By Michael C. Mack
Biblical illiteracy in our culture and churches is a commonly accepted reality today. In a world where moral relativism is more popular than ever, how does the church get back to living by God”s standards?
Brad Himes, involvement director at Broadway Christian Church in Mattoon, Illinois, has developed a solution in his church”s small groups. He says the “Just Push Play” model of small groups has set the bar way too low for meaningful discipleship to occur. Churches have recruited hosts or facilitators rather than shepherd-leaders (1 Peter 5: 2-4), and provided minimal if any training.
“In response,” says Himes in a SmallGroups.com article, “we decided to change our small-group model to help our members become more familiar with God”s Word.” This model relies heavily on Scripture rather than video curriculum. “With God”s Word as the focal point of the meeting,” Himes explains, “people are bringing their Bibles, finding their way around Scripture, and reading God”s Word out loud.”
Transitioning to this model at Broadway necessitated a change in how the church recruits and trains leaders. “We knew if we wanted to see discipleship happening, we”d have to invest in and equip our leaders with tools to make it happen””and a big piece of that is empowering them to read and understand the Bible for themselves,” Himes says.
The church created a new two-part, leader-development program that was more demanding of potential leaders but has provided better discipleship results. In the first part of the training, church leaders cast vision and talk about leader”s responsibilities and expectations. In the final session of this four-week training””which the church holds on Sunday mornings or in a one-day Saturday “boot camp”””the leaders do a study of Acts 1:1-11 to model an effective group meeting focused on the Bible. At the end of this session, church leaders ask the potential leaders to make a commitment to moving forward with their mission.
The second part of this leader-development program consists of an eight-week small group, what some have called a “turbo group” or “pilot group.” They pick up in their study of Acts and learn how to lead a small group through this experience. Nearly everything about this group, from study to snacks, replicates a well-functioning group. The only difference is that the group takes time to discuss important training topics.
The church provides new leaders with three important resources: The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, New Testament Lesson Maker, and Serendipity Bible.
Himes says introducing a new model does bring some pushback. Some might think, for instance, that this model raises the bar too high for leaders. But from anonymous feedback forms, Himes has found the leaders who have gone through this training think the content and length are appropriate. Some have even said they”d like more training.
The big question for church ministry leaders is, “What is the current model producing?” If you”re getting results you never intended, perhaps it”s time to invest in leaders and equip them to study the Bible.
For more details on this story, see www.smallgroups.com/articles/2015/train-leaders-to-study-bible.html.
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