Ken Braddy

If you want to know whether balance is important, ask a tightrope walker or a technician who installs new tires on your vehicle. If you want to know whether balance is important, ask a nutritionist who encourages her patients to create balanced, healthy diets. But, if you want to know whether balance is important, you might not want to ask group ministry leaders.

Pastors and church leaders responsible for group ministry in their churches like to keep momentum going when groups are growing. So, instead of starting new groups from those larger ones, they tend to move groups into larger spaces so they can continue to grow. On the surface, this may seem to be a good strategy, but it usually has short-term benefits. Larger groups come with their own set of unique challenges. And there are significant reasons to limit the size of groups.

According to the 2022 Greatest Needs of Pastors study, more than 3 in 4 pastors (77%) say developing leaders and volunteers and fostering connections with unchurched people (76%) are ministry needs they face. The Greatest Needs of Pastors study also revealed young pastors (age 18 to 44) and pastors of the largest churches often struggle to develop relationships with unchurched people.

According to the 2022 Greatest Needs of Pastors study, more than 3 in 4 pastors (77 percent) say developing leaders and volunteers and fostering connections with unchurched people (76 percent) are ministry needs they face. The Greatest Needs of Pastors study also revealed young pastors (age 18 to 44) and pastors of the largest churches often struggle to develop relationships with unchurched people.

Training is a vital part of your church’s group ministry success, and it’s a topic I’m passionate about. I’ve been in full-time ministry since 1992, and I have a 30-year history of providing ongoing training for the group leaders in four churches I’ve served as a discipleship/groups pastor.

Split. Divide. Birth. None of those words are recommended when it comes to asking an existing group to start a new one, because each one is associated with pain of some kind.

It seems hard to believe, but I have been leading group ministry in the local church since 1989. My work of supporting group ministry now continues nationally in my role as Lifeway’s director of Sunday School. Central to my more than 30-year ministry message is the challenge for churches to start new groups. Starting new groups isn’t easy, but it is some of the most significant work a church does. There are at least 10 reasons it is good for a church—any church—to start new groups.

As churches regather and get back to a sense of normalcy, people are looking for connection. And they need the gospel. A culture of invitation can certainly bridge both gaps. Who will you invite to your Bible study group?

Leading a virtual group has unique challenges. The 2020 pandemic proved that groups can survive and, in many ways, thrive in an online environment. Reports from around the country demonstrated that a high percentage of groups reached new people through online meeting tools. To prepare and lead engaging virtual studies, do not forget some cardinal rules:

Ken Braddy, director of Sunday School for LifeWay Christian Resources, helps church leaders think through what on-site worship will look like in a post-COVID-19 world.