The Holy Clubs of North Indiana

By Lark Carlson Brown
Special to the Hoosier UM News

Small groups leading to spiritual growth have been determined to be one of the most cohesive elements in thriving churches. A church that is built on small groups grows in numbers as well as spirituality. A small group makes a person feel welcome and important. A person is more likely to attend church if they know their absence will be noticed. Knowing "someone is expecting me to be there," is a great motivation when the demands of life are clamoring for our attention.

The idea that small groups are important for the laity, led the Order of Elders to believe that they are equally important to clergy. Bishop Woodie W. White made the request that the Order of Elders conduct a study examining the small groups in which North Indiana Conference pastors participate.

Seven hundred questionnaires were sent to all retired and active elders serving in the NIC. Of the 335 returned, 182 participate in a small group of some kind, 77 do not participate in any small group, and 65 want to be in a small group.

The groups vary in their purpose, just as people vary in their needs. We were interested to see what kinds of groups attracted our pastors. Of those responding:

Fellowship Groups (101)
Support Groups (88)
Interdenominational Groups (75)
Prayer Groups (33)
Other (30)
Recreational Groups (4)
Lectionary Bible Study Groups (4)
Probationary Elder's Covenant Groups (2)

Needless to say, "Other" attracted our attention, so. we pursued the breakdown of "Other." Our results produced the following list of groups: sub-district pastors (2), networking, urban strategizing, book groups (5), the Cabinet for covenant, support, fellowship and prayer, Church growth issues (2), PK (Pastor's Kids Leaders), accountability, planned coop services, breakfast devotions, cluster (2), Retired UM Pastors, County-Seat Pastors, Disciples (2), leadership, peer supervision, spiritual direction, case study and support, liaison between pastor's and mental health, and mentoring.

After considering this austere list, we concluded that pastors do, indeed, need, want and use small groups. It was not hard to see that the numbers of small groups was larger than the number of pastors responding. Which led us to ask, "How many pastors are in more than one group?" The results were enlightening. One hundred and four pastors are in one group. Fifty-eight pastors are in two groups. Fifteen pastors are in three groups. Two pastors are in five groups, and one pastor is in fifteen groups.

Many of these small groups are open to other pastors who would like to attend. Sixty-five of our respondents would like to be in a group. It is our goal to match them with an appropriate group. A full list of the groups open to new members, with a contact person and telephone number or email address, will appear on the North Indiana Conference Web page, www.nicumc.org.

It was interesting to note that several groups called themselves "The Holy Club." Whether this is in seriousness or in jest, "The Holy Club" is part of our common history. While attending Oxford University, John and Charles Wesley called their early morning devotional group The Holy Club. So, The Holy Club carries the significance of nurturing pastors and would-be pastors since before anyone knew who or what a United Methodist was.

Members of the Order of Elders Steering Team: Michelle Cobb, Beverly Biehr, Derek Weber, Mark Ellcessor, Tamara Lee Mills, Reginald Lee, Phil Emerson. Lark Carlson Brown helped tabulate the figures and served as photographer.

Rev. Lark Carlson Brown is pastor of Door Village UMC in La Porte, Ind.

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