Comments on: Sunday School vs Small Groups

By: Benlreed

Benlreed — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:08:11 +0000

Nate, great thoughts. 2 follow-up thoughts from me:
1. Small groups can't be EVERYTHING when it comes to discipleship. A person needs to do more than just show up to small group and expect to grow in their faith. Relationships are essential, but they're not absolutely everything. Gathering together in larger settings, serving together, personal devotional time, and lots of other things are also essential to spiritual growth.
2. Small groups are IT right now…in my opinion, at least. They're IT in terms of helping people build relationships…with people they may or may not have been drawn to "naturally" (which is important, because God often uses people who are not like us to challenge us and help us grow). If you boil down small groups to their lowest common denominator, I'd say the goal is discipleship through relationships. Small groups do that effectively right now. But they may not in the next decade. And at that point, I'm willing to drop "small groups" in favor of something else. And it's not that I'm just willing to shift with the changing winds of people's desires, but that I'm willing to change the strategy to accomplish the vision.

By: @NateEdmondson

@NateEdmondson — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:32:09 +0000

Sorry I'm a month and a half late posting.. haha

I've always thought small groups were the best simply because the adults I respect the most have said that they've seen better discipleship take place in a small group environment than in Sunday school. Personally, though, I wouldn't credit my spiritual growth and formation (as little as it may be) to either. My spiritual growth has been most influenced by purposeful relationships from guys like my dad, Michael Bayne, You, and Taylor Hughes.

Based on my experience, watching both systems, and on conversations I've had with other teenagers, I think that there's something else out there that hasn't been discovered yet for student ministry. I think it will be more like small groups in nature, but it needs to be more direct and challenging with students.

By: You should not be in a small group if… « eFlections on Doing Life

You should not be in a small group if… « eFlections on Doing Life — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:43:04 +0000

[...] …you think that discipleship is limited to information transfer. It’s not! Read more about my thoughts about discipleship HERE. [...]

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:32:52 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by benreed: Are you a “Sunday School” person or a “Small Groups” person? Read my thoughts, and join in the debate here: http://bit.ly/2DSjWg...

By: Rissa Larson

Rissa Larson — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:24:51 +0000

For my students, I am a Sunday school person. SO many times they don't have a choice as to being there or not so it the challenge is even bigger.Teachers must love on students and present the word God is directing them to…BUT selfishly…small groups work best for my husband and myself..we love the community of different ages and experiences coming together to hash out what God is saying.

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Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:07:06 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by benreed, benreed. benreed said: Are you a "Sunday School" person or a "Small Groups" person? Read my thoughts, and join in the debate here: http://bit.ly/2DSjWg [...]

By: Eddie Christenberry

Eddie Christenberry — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:01:03 +0000

You know my thoughts… there are VERY few places that SS can still work. I just firmly believe that life change happens best in the context of a SG environment, whether that be for adults, students, or children.

By: Zach Powell

Zach Powell — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:49:13 +0000

In terms of student ministry, we're getting ready to do both.

I'm using Sunday School as an entry point. I still believe Sunday School works and it's still a captive audience. If I can introduce some things in SS and then allow our students to unpack it in a small group setting later on. It also allows me to put two different leaders/adults to love on them. I may be in a dying breed but I believe Sunday School still works.