‘Christian Care.' These courses are conducted using a small group format in order to help people understand how a group can and should function. Each quarter we train around seventy to eighty people for small group leadership. In addition to these courses, we have regular training and support meetings for the current small group leaders.

  We offer another course, ‘Hospitality,' for those who don't have the desire to lead a small group, but who want to make their home available to one of the house fellowship groups. This has been a real plus for a lot of people. They get excited when they see something they can do."

Mistakes We've Made:" We didn't provide adequate training for our leaders in the beginning. It's important that they know how to lead a Bible study as a discussion rather than as a lecture. And they need to have a good understanding of what it means to care, to listen. I'm more and more convinced that good leadership training is essential for healthy small groups.

"Another mistake we made was not having a clearly defined group contract. When we began our small groups, we sort of threw things together. Without clarity, we ended up with disappointed and frustrated people. Today when someone joins a group, he knows exactly what the purpose of the group is, what the leader's role is, how often the group meets, what time the meetings begin and end, where they will be held, and what material will be studied or discussed."