Viewing Grouplife as ‘church’

In many ways, modern culture has redefined ‘church’ with an emphasis on the organization, the building, and large group worship.  We forget that when Paul wrote about ‘ecclesia’ (church), he was talking about small groups of people gathering in homes all over the landscape.  His image of ‘ecclesia’ was very different from our own.  ‘Ecclesia’ simply meant an assembly or gathering and could refer to both small and large gatherings of people.  Today, most churches operate in such a way that the most important place of connection is the weekly service, and as a result, small groups are viewed more like ’sub-units’ of the ‘real’ church.

Even though most churches would agree with Paul’s early visions for the church, the way we do church now has devalued the small group experience considerably.  As a result, people see small group gatherings as less important as the Sunday worship service and because of this, see group life as optional.

Are we willing to embrace small groups as ‘church’ just like we embrace the Sunday service as ‘church’?  This is a question every church must wrestle with.  Paul’s vision for ‘ecclesia’ was for both large and small gatherings to occur and that both were equally important.  What do you think?

*Thanks to Scott Boren, author of ‘The Relational Way’, for the thoughts that created this post.*