Re-Evaluating the Small Group Bible Study Model from a Lutheran Perspective

Abstract

Small Group Bible Studies (SGBS) have been popular among many church bodies for the last three decades. The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) was hesitant to immediately use this model, which came out of the church growth movement, for several valid reasons. Over the past 20 years or so, WELS pastors and Seminary professors have addressed these reasons and have shown them to be mere speculation. Through interviews with WELS pastors who make use of SGBS in their congregations, several books written on SGBS, and essays written by WELS pastors and professors in response to SGBS over the years, this thesis addresses a few of the major concerns felt by the WELS, including the risk of false doctrine, organization of SGBS in a congregation, and various methodologies. I will examine these concerns from a fresh perspective and offer insights into how WELS can better make use of SGBS in the future.