Do you Need to Use Cell to Describe Your Small Groups?
by Joel Comiskey
Winter 2008
Many churches use the name CELL to describe their small groups. But not all of them.
Personally, I’m not married to the word CELL. I am committed, however, to the DEFINITION of a cell/small group/life group, etc.
I teach that a cell/small group/life group is a group of 3-15 that meets weekly outside the church building for the purpose of evangelism, community, spiritual growth with the goal of multiplication. Some have made adjustments to this definition, while keeping the core of the meaning–and I applaud this!
But what about the name/word CELL? Someone recently told me that the name HOLISTIC SMALL GROUP is far better and doesn’t turn people off because of the negative publicity of terror cells, etc. Others love the name LIFE GROUPS. I know that Rob Campbell, pastor and founder of Cypress Creek Church, uses HEART GROUPS at Cypress Creek Community Church.
I personally like the name LIFE groups. Someone described their life groups with the following acronym:
L iving
I n
F ellowship
E vangelism
The LIFE of Jesus in community - not inward focused but outward.
However, as I travel worldwide, I find that most churches continue to use the word cell to describe their small groups. It’s hard to escape the influence of David Cho, the modern day founder of the cell church movement. He coined the term cell to describe his groups back in the 70s and the worldwide cell church movement still uses this title.
My conviction is that we should be flexible about what name we use to describe our groups, while standing strongly behind the meaning or definition of the groups.
I do advise, however, NOT to use a name that emphasizes only one aspect of the small group. For example, fellowship groups, care groups, community groups, or even evangelism groups only describe only one aspect of the group--thus the name itself can confuse people. Choose a name that grasps the full dynamic of the group (e.g., touch group, life group, heart group, etc.).
