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Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers Episode 186: What We Learned About Groups and Community During This Pandemic

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris and Brian catch up with three previous guests about the lessons they learned from doing groups in 2020, and how they are going to apply them in 2021.

 

Ashley Anderson Ashley Anderson is community groups leader at Church of the City in New York, New York.
Dave Enns Dave Enns is the pastor of life group ministries at North Coast Church in San Diego, California.
Jon Hughes Jon Hughes is adult ministries director at Community Christian Church in Chicago, Illinois.

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in Lifeway’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at Lifeway and author of Leading Small Groups.

Church Leadership

Three Creative Ways to Encourage Distanced Group Members

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Small groups are meeting in many forms right now.

Some have resumed meeting in person but maybe not in the typical locations or as frequently. Others are meeting only online and meeting more frequently than before. And still others meet partially in person and partially online.

What does staying connected look like in this environment? Whether you are beginning to see your group members in person again or not, we all need unique encouragement as we journey through this unusual time. Here are three creative ways to make steps in this direction.

Use Reminders
Much occupies our time and mental space, but we can schedule interruptions. Choose a different group member for each day of the week, and then set an encouragement reminder for a specific time on your phone. Each day when you receive your reminder, text one of your group members with three things that you specifically appreciate about them and that you are praying for them that day. Using something simple like the reminder app on your phone can be a means of regular encouragement to your group members.

Challenge Up
Sometimes the best way to receive encouragement is in the form of a challenge. In this strange season, challenge your group members to step up. Ask them to share a verse that they read that day or week with another person in the group via text or phone call. This will not only challenge group members to continue digging into the Word but will also help them focus on the truth of those verses that they might share with someone else.

Memorize More
Group members might be dealing with various levels of doubt, insecurity, instability, exhaustion, and more. It can become easy to give an undue amount of attention to these thoughts and feelings. But, we can fight discouragement through the truth of Scripture. To give your group encouragement, pick a passage to commit to memorizing as a group during the next month. As your group members work on remembering the verses throughout the day, this can replace the fears, doubts, and other discouraging feelings they face with the deep encouragement of the Bible.

We must commit to encouraging each other throughout this time. As you step up as the group leader and challenge others to do the same, we will all learn to love Christ more deeply and experience the encouragement found in Him.

If you need additional resources to aid your group in encouragement, check out Derwin Gray’s Bible study “The Good Life” about finding true happiness through the Beatitudes.

Group Leadership

Who is Your All?

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In the front entrance of Lifeway sits a display case that includes some notes written by Arthur Flake. He had been hired as the first Director of Sunday School and was preparing to write his first book in that role. The page on display includes this statement: All need to study the Bible. Most of us would agree with this statement and move on. A few might change the word need to should or ought, but would still affirm the spirit of the statement. 

The statement “all need to study the Bible” seems simple until we start to look at the history behind this statement. 

  1. It was 1920. The world had endured the Spanish Flu and World War 1 in 1918, followed by social unrest in America in 1919. High unemployment, stiff competition for jobs (soldiers returned from Europe without any re-entry plan), and an economy ramping down after a war contributed to a season of riots. Every region was impacted and stained in some way. We still don’t know how many people actually died in this season. To call for ALL to be in Bible study in 1920 went in the face of what had been going on in society. Flake was calling for a radical change with Bible study groups leading the way.    
  2. ALL came from experience. Flake had built a Bible study ministry that embraced the belief that all people need to study the Bible. He was responsible for the Bible study groups at First Baptist Church in Ft. Worth, TX prior to returning to what is now Lifeway as director of Sunday School. At that time in their history, FBCFW met in three different locations as they awaited the rebuilding of their facilities (fire gutted the facilities in 1912). Groups met in whatever space they could find and at times other than Sunday. In January of 1920, FBCFW became the largest attended Sunday School in the US at the time. 
  3. ALL is not so easy to define. We might be tempted to think of prejudice only in terms of race but it goes beyond that. In FBCFW at that time, one could find union leaders and union busters, police officers and convicted criminals, white collar workers and blue collar workers. Each of these designations created some type of division with a prejudice held somewhere in the other group. That is how labels and distinctions play out.  

That brings us to the question of our all. Who is missing from our Bible study groups and why? Do we have a place for “them” or have we made it clear that those outside of our group are not welcome? Have we already answered “no” for them before inviting them to join us for Bible study? Who might attend if we really did have the mentality that “ALL people need to study the Bible”? 

Do our actions match our words that everyone needs to study the Bible? Who is your all and what are you doing to involve them in Bible study? 

Dwayne McCrary is a team leader at Lifeway, adjunct professor at Midwestern BTS, and Bible study leader in the church he attends.

Group Leadership

Six Reasons Why Personal Study Guides are More Important Than Ever

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We’re six months into our country’s attempt to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus. Many of us were sent home to work. Our churches moved to online worship and group Bible studies. Some churches have now begun to meet again on campus for worship, and others have reopened their Bible study groups with safety precautions in place. But there are a good number of churches that cannot meet because of guidelines given by their state or local leaders. “One size doesn’t fit all” is certainly true of how churches are responding to the need to get their people back together. But there is a way for churches to continue to encourage group members to press on in their journey to be more fully obedient disciples. And the plan involves a Bible study tool that has been around for over 100 years!

I work for Lifeway, a company that produces discipleship tools called Personal Study Guides (some people still refer to them as “quarterlies” because they last 13 weeks before a new series begins). Each session introduces a biblical text, has a main point, helps the reader understand the biblical background, customs, and practices of the times, and is a tool that helps growing Christians self-feed on God’s Word. There are also key word studies and application suggestions to help people live out the Bible in their daily lives. These personal study guides are used in a group Bible study, and they are also studied by individual group members in between their group times.

COVID-19 has proved challenging for churches. As we slowly return to our church campuses and some semblance of normalcy, personal study guides are more important than ever before. Even while people are separated and cannot meet, they can still use the personal study guide to learn and apply God’s Word in these tumultuous times. Here are some reasons why personal study guides are more important than ever before.

  1. Reading the Bible and other Christian literature daily is critical for year-over-year growth. If you don’t believe me, read the book The Shape of Faith to Come by Dr. Brad Waggoner. It was demonstrated through research that the number one factor and predictor of a person’s growth as a disciple is whether they self-feed on God’s Word or not. During the days of “shelter in place,” curfews, and “safer at home” guidelines, this is the perfect time for a sequestered believer to have a discipleship tool in their hands that God can use to comfort them and speak to them daily. 
  2. Because of social distancing and the rise of virtual groups, a personal study guide will give people a common focal point. When groups get together online, they are going to want (and need) to talk. Having a personal study guide that you read, study, and respond to gives every member of the group a common point around which to study and share insights. What could be better for churches than placing a discipleship tool in the hands of every adult member and guest, knowing that people are sheltering in place, working from home, and finding themselves with some amount of time on their hands each day? Now more than ever, adults are going to want and need something on which to focus besides COVID-19. What better to focus on daily than God’s Word?
  3. Because personal study guides are available digitally, each person in a separated group can have a study guide without any physical contact. Virtual classes need virtual curriculum, and the personal study guides produced by Lifeway come in the form of E-books. With a few keystrokes, personal study guides can be in members’ inboxes in a matter of seconds, making distribution a snap.
  4. A personal study guide provides group members with an interactive and engaging experience. Personal study guides produced by Lifeway have excellent authors who write each session. They bring their education, ministry experiences, and much more to the pages of the personal study guides. Questions placed throughout each session help people think critically about spiritual matters. Anyone using a personal study guide benefits from the author’s expertise, training, and background.  Places to write responses and journal thoughts further enhance the experience.
  5. A personal study guide is based on a wise discipleship plan crafted by experts. It takes painstaking work to create complex plans for a Bible study series (those plans determine the scope and sequence—the topics and the order in which they are studied—of the studies). These plans have been developed by specialists with advanced degrees in theology and Christian education, working together to determine what topics are studied and in what order. 
  6. A personal study guide is an affordable way to disciple people. Did you know that you can purchase a study guide for each group member for only $3.15 each? That’s just $.03 per person, per day! What an investment opportunity for every church. Personally, I consider this to be the absolute best value when it comes to disciple-making.

Yes, COVID-19 has changed us as a nation, and it has changed our churches. But I believe it is going to change us for the better! We are already realizing how important group Bible studies are to God’s people. And we are relearning that people need a trustworthy tool and a well-crafted plan for helping people grow as disciples. Making disciples was one of the final things Jesus told His church to do (Matthew 28:18ff). Today, personal study guides are more important than ever in the disciple-making process.

Group Leadership

Leading Better Discussion in a Group that is Meeting Online

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Every once in a while, we all need a little boost. Some of us need a boost of energy. Others need a boost of confidence. If you are leading an online Bible study group, chances are you could use some ways to boost the discussion taking place. By now you’ve learned that teaching online is different than teaching in a classroom or living room. Your group members may not have fully adjusted to this new virtual environment, but you can have great discussion with a little boost. Here are 6 ways to boost discussion in your online group:

  1. Call on a specific person to answer a specific question. By asking a person to respond to your question, you’ll get better responses than if you throw a question out to the group. You can even say to another person, “I’m coming to you next with the same question…get ready!”
  2. Send questions to group members in advance of the Bible study. Use email or text messaging to send a few questions to your group members before you meet. If they have a day or two to ponder the questions, you’ll get a boost in the discussion during your Bible study.
  3. Do not answer your own questions. If you are a group leader and frequently ask questions in your group, do not let silence intimidate you into answering your questions. If you do, you’ll train group members to wait for you to respond. Ask your question, wait 15-20 seconds, take a sip of coffee and relax, and I promise that someone in your group will be more uncomfortable with the silence and they’ll answer your question—just wait them out! Additionally, Christian educator and groups expert Robert Pamino’s research validated that the quality of responses goes up after people have had at least 20 seconds to contemplate their answers.
  4. Ask group members to raise their hand, use the chat feature, or use the “raise hand” feature in your online meeting tool. Your online meeting tool, such as Zoom, will have features like “chat” and “raise hand.” Encourage your group members to use these, but don’t forget about the old-fashioned way…ask them to physically raise their hand if they want to ask a question or respond to one.
  5. Send group members to a breakout room. If you use Zoom, the tool can divide your group into smaller ones and you can send them to a breakout room in smaller groups of 3-4 people to discuss a question you’ve assigned to the larger group. This is the same as using buzz groups in a classroom, except you’re doing so virtually.
  6. Use a curriculum series that is discussion-oriented. Lifeway’s Bible Studies for Life series is designed to get group members talking. Each session contains 5 really great discussion questions, and the leader guide has three more alternate questions. The questions are provocative and open-ended so that discussion is boosted, not stymied. If you want to take a look at some free samples, click here to jump to the Bible Studies for Life homepage. It will be worth your time!

By implementing any or all of the 6 strategies above, you’ll boost discussion in your online Bible study group. Pick one or two to try the next time you meet with your group online.

Group Leadership

Five Ways to Continue Discipleship Through COVID-19

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“At the very time of greatest stress came the epidemic of influenza, and this was perhaps the most far-reaching hindrance to [small groups] work which has been known in a generation…

….We had anticipated that it would take many months for the [groups] to rally, but they came back in March. There flowed in a steady stream of orders, which indicated that the [group leaders] were well organized, full of purpose, and had rallied themselves. As a result, the year, which had been so trying for many months, ended full of hope and promise.” 

(1919 SBC Annual, pp.449-450)

Early in the Twentieth Century (the Center for Disease Control doesn’t specify when it started nor its origin), what is now referred to as the Spanish Flu infected more than 500 million people worldwide, or about a third of the world’s population at the time. It was first diagnosed in the US in the spring of 1918. That was a different day. Travel wasn’t as easy or as common. Communities didn’t come into contact with one another as often or as intimately. Because of all of this, the Spanish Flu didn’t spread nearly as fast as COVID-19. According to the SBC Annual, quoted above, churches closed in September 1918 and remained closed through the fall and winter, most not re-opening until March 1919. In terms of modern pandemics, the Spanish Flu was unprecedented. According to the CDC, the “number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. 

There are two reasons for beginning this post with this brief history lesson. First, while the effects of COVID-19 in practically every area of life—ranging from how we work to job loss to school to church practice and everything in between—has been profoundly jarring, this isn’t the first time either Lifeway or the church has faced something of this sort. In fact, given the modernization of medicine and today’s technology, one can logically deduce that leaders in 1919 had a greater challenge. Second, if the results of the Spanish Flu and the subsequent revival of discipleship is any indication, we need to be ready for what’s next and look with expectancy for a similar revival when we emerge from the immediate threat of the coronavirus. Yet, while we remain between the pre-pandemic church and what God has in store for us on the other side, it’s important to remember that discipleship must continue and that we as leaders, like those in 1918-19, continue “full of hope and promise.” 

As we wait and take measures to perpetuate discipleship—encouraging group members to immerse themselves in the Bible and maintain our own discipleship and spiritual growth—we have created a handful opportunities to keep on the path God has called us to in this season. During this time when it’s such a challenge for groups to convene, whether due to municipal restrictions, Zoom fatigue, or health concerns, it’s important to stay on the right track even at an individual level. Below are five ways in different formats to remain on the road to greater Christ-likeness.

The Good Life Online Bible Study

https://www.facebook.com/groups/thegoodlifeonlinebiblestudy 

This experience is for anyone with an interest in learning more about the good life espoused in the Beatitudes. Pastor Derwin Gray’s new Bible Study, The Good Life, will be made available for anyone that signs up using the link above. Invite group members, family, or friends to engage in community built around this 8-session study. We recommend ordering the Bible study guide at Lifeway.com as a complement to the weekly video event. In the description with each video, we’ll add questions regarding the teaching. Then, you’ll comment with your answers to start the discussion! 

Pray Like This: A 52-Week Prayer Journal https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/pray-like-this-a-52-week-prayer-journal-P005826967

We talk a lot about prayer. We ask for prayer and commit to prayer. Scripture describes prayer as crucial in our relationship with God through Jesus. But do you find it hard to remain grounded? Has consistent prayer been a challenge over the years? Are you in a season in which your prayer life might have become stale? This journal has been created to get you in the habit of reading Scripture daily, to serve as a guide to improve your prayer life, and discover the path to knowing God more intimately. 

No More Excuses 90-Day Devotion for Men https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/no-more-excuses-a-90-day-devotional-for-men-P005826966

Adapted from the popular No More Excuses Bible study for men, No More Excuses: A 90-Day Devotional for Men will challenge you to lay down your excuses, stop compromising, and fight to be a man of character and commitment. Each day, you’ll find a Scripture verse, short devotion, and thought-provoking question to help you find purpose, meaning, and direction in life and become the man God has called you to be.

Unanswered Personal Bible Study https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/unanswered-personal-bible-study-book-P005819108

This Bible study provides precisely what many of us need today: tools and answers! It addresses several challenging topics, including mental health and suicide, paranormal activity, the resurrection, how we got the Bible, suffering, and why God is sometimes silent. The study will show you how to answer, how to explain, and how to respond in a deeply personal and effective way, as a thoughtful ambassador of Jesus. You will leave this study enriched, characterized by a thinking faith, capable of communicating confidently, and committed to escape the tendency to offer trite answers to a skeptical world. It’s also great to work through with a friend, co-worker, or spouse.

The Power of God’s Names Personal Bible Study https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/the-power-of-god-s-names-personal-bible-study-book-P005819105

The study examines 11 names of God. The words translated as name show up over one thousand times in Scripture and routinely carry with them power, responsibility, purpose, and authority. The study for personal discipleship offers biblically rooted content on the meaning and power of God’s names and encourages us to call on God through the names that speak to their needs. Like the Unanswered Personal Bible Study, this experience from Dr. Tony Evans is a great opportunity to share with a friend.

Church Leadership

Why Your Groups Ministry Is More Important Than Ever

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We’re talking a lot about health in our current environment, and rightly so. There have been over four million cases and 146,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States alone. Monitoring and taking care of our personal health is vital right now.

In the same way, church leaders need to monitor and invest in the ongoing health of their small groups. For many churches, small groups are the spiritual and relational lifeblood for the congregation. Groups are the environment where the message of the gospel is lived out through the practice of the “one-anothers.”

Never before has this ministry been more crucial in the modern church. While churches all over the world are restricted to online or socially distanced gatherings, groups of 20 or less in homes are becoming the best option for not only fellowship and Bible study, but also corporate worship. Groups can gather for “watch parties” of the weekend service and follow it immediately with a discussion of the message.

Therefore, if groups are that important to the current and future state of the church, we should do everything we can now to ensure they’re healthy and resourced for success. Here are four ways to help make that happen.

1. BUDGET FOR THIS NEW REALITY.

Small groups and discipleship aren’t normally at the top of the budget needs for churches. Groups are a somewhat low-maintenance and self-sustaining ministry line item.

They meet in homes, purchase their own studies (if a Bible study is involved), and provide their own food or snacks. There might be some money budgeted for leadership training and appreciation, but that’s about it.

In order for groups to function effectively in this pandemic reality, there will have to be more invested financial resources. More in the depth and quality of what’s being studied. More in staffing for discipleship. More in helping group leaders and hosts provide a welcoming environment.

2. MAKE GROUPS A PRIORITY EVERYWHERE.

The option to join a group can no longer be three clicks away on the website, or a once-or-twice a year emphasis from the pulpit. The church website was considered the new lobby for the church, but it’s now the lobby, bulletin, and stage.

Getting people assimilated into groups has to be easy and obvious from the first page of your website. Online Zoom groups have made this easier than ever, but in-person groups will need to be as well.

It’s also imperative that groups are mentioned frequently in weekend messages. It’s not enough to just have fliers at the information center in the lobby anymore.

3. INVEST IN THE LEADERS.

Asking people to shepherd and disciple a portion of the congregation has always been a monumental task, and not one to be taken lightly, but it’s even more critical now. We can no longer rely on warm bodies with time capacity and a decent-sized living room.

Our group leaders need adequate training and ongoing soul care from the leaders of the church. If we decide that small groups in homes are now the church environment, then we must invest in the group leaders just as we would in staff ministers and pastors.

They don’t necessarily need seminary training, but they do need to know how to lead themselves and those around them to become more like Jesus.

4. MODEL FROM THE TOP.

Sheep will follow where the shepherd leads. Research shows that churches with leadership who are highly invested in groups have more people in the congregation actively attending groups.

If the lead communicators are actively involved in groups and frequently share stories from those group experiences, people will understand they’re a priority. If groups are just another option listed on the website, they’ll most likely pass on them.

This next season of ministry will require much from our small groups and leaders. Let’s do everything we can to make sure they’re as healthy as they can be.

As we do so, we can take steps to equip our small group leaders as they equip others through trusted Bible study resources. As they encounter those struggling with anxiety or doubt, try Help My Unbelief. When responding to injustice, see The Church & The Racial Divide. If walking through a loss of purpose, explore Pathways or Something Needs to Change. One step at a time, equipped with unique resources, we can support each other.

A version of this article first appeared in FactsandTrends.net.

CHRIS SURRATT (@ChrisSurratt) is the discipleship and small groups specialist for Lifeway Christian Resources, a ministry consultant and coach with more than 20 years of experience, and the author of Leading Small Groups: How to Gather, Launch, Lead, and Multiply Your Small Group.

Group Leadership

Spanish Flu and the Decision Faced when Groups Regathered

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As the spanish flu began to subside, churches began to meet again and a renewed interest in Bible study followed (per BSSB report in 1919 SBC annual). Most of us can understand why that would be the case as we meet on Zoom with others. We understand the need for face-to-face interaction with people. We miss the freedom and trust that only comes with in-person conversation.

In 1919, First Baptist Church of Ft. Worth, TX (FBCFW) hired a “church manager” to oversee their ongoing groups. They hired Arthur Flake who had been a field worker from 1909 to 1919 for the Baptist Sunday School Board (now Lifeway). Most point to this as the beginning of the minister of education role in the local church. This appears to have been a response to the renewed interest in Bible study groups. The pastor, J. Frank Norris, and Flake were paid the same salary. The value placed on this position may illustrate the recognized need for leading an effective ongoing Bible study ministry on the regathering side of the Spanish flu pandemic. 

FBCFW reported that they had 3,000 members and 4,000 enrolled in ongoing Bible study groups (Sunday School) in 1919. By 1920, they became the largest Sunday School organization in the US. We should note that not all their groups met on Sunday or on campus. They focused on creating groups that sought people not connected to another church (lost people) and the numbers reported bear this out. This was counter to what was happening elsewhere. The renewed interest in Bible study groups came mostly from people who missed meeting with other believers during the Spanish Flu quarantine. The renewed focus was on community with other believers and the nurturing role Bible study groups played. Flake saw it differently and built groups that focused on reaching people who were not believers. After six months, Flake returned to the Baptist Sunday School Board.. Upon his return, Flake influenced Southern Baptist churches to focus on the reaching function of open Bible study groups, proposing a five step process for creating groups that did just that; the same process he perfected while at FBCFW (per Fuel the Fire by Chuck Kelley and Lifeway Legacy by Jimmy Draper).

Today, we are hearing the same renewed interest in Bible study groups. Some of that interest is being expressed by people who were not involved in a group prior to COVID. However, much of what we hear is the desire for Christian community which tends to focus on believers and the nurture element of Bible study. Many of those who ignored the reaching opportunity in 1919 (those focused primarily on nurturing believers) eventually turned to Flake in an effort to curb their decline (the potential for growth of intentional open groups is larger since the pool is all people and not only those already in the church). 

Herein sits a warning and opportunity. A move toward community was already happening prior to COVID-19 (functionally closed groups that focused on nurturing the existing body), but now we have a renewed opportunity to reclaim the opening of that community to lost people. What we face may very well be the same opportunity faced by church leaders in 1919 with the same forked road sitting in front of us. Which path will we take?

Dwayne McCrary leads some teams that create ongoing Bible study resources at Lifeway including Explore the Bible (goExploreTheBible.com). He teaches two groups in his church (one for empty nesters and one for three year olds) and is an adjunct professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City.

Church Leadership

Could COVID-19 Usher in an era of Church Growth?

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COVID-19. Until a few months ago, I hadn’t heard this name. Now I’d like to forget it! But COVID-19 hasn’t been all bad for our churches. In fact, I’m asking the question, “Could COVID-19 usher in an era of church growth”? It has the potential to do that, and based on another terrible pandemic our nation faced in 1918, it may do just that. I am praying that history repeats itself. Let me explain.

In 1918-1919, Americans faced the Spanish Flu pandemic. Over 50 million people died worldwide. The death toll was very high here in America. Spanish Flu ravaged our country and many other nations. Here is what the CDC reports about this pandemic:

The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919.  In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html).

The SBC (Southern Baptist Convention) Connection

My denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, held an annual meeting in 1919 just like it does today every year. The Book of Reports from that
convention can be found online in digital format. It is fascinating to read what the Convention reported in regards to the affect of the Spanish Flu on the SBC and its Sunday Schools. My colleague, Dwayne McCrary, had the forethought to go and see what was reported, and I took a look at the 1919 report, too. Here is what Dr. I.J. Van Ness told the SBC delegates who met in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1919:

“At the very time of greatest stress came the epidemic of influenza, and this was perhaps the most far-reaching hindrance to Sunday-school work which has been known in a generation…The influence of the epidemic stayed with us through December, but the bright sun-shiny months of the opening year gave reassurance. Our Sunday schools rallied, business became more normal, conditions improved, and the working force of the Board resumed its normal operations. We had anticipated that it would take many months for the Sunday schools to rally, but they came back in March. There flowed in a steady stream of orders, which indicated that the Sunday-school hosts were well organized, full of purpose, and had rallied themselves. As a result, the year, which had been so trying for many months, ended full of hope and promise.” (pp.449-450)

This is an encouraging report about the country’s resilience and fortitude. America came through a terrible two-year period in which many citizens died. Many more survived. And as Dr. Van Ness reported, things began to return to normal, churches rebounded, and Sunday Schools began thriving in the wake of a terrible pandemic. The country was hopeful and it was healing in 1919. And then there came 1920 and the man, Arthur Flake.

The Arthur Flake Connection

In 1919 America was recovering from the Spanish Flu and almost 700,000 deaths. As things began to return to normal, Arthur Flake was hired by the Sunday School Board in 1920, right on the heels of the Spanish Flu. It would be a new day for the Southern Baptist Convention.

Arthur Flake is known to many of us as “the Father of the Sunday School movement.” He was hired by the Sunday School Board (now called Lifeway Christian Resources) to train church leaders and provide leadership to the brand new Sunday School department. He became a prolific writer whose books set the standards for Sunday Schools in the Southern Baptist Convention. He led that department until 1936, and ushered in an era of growth that fueled the SBC for decades.

As the Spanish Flu ravaged the country, people returned to church. They returned to Bible study groups. Churches needed trained workers because of the renewed interest in spiritual matters on the part of untold Americans. Arthur Flake helped churches prepare to assimilate millions of new people into their congregations. His method for doing that? Sunday School. Bible study groups. Smaller gatherings of people within the church. Call it what you will, it was these smaller Bible study groups with trained workers that help spread the gospel, teach the Bible, and assimilate spiritually hungry people into the church.

Might history repeat? I hope it does. It already looks like it may. I hope the trend we see today during COVID-19 with more people participating in online worship, and in online Bible study groups, continues. As a people, we tend to turn to God during times of upheaval. When we feel unsure and not in control, God uses that to draw people to Himself. People return. New people discover the Lord. May history repeat!

COVID-19 is bad, but it’s not all bad.

Church Leadership

Physical Distancing vs. Social Distancing

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As we continue to have conversations about social distancing (the term that has been used widely up to this point), we need to sharpen our pencils and not use that term, or at least use it correctly. Social distancing is harmful to people. Social distancing isolates people, and that’s not a good thing. Even Scripture affirms that being alone is not preferable when it says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him” (Genesis 2:18, CSB).

Physical distancing is what we’re aiming for. People should keep six feet of space between them, wear masks, wash hands, and exercise good judgment and forego even larger family gatherings.

If we encourage “social distancing,” we’re advocating something that is very different from physical distancing. What the church needs is smart ways to practice physical distancing, but we need to be proactive in meeting people’s social needs by staying connected relationally and spiritually. Phone calls, text messages, Zoom meetings, and letters are just some ways to connect relationally. Online worship and group Bible studies are other ways to help people connect spiritually.

So going forward, let’s commit to practice physical distancing, but not social distancing. Care for one another, look out for neighbors and older adults who may be alone, and pray fervently that God brings an end to this pandemic.

Ken Braddy manages Lifeway’s Ongoing Bible studies, leads his church’s groups ministry, and blogs daily on Sunday School and small groups at kenbraddy.com.

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