How can church leaders tell if seeker small groups would make sense for their church?
Poole: I think the seeker small group approach is the most transferable evangelism approach there is. A church doesn’t have to consider itself contemporary or seeker-friendly.
Pippert: I agree. Three areas must exist for evangelism to be a dynamic part of church life: one-on-one evangelism—your people must know how to be an incarnational, relational witness; small group evangelism—seeker small group Bible studies fit that need; and large group evangelism seeker events. Most churches just do the last one and then wonder why their parishioners feel evangelism is best done by “professionals.”
What type of person is attracted to a seeker small group?
Poole: It’s not just a heady group of intellectuals sitting around talking apologetics. Seeker small groups are made up of people who come from all types of backgrounds—some who are very intelligent, others who just have a hurt or are disappointed in God, church or past spiritual relationships with people. Chae: I’d add that small groups appeal to a seeker because they are very relationship-based, and seekers fit right in. Our church attracts 22- to 35-year-old engineers from Silicon Valley, who work 40 to 50 hours a week in front of a computer. What they’re not getting in this area are home groups, where they can just be themselves.
When our church began, we were 100 percent Korean. Now we are 60 percent Chinese, 10 percent mixed and the remaining 30 percent Korean.
Pippert: I have seen white, black, Hispanic, Asian, male, female, collegiate and a huge age range of people in seeker groups. It can be someone who’s simply curious—they’ve always been interested in the Bible, but they don’t want to go to church to find out about it. It can be someone who’s intellectually curious or is just hungry for community, or someone who’s a genuine spiritual seeker. Then, there are the people who have problems and they’re looking for answers.
