I just spent a wonderful Father’s Day at the home of my brother Tom and his wife. Two of their adult children were there as well as my dad, mom and my sister. While I always enjoy coming together with my family, usually I leave the gathering thinking it was nice to see everyone, but I really don’t have a good feel for how things are going in their lives. You see, I have five brothers and one sister and when the whole family gets together, there are 43 of us. That’s a lot of people to talk to, it’s kind of loud and if it’s Christmas, there are gifts to open too. It’s pretty tough to have a meaningful conversation that digs deep and helps to get to know each other better.

So the Father’s Day gathering was a perfect small group. There were seven of us. We shared a meal. We had a chance to have conversation. To hear how my niece is doing in the first year of her professional life, to laugh with her and encourage her as she talked about some struggles. To listen while my sister-in-law gave voice to the ways she is cherishing sorting through the items in her recently deceased mom’s house. And to pray for her and her siblings as they grieve. This is what small group looks like.

In a small group you get to know each other and dig deep. To talk about things that really matter in your life. What are your dreams, where are you struggling?

Because you take the time for meaningful conversation, you also encourage and pray for one another.

First Lutheran will be starting up a number of small groups in the fall. In the meantime, if you are interested in learning more, have an idea for a group you’d like to be a part of but don’t know how to get it started, please let me know.