This semester our church launched "free market" small groups. This is a big shift from what we were previously doing, and a big gamble, but we have been looking at EVERYTHING lately and feeling free to shift and tweak, and in some cases completely change.
We are a couple of weeks in and I've been pleasantly surprised. Our groups are thriving, and decidedly not shallow. We are connecting with people we have never connected with in small groups previously, and there is a buzz. I just got a call from someone who is starting another group on the black market (not official) since they didn't make the cut to get publicized. I was so pumped!
Groups are not about our systems...they are about people connecting to grow. That's happening right now at our church...so for now free markets are the way we roll...
