Five Traits of a Healthy Community Group
As Mike Polley has mentioned, three important aspects of our Community Groups are:
Gospel Community
Hospitality
Mission
And as each group is different, some will be stronger in certain areas than in others. This also corresponds to the three types of groups we’ve identified.
The groups that tend to be more like a “Small Group” are those that excel in building a strong gospel community. The relationships grow quickly and there is high trust and commitment.
The groups that excel in hospitality are more like our Type 2 groups. They have strong relationships at the core, but are regularly seeking welcome new people.
Our Type 3 groups are our most missional groups who shape their network around evangelism and outreach.
Each of groups can be healthy, and though they’re different, that are still some key aspects they share in common. Mike Breen is helpful here. Breen is a leader in missional church planting and is an expert in multiplying missional community. He’s written and taught a lot on the topic, and has identified five key pieces of a thriving missional community. I’ve adapted his list to apply to our all Community Groups. Regardless of the type of group you lead, here are five traits to keep in mind:
1. Size of an extended family.
A heathy Community Groups is at its best in the range of 10–25 people, as “it is small enough to care but large enough to dare.”
2. Up/In/Out.
A healthy Community Group is made up of Christians who intentionally live out the three dimensions of what it means to be a disciple. As Breen says, “The upward dimension of life with God, inward dimension of life with the Body of Christ together, the outward dimension of fully stepping into a broken world.“
3. Heart for evangelism.
Who are the lost people that God has put into your life? Who are the people to whom God is calling you to share the gospel? Healthy Community Groups are made up of Christians who can answer these questions.
4. Lightweight/Low maintenance.
This is a good category from Breen. If the Community Group can’t be led by volunteers with normal 9-5 jobs, then it’s not lightweight and low maintenance, and therefore, it won’t get traction. It’s got to be simple if it will work and be reproducible.
5. Accountable leaders.
The Community Groups leaders need to be accountable to others in a “dynamic of low control and high accountability.” We’ve called this the accountability/flexibility dynamic, and it’s why we don’t tell groups what to do, but we do ask for regular meeting reports.
