Small group ministry is a key to discipleship. It has also been something that many mainline congregations have struggled to develop. But the COVID-19 crisis has both revealed how important they are and shown how this may be the time to start forming these with intentionality during this time.

Many small groups that were functioning prior to the shutdown have continued to meet online. These groups have been important to people before this – they are now even more so in many cases. That’s because people are starved for connections, dealing with lots of new life variables, and experiencing increased anxiety in their lives. They are juggling work, family, relationships, and more and doing so with major new changes – some of which limit or even eliminate previous tactics. Everyone is dealing with things in new ways.

Small groups have been a place to connect, share, study and pray with others. If those relationships already were in place, the move to online was not such a big leap that people wouldn’t make it – they were motivated by the relationships to figure it out, even if it meant new skills and experiences. These groups have flourished and in many cases become even more effective online than before. And the fact that people can meet without leaving home means it is less time consuming and more convenient than before.

For this reason, every ministry should be starting to strategize about how to start or expand these kinds of groups. Now that many people have a few months online, the skill set and anxiety about online things has diminished. Many people have discovered that they like online meetings because of the convenience, safety and access they provide while still offering a place to share information and build relationships. Once a group forms, a new person can be invited to join a group meeting online with less anxiety that being asked to go to a new person’s home or enter a strange church building. In some ways, online feels like its own “place” and we simply change the people who populate that space by joining different meetings. I may gather with a group of mostly new people, but I am at least familiar with the space in which I will meet them. In fact, if my work includes a lot of online time, a visitor may be more comfortable in online space than someone else who is a group “insider.”

So, as you read this, I hope you consider it encouragement to help start small groups during this online time. Groups can meet online and small groups are safer than large groups for physical gatherings – perhaps not always online but in someone’s back yard. They are the relational base that the best discipleship development often comes from. The chance to do something we could/should have been doing better before this challenging time is still here. And if you don’t do something during the COVID shutdown to make your congregation stronger, like anything else that sits still too long, it will be weaker instead.