Today I came across a great blog post by DeAntwan Fitts, pastor of Peace Chapel in Los Angeles, titled “Five Stages of a Healthy Small Group.” Great post, and a very necessary part of what I’m discussing here. DeAntwan begins his post, Healthy small groups do not just happen. They are the result of the leader being INTENTIONAL about moving …

Question #1: Is your group healthy? A healthy group is a group that will naturally grow, develop, bear fruit, and reproduce. Question #2: How do you know if your group is healthy or not? Last spring I wanted to answer the second question so I could help our groups answer the first one. So I thought and prayed and asked …

The other day I was listening to a sermon by Chip Ingram in which he compared authentic community to an “ecosystem” (a link to the MP3 can be found at the bottom of this blog entry). I like this comparison. For years I’ve taught that authentic Christian community is the “environment” or “culture” where people grow best. I used to …