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The Winds of Change:
One Church’s Experience in Transitioning to Small Groups

Watching my television in August 2005, I was saddened and sickened by the pictures coming out of the Gulf Coast states in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Living on the Gulf Coast of Florida, I knew that not only was I witnessing a there-but-for-the-grace-of-God-go-I moment, but I was also deeply concerned about the impact a storm such as this could have on the church that I pastor. If my church, like so many others, was completely devastated or was unable to function at its central location, would it survive and how?

I believe it was no small coincidence that long before Katrina hit God had been stirring in the hearts of our pastoral team that it was time to take the church outside the four walls of the building. For months before the winds of Katrina began to blow, we had been in a time of prayer and discovery for the next phase of our congregation’s development. We were sensing it was time to lead our people through some revolutionary changes — moving from a church with small groups to a church of small groups.

Doing Life Together

With the leading of the Holy Spirit and the pictures of Katrina burning in our minds, we announced to the church our strategy for discipleship and the importance of doing life together. During our weekend and midweek services, I began to lay out the biblical pattern of small groups. I also told how the pastoral team believed God was leading us to move outside the confines of our facility. I shared the strategy of how small groups could be the catalyst for assimilating new members into the church, discipling them through study and accountability. Through these close-knit groups, needs could be lovingly met and biblical fellowship (koinonia) could be experienced.

While a few in our congregation were not convinced that this change was in the best interest of the church, we continued to lead as God was directing us. Many people in our church were not familiar with the small-group concept. Our staff and leaders frequently held meetings and coaching opportunities to help people see the benefits for our church. We learned that paradigm shifts do not come easily, so we gave careful attention to those who had concerns; gently but firmly leading them in the direction God was leading.

After weeks of teaching and training the church how to transition from being a church in one central location to a church spread out within the community, we launched 40 groups with more than 400 adults (two-thirds of the adults) into the community. Based on Brett Eastman’s small-group series, Doing Life Together™, we developed five weekend messages that corresponded to the group discussions each week. Each leader was given study guides and a 15-minute DVD we had developed so he could plug and play without feeling the burden of preparing or presenting the main teaching.

Better Together

Group members began to care for one another’s needs, serve and share ministry responsibilities, reach out to their friends and community. They also experienced a joy in their Christian experience when they realized that God had not made them to live life alone. Increasingly, our congregation experienced the power of community and how much better they were together.

One young woman, a new believer, e-mailed me about her and her husband’s first group experience: “I said a small prayer before we left, confessed my fear and trepidation, and also asked Him to help and guide us to find what we were looking for — a strong group of people with whom we could grow in faith and some Christian friends. That night God let me know that He had heard me. We had such a great time. The group accepted us as we were and made us feel like we had always been there. We have built friendships in that group that we are blessed to have. We have come to know what it means to have friends who really care for us and hold us accountable. I am amazed by what God made happen, by that small thing in our lives.”

A Healthy Church

Our congregation has been transformed. It is the healthiest it has ever been as the Body is learning to care for and nourish one another through small groups. Over the last 18 months our congregation has grown, not only spiritually, but also numerically from 800 to 1,200. Our people are experiencing new life in Christ. They are also praying for their friends in more than 70 community groups through-out our area. The pastoral care ministry provided by the pastors has shrunk. Group members are now accompanying other members to the hospital, providing meals, caring for those who have lost a family member, or providing materially for those who have needs.

Small groups have also provided a rich atmosphere for developing leaders. Our system sharpens existing leadership skills while providing opportunity for potential leaders to be discovered and trained.

Ministry Outside the Walls

Eight months after this journey began, my leadership team was recounting the miracles and transformation of our church. One story struck me and brought it all back to Katrina. Kim, a single mother from Mississippi, had been displaced by the storm. Her apartment was leveled and she lost everything she owned. Not knowing what to do, she moved to our city and began working at a local company to put her life back together. After hearing of Kim’s plight, a coworker and member of our church went back to her small group. She shared that Kim and her daughter were sleeping on air mattresses and had no furniture or cooking utensils. This group bought her beds and furnished her apartment, prayed over her new house for God’s blessings, and invited her to church. Kim came to church with her daughter. That Easter she was baptized during our sunrise service at the beach.

My mind quickly went back to that moment in front of my television when God confirmed the direction I was about to lead our church. I was reminded of my question, Would our congregation survive such a storm?

At that moment, I knew we would because we were no longer a church stuck inside the four walls of our building. Our faith and fellowship had been set free to impact our city with the love of Christ, no matter what circumstances might blow through our community.

Mark Canfield, senior pastor, Pinellas Community Church, Saint Petersburg, Florida