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January 14, 2013 by Gerald Hiestand
Small Groups and Adult Bible Fellowships
At my church we offer both Small Groups and Adult Bible Fellowships. Participation in each is about 30% of our total adult attendance.
Our Adult Ministries Pastor and I are doing some research into other churches, trying to locate churches about our size (we’re around 1,100 attenders including children) that successfully offers both Small Groups and ABF’s. And by successful, I’m thinking at least 60% participation in each ministry.
Anyone serve or attend or know of a church that is managing that? Or trying to manage that? If so, leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail. I’d love to hear from you.
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About the SAET Blog
Welcome to the SAET blog. Herein you will find the theological/pastoral ramblings of the Rev. Matthew Mason, the good Doctor Jason Hood, and Pastor Gerald Hiestand. All three write under the premise that theology and the pastorate belong together, and that (at least some) pastors must once again function as writing theologians for the wider church, for the ecclesial renewal of theology and the theological renewal of the church.
Contributors
Gerald Hiestand
Gerald has served as the SAET board president since 2006. He has been in pastoral ministry since 1999, and serves currently as the Senior Associate Pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, IL. He is pursuing a PhD in Classical Studies from the University of Kent, Canterbury.
Jason Hood
Jason is a graduate of Rhodes College, Reformed Theological Seminary, Highland Theological College and the Univ. of Aberdeen. Jason works as Scholar-in-Residence and director of Christ College Residency Program at Christ UMC. He's trying to figure out the twitter thing, @jasonbhood, and sometimes writes for ChristianityToday.com.
Matthew Mason
Matthew earned an MTh at Oak Hill College, London. He is an Assistant Pastor at Church of the Resurrection, Washington D. C. (Anglican Province of Rwanda).
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Recent Comments
People may find it easier to answer your question if you tell us what the difference is between the two
01/15/13 8:49 AM | Comment Link
Indeed!
A small group is generally a group of 6-15 people that meet weekly (usually in a home) for prayer and perhaps a bible study. They ideally entail deep relationships that move beyond the surface.
An ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) is a large group of people (30-100 or more) that meets on Sunday mornings at the church for a time of teaching and fellowship. They may occasionally get together for social activities as well. An ABF is kind of a combination between a traditional Adult Sunday School class, and a contemporary Small Group.
01/15/13 11:31 AM | Comment Link
OK. I can’t help then, because adult Sunday School, particularly on groups that large, is pretty rare here in the UK. I know of one instance, and that’s in a small church. Small groups are pretty common; in fact, my church (http://www.thecrowdedhouse.org/) makes the small group organizationally primary and the Sunday meeting secondary (the latter is a Gathering of the former).
01/26/13 4:16 PM | Comment Link
I’m grateful that a friend and former associate directed me to your blog. I’m Adult Ministries Pastor at Berean Baptist Church, Burnsville, MN. We are a 50-year-old church with a tradition of ABFs along with an openness to small groups – but we have a mixed record of enthusiastic involvement and times of dormancy. We average about 2,000 in our worship services and children’s Sunday School. Currently our thirteen ABFs average just under 500 in weekly attendance. Our small groups are currently nearly impossible to monitor and quantify.
There are some on our staff that advocate an all-ABF or an all-small group model. I, on the other hand, strongly advocate for a both/and approach. Anecdotally, our older parishioners gravitate towards the ABF model while the younger generation likes the intimacy and flexibility of small groups.
We’re also facing a space crunch and thus the promotion of the small group model seems to a be more prudent approach from a stewardship perspective.
02/5/13 4:14 PM | Comment Link