Four practical benefits of “off-campus” groups
1. A less expensive structure: One of the primary reasons more and more groups will meet off-campus is that less and less churches will spend significant resources building large “educational wings” for adult groups. These churches will strategically choose to take advantage of square footage that is already being heated/cooled and already being paid for on a home mortgage.
2. More volunteers for kids and students: Some churches continue to struggle with enough volunteers to invest properly in the kids and students each week. Churches that utilize off-campus groups free up a good number of leaders for the kids and student ministries.
3. Easier entry for someone who doesn’t go to church: While on-campus groups provide an easier step for someone who attends worship services, off-campus groups provide an easier step for someone who doesn’t attend church. Each summer Kaye leads a women’s group in our neighborhood, and each summer we are so encouraged by folks who come who don’t go to church anywhere but are interested in attending a Bible study.
4. More relational time: Groups that meet off-campus do provide more time for interaction and conversation. And because it is more difficult for a new person to just show up at a house, the groups are more likely to lean toward “closed” even if they are not officially “closed.” This means it is easier for the discussions to go to a deeper place because the make-up of the group is not constantly changing.
Managing the downside of “on-campus” groups:
If your church offers on-campus groups, you can benefit from easier movement from your worship service(s), easier coaching as some leaders and groups meet at the same time at the same facility, and built-in programming for the kids.
But there will be some downsides to the approach as well:
- Because the groups meet in rooms at a church, the rooms will likely feel more like a classroom than a living room.
- Because there is a clear start and stop time and a continual flow of new people, there are some challenges with connection and transparent conversation.
- Because groups meet when kids and student ministries meet, groups and these ministries will be pursuing some of the same people.
To manage the downside of on-campus groups, consider:
- Adapting the set-up of the rooms to feel more conversational. David Francis, our managing editor of Bible Studies for Life encourages people that “if you want the teacher to talk, set up the room in rows. If you want people to have conversations, together – set up the room in a circle.”
- Training the group leaders on how to welcome new people to the group while still having a level of transparent conversation.
- Encouraging and training groups to meet together outside the “study time” so that the relationships will further develop.
- Spending extra energy helping the kids and student ministries recruit and develop leaders.
Managing the downside of “off-campus” groups:
If your church offers off-campus groups, you can benefit from a less expensive structure (no educational facility), more leaders in kids and student ministries, and more transparency and relational time during group meetings.
But there will be some downsides to this approach:
- Movement from the weekend worship gathering to a small group is a greater challenge.
- Coaching leaders and observing small groups can be daunting as leaders and groups are spread out throughout the county/city.
- Handling “childcare” for groups with kids can be a constant question.
To manage the downside of off-campus groups, consider:
- Focusing significant strategic energy and attention to helping unconnected people move to a small group. I put it to one pastor this way: “If you don’t want to invest the jingle to build space for groups but still want 80-90 percent of your people in a group, then take all the energy you would have invested in raising money for a facility and transfer that to designing opportunities and nudging people to groups.” Some churches are effectively doing this by constantly making groups a priority and offering clear and easy opportunities for people to connect to a group.
- Ensuring your group leaders receive consistent shepherding and direction. Similar to the above point, this takes energy and structure.
- Learning from other churches in contexts similar to yours who utilize off-campus groups and continually wrestle with the childcare solution.
Regardless of which approach you take, don’t lose sight of the bigger issue—helping people experience and enjoy Christian community. The challenges are worth it. As Ed Stetzer and I discovered in Transformational Groups, from a research vantage point, someone who is in a group reads the Bible more frequently, shares the gospel more regularly, serves more sacrificially, confesses sins more freely, and gives more generously. Regardless of where they meet, groups matter.
