Disciples Together: The Small Group as a Vehicle for Discipleship Formation

Abstract This article relates the findings of research work on church based small groups carried out in the North-East of England. The research which combines qualitative and quantitative data from 56 church communities, confirms and extends research carried out in North America by Robert Wuthnow indicating that small groups are highly valued by participants as the means of spiritual growth but tend to be oriented towards the concerns and problems of members, acting primarily as a form of mutual support. Furthermore, the conceptualization of mature Christian discipleship identified by participants prioritizes personal qualities over action and thus reveals a notion of formation which is removed from encounter with the divine in the midst of the life of the world. The author argues that in the twenty-first century the cultural form on which church sponsored small groups are (often unknowingly) based is that of the self-help group, a form of small group significantly different from previous periods. In view of the increasing practice of belonging to small groups among churchgoers and the growing discourse on the relationship between small groups, discipleship and mission, it is necessary to recognize the weaknesses in the current cultural form and address these by relocating small groups with broader kingdom values and resourcing them in new ways.