For those who don’t know, a cul-de-sac is a half-circular blip off a road that doesn’t go anywhere. As a kid, my family and I lived on one, and I loved it. Without through-traffic, my sister and I could skate in the street and never worry about getting hit. Our cul-de-sac may not have been helpful for going somewhere, but it was comfortable.
I think that describes what many folks want out of their church’s small groups—a small, manageable group of people that offers a refuge from the diversity and challenges of the larger church. Many churches want their small groups to be familiar and safe.
But do small groups have to be this way? Not necessarily. I believe we should treat small groups not as cul-de-sacs but as thoroughfares. You drive through them to get somewhere.
I realize folks like small groups for a variety of reasons. Some are evangelistic, while others function as seasonal Bible studies. Some focus on acute local needs, while others attend to specific sin issues. Yet sometimes groups are for fellowship and community, and that’s my interest here—when churches employ small groups as community builders.
Community building is a fruitful but risky strategy for
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