Family Small Group

Posted by Laura

Small groups, community groups, missional communities, or whatever you want to call them have become increasingly popular in the modern church. I love the idea. Community is so central to the Christian faith, and sharing life together with a group of Christians is super important. The church I grew up in didn't really emphasize groups like that a ton, but they did have small groups for middle school and high school students. I joined one in middle school and participated in one during my junior year of high school. Those groups definitely had value, and I became a youth leader later in life in order to facilitate that kind of group for young people.

The church I was at as a young adult had a big push each year for members to join a community group and share life with the people of our church. I joined the one Sarah and Rachel were in at first, but couldn't continue being a part of the group during my undergraduate years. At one point while I was in college, the church tried to create a singles group, and somehow I got roped into it. For about a year, the singles group at our church was me and the two leaders who happened to be two of my close friends at the time. The three of us hung out anyways, but our hangouts somehow became church functions, so we watched High School Musical in the church auditorium because all three of us had church keys (well, two of us, and the third one knew how to break into the building in a pinch). A couple years after that singles group fell apart, I joined another community group that was me and four wonderful couples, three of whom had kids in our youth group. I loved sharing life with them, but I also occasionally felt a little out of place as the only single person in a group of married people (there was also one older woman who briefly attended at the start who was at the time single but had grown kids and young grandkids so I felt alone in my place in life).

I was recently invited into a family small group here in Germany, and after my first visit, my excitement small groups was reinvigorated. It was the first time I was in a small group since starting grad school when I had to leave my last one because the meeting time conflicted with my night classes. This group, however, is far from small, and the significant difference from the community groups I've been in before is that it's a family small group. The kids range from middle grade school to seniors in high school (plus a few college students during school breaks). The parents cover a range of ages as their kids' ages suggest. I'm one of three single women who's ages are spread out as well. The format of the group is gathering for a meal that's eaten spread across whoever's house we're in before rounding everyone up into one room for a short game or activity followed by a devotional led by one of the adults. We then split into several small groups and discuss - as equals - some questions given after the devotion. The kids' input is just as valued as the adults, but they also are regularly exposed to the adults' critical thinking and personal responses to deep questions.

What a cool experience for these students to grow up with adults modeling how to grow in their faith while also receiving affirmation for processing what they think and feel about their faith. That stood out to me right away as a benefit of this model of family group, but I also recognized that as a family group, I didn't feel awkward as a single person. Instead of sticking out, I felt like I more easily blended in because there is such an emphasis on intergenerational value.