Small Groups & Church Planting
Why Small Groups Are the Foundation Every New Church Plant Needs.
How establishing groups early positions a new church for momentum, health, and lasting assimilation.
Introduction
Discipleship is the primary mission of the church to a lost and dying world.
"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
When a church plant launches, the temptation is to pour every ounce of energy into Sunday morning. The music has to sound right, the message has to land, the parking team has to be sharp. All of that matters. But research and experience both point to the same conclusion: what happens Monday through Saturday, in living rooms and around kitchen tables, matters more in determining whether a new church survives its first few years than almost anything that happens on stage.
Lifeway Research’s landmark study on church growth found that small group participation is one of the strongest predictors of a healthy, growing congregation, and the data cuts hardest for smaller churches. Among congregations under 50 in attendance, where most church plants start, 39 percent report that fewer than a quarter of their people are involved in a group, compared to just 21 percent among churches over 250. The churches that most need the relational glue of groups are often the ones missing it. For a plant, closing that gap early is not optional. It is foundational. Additionally, church plants often gather in a transient tabernacle (rental facility), whereas an established church gathers in a temple (owned facility). Tabernacle ministry means Monday-through-Saturday gatherings must take place in a third space outside a rental facility, which is often unavailable throughout the week. A third space such as a restaurant, home
Groups Get You Established
The first church was ignited by a large gathering of 3,000 people who repented and were baptized by the Apostle Peter's Spirit-filled sermon. After this ignition, groups established the church. Acts 2:42–47 describes believers devoting themselves “to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers . . . attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes.” Corporate gathering and home gathering were never competitors. They were two halves of one church. As Build Groups’ Group Leader Training workbook puts it, healthy groups require “healthy leaders with healthy doctrine, healthy expectations, a transformative Gospel, and a local church’s support and oversight.” Get that foundation right early, and everything else — assimilation, discipleship, volunteers, leadership development — has somewhere to stand.
Groups Build Momentum
Momentum is naturally baked into the "newness" of a new church launching. The grand opening of sorts can bring many people out to church who haven't been in years, never been, or who were uncommitted elsewhere, and help them find a new home that engages them at a new level they hadn't before.
Despite the natural momentum of a new church launch, it's short-lasting. The newness and excitement disappear swiftly.
In fact, momentum isn't even an accurate description. It's more like an exciting, attractive time with low commitment. Momentum is built when people buy into something that's unattractive, unexciting, and requires the type of ministry commitment that deters the average person.
Therefore, momentum rarely comes from bigger production. It comes from multiplication. Lifeway’s research shows churches see an average of just 15 new commitments to Christ per year, and only 13 percent report 20 or more — down sharply from a decade ago. But groups are built to multiply. Every leader you develop, every group that births a new group, adds another front line for growth that does not depend on you personally showing up. Ed Stetzer put it plainly: “If we get the relationships right, the information will follow.” The Group Leader Training workbook echoes this as an end goal, not a side effect: “Biblically, the end goal of groups is to multiply.”
For a young church with limited staff, that multiplying engine is often the only sustainable path to real momentum - groups.
Groups Position You for Health
Rick Warren’s line has become almost a proverb in group ministry: “Small groups are the church.” It's not a slogan. It is a biblical observation. When the church was established in Acts 2, the first example of the church being the church looks much like a modern-day small group, as seen in Acts 2:42-47:
"42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."
A church of any size — but especially a new one — cannot disciple people well through the platform alone. The Group Leader Training Workbook is direct about this in expressing how biblical community, the New Testament "One Anothers," cannot be obeyed by simply worshipping Sunday mornings. Health is not produced by a great weekend experience alone. It's the launchpad for continued health and growth throughout the week, building biblical community that lays a foundation for maturing disciples. It is produced when people are known, held accountable, and given somewhere to contribute. Groups are the primary vehicle for this.
Groups Assimilate Your Visitors
Every plant lives or dies by whether first-time guests become second-time guests, and second-time guests become members. We want people to believe, belong, and become all that God has meant for them, not just be saved. A Sunday service can make someone feel welcomed for an hour. A group makes someone known for a lifetime. When a visitor’s name is remembered, their story is heard, and their week is prayed over, they stop being a guest and start becoming family — and family doesn’t leave.
A new church plant has a short runway and a long mission. Small groups are not one ministry among many to launch eventually. They are the scaffolding that holds everything else up. Build leaders. Build groups. Build disciples. Everything a healthy church becomes starts there.
Groups Increase Generosity
Lastly, Build Groups research shows that the more people you get connected to the groups, the greater their generosity will be. There is a simple principle to conclude from this: "When people get, they want to give." For every household that joins and belongs in a group, generosity increases by about $2,600 on average. For a church plant to create a sustainable long-term plan, it must have financial stability to reach its destination. Getting people into groups increases their discipleship trajectory. Jesus made it abundantly clear that giving of one's finances to the local church is a character quality to be discipled and an evidence of spiritual maturity.
Small Groups are a non-negotiable for a church planter and a necessary foundation. Establishing groups early positions a new church for momentum, health, assimilation, and increasing financial stability.
AUTHOR
Adam Erlichman
CEO and Founder at Build Groups in Dallas, TX. Adam has served as an Executive, Groups, Young Adult, and Youth Pastor at several churches. Author of six best-selling books. See more about Build Groups consulting services to strengthen churches on the following topics:
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