1411 Neelsville Church Rd., Germantown, MD 20874, (301)428-3373

Administrator, Wellspring Conference Center: Myra Thompson Flood

The Value of Small Groups in Our Church: "The way we're structured right now, probably nothing would happen without our small groups. These groups are the basic structure of belonging to the church. My small group, which we named Wellspring, is one of five that make up our parent congregation, Dayspring. Dayspring is one of several congregations that together we call Church of the Saviour. But everything centers around the small groups.

"These small groups, or ‘mission groups,' have two thrusts. First, they're organized around some kind of ministry such as feeding the hungry or assisting street people. Second, each mission group is committed to specific spiritual disciplines. For instance, we in Wellspring have decided to spend one hour a day in the Scriptures and prayer, and we include journaling. Each group decides on its own specifics, whatever fits the life of that group and helps individuals grow.

"Belonging to such a group calls for a high level of commitment over along term. When a person has been around the church for a while and feels that this community is really his home, then we move him toward commitment. The basic disciplines required for membership are to belong to a mission group, to commit to a daily time of prayer and working with Scripture, to attend weekly worship, and to give to the church—beginning with time.

"Each group offers people two main opportunities: growth in a life of prayer and relationship with God, and being faithful as God's people working in the world. That balance provides the richness of this particular form of small group."

A Snapshot View

•Weekly worship attendance: 400-500

•Church growth: "Measuring growth is a bit difficult. People come and go. We have an annual recommitment, so each year people decide if they are going to remain members or not."

•Number of small groups: Wellspring is one of five small groups in the Dayspring congregation.

•Name for small groups: Mission Groups

•Average number of people per group: Anywhere from two to twelve people. Most groups are four to six.

•Frequency of group meetings: Regular group meetings once a week, then other gatherings depending on the group's mission and how often members must meet to accomplish it.

•Leadership training: "Most of the leadership training takes place in what we call the School of Christian Living, a training course that offers, among others, the five required courses for membership. Those courses run for several weeks and have required assignments. People who end up taking on more responsibility may get extra training elsewhere to increase their skills in a specific area.

"We also put a great deal of emphasis on discerning gifts in each member. We feel that if God has called these people together to do His work, then each has unique gifts that will nurture the group's life together and enable them to minister."

Mistakes We've Made: "Early on, the church was not organized around mission groups. The people who were already in fellowship groups wanted to be in missions together. But we discovered that a group that already exists for another reason finds it difficult, if not impossible, to change its emphasis and direct every member to the same mission. We worked for a long time to get those fellowship groups to turn into mission groups. Finally, we had to disband all the groups and start over.

"Another thing is not to get too big About twelve years ago the original Church of the Saviour split into six different congregations. Gordon Cosby, who founded it, once said he felt one mistake we made was staying together too long—it made the split very painful when it came. He encourages us to be ready to split again. That's a different approach, but for the particular life we have together it seems important for the congregations and mission groups to stay small."