The Small Group of the Revolving Door
My current Small Group has been meeting for two Lents now. We have about seven or eight people come each week, and since the beginning of our group we have intentionally left it “OPEN” so that people who are looking to join a group can come.
Because of this, we have had quite a few people contact us about joining our group. It can be a rather frustrating exercise: phone calls not returned; people who come once or twice and then don’t come again; people who say they’re going to come never do. We’ve actually started not telling our Small Group when someone new said they were going to be there because we don’t like disappointing them when the person doesn’t show up.
But those who do come, and “stick,” have been a huge blessing to us. It’s a great reminder that people are there who are looking for the kind of community that Small Groups provide, and that they do want to form relationships with the Lord and with others.
A few months ago, my husband and I created a list of the people who have come to our group–no matter how long they stayed (the reasons for no coming anymore vary: they found a different group that fit better, they are taking a break, they moved, et cetera . . .). The list was long. Just now when I spent a couple minutes trying to recreate the list, I listed 27 names. This doesn’t include all of the inquires we get from people who don’t end up coming (usually one or two a month).
There are a couple ways you can look at this list. At times, it can be depressing to see how many people came in and went out again, without holding onto the community. I have to intentionally try to view it another way—as the number of people that God allowed us to encourage, be available to, and experience his desire for community with.
Despite the often-times revolving nature of a group that is “OPEN” in a culture like L.A., I think that God has a purpose for those groups. As people look to join a Small Group, it may be that welcoming presence, that phone call or email that helps them put a chip in the walls to actually stepping into someone’s home or workplace, or that one Tuesday night that they needed a reminder that God is still alive and involved in our lives—your group was there for them.
Oh, and regardless of how many times a person has come to our Small Group, we still include him or her in our weekly prayer & potluck reminder email. So if they ever choose to walk back into our Small Group, they know that they’re welcome to do so.
Jen Hurst
Associate Director of Small Groups
jen.hurst@belairpres.org
