Small Groups: A Paradigm for Christian Community lthough small group influence without proper direction can be abusive, there is a positive influence when Christ is the focus that can bring people to wholeness. I have heard many testimonies from people who have received Christ as Savior, had their marriages miraculously put back together, had suicides prevented, addictions broken, etc., as a result of the positive influence the Christ-centered small group had on their lives. John Wesley (1703-1791) had a fervent ministry of evangelism which addressed social concerns through small groups. Wesley had a highly organized system of group life including these groups: society, class meeting, band, select society and pertinent band. These groups provided group experience at various levels. Although Wesley received much criticism about his emphasis on confession, Confess your sins to each other (James 5:16) continued to be one of his most quoted scripture verses. These were meetings of small groups of people for the purpose of prayer, reading, and sharing. Frank Buchman (1878-1961), a Lutheran minister, was the founder of the Oxford Group movement (later known as Moral Rearmament) which spread rapidly. Although he was very controversial, his impact on Christianity in the twentieth century cannot be denied. Buchman believed the greatest hindrance in a person's knowing God was the appetites of the flesh. His concept was that everyone was in need of change and people should meet together for confessions and prayer. His principles of change were instrumental in the starting of the Alcoholics Anonymous movement. Garth Lean in his book, On the Tail of a Comet, writes extensively about the life of Frank Buchman. The early AA got its ideas of self-examination, acknowledgment of character defects, restitution for harm done, and working with others, straight from the Oxford Groups and directly from Sam Shoemaker . . . and from nowhere else (152). Shoemaker experienced a change of life through Buchman's ministry which started a 20-year association. Shoemaker later had an effective ministry to alcoholics at Calvary Church in New York City. Lean further quotes Paul Tournier, the Swiss psychiatrist, regarding Buchman's effect on the church. Before Buchman the church felt its job was to teach and preach, but not to find out what was happening in people's souls. The clergy never listened in church, they always talked (153). Many spin-off movements dealing with social ills have found their roots in the AA movement where Buchman's ideas were so influential. Sunday school became the dominant small group movement in the late 1800s. Because it was not limited to a single denomination, it had a broader effect than did the Wesley group meetings. |