Semester-Based Approach

At First Assembly our groups meet on a semester-based system. This is designed to harness the momentum created by the ebbs and flows of life and to take advantage of the opportunities these rhythms create. It also gives people new to the small group environment specific entry and exit points to the group.

There is some concern, however, that this format may prevent deep and meaningful relationships from forming. That the group will end just as people are really getting to know each other.

This is one of the most common concerns about the semester-based small group system. But according to Kerrick Thomas, executive pastor at Journey Church, this is based on fundamentally flawed information…

Most church leaders assume that, if involved in a “standard” 18-24 month small group system, 10-12 people will sign up, love being together and become intimate friends. But that’s not what really happens…

In reality, some people will click and others won’t. If the group extends beyond 12 weeks, those who haven’t really clicked start looking for ways to get out. Their attendance gets spotty. And even those who do form strong friendships begin to get bored before that year and a half to two years is up.

The goal of the semester-based group is not to encourage intimate relationships, but to create a safe, healthy environment through which basic friendships can form. Those meaningful relationships that start during the semester will continue to grow naturally outside the group after it ends.

We would all be much better off if we stopped promising (and then trying to force) intimate relationships within our small groups. It’s a promise we can’t deliver on. What we can and should deliver is a safe, healthy social environment where people can meet other like-minded people so that relationships can develop naturally.

This truth takes a lot of pressure off of small group leaders. Too often, leaders feel like failures when the people in their groups don’t become great friends.

So instead of promising amazing, intimate relationships our goal is simply to provide places where newcomers can meet some other cool people, learn something new and explore what it means to know God more deeply.