Jeff Scanlan wrote:

> ......
> Was there ever a time when ministers in our type of churches said, 'Hey
> guys I am going to do every thing - all the teaching, all the preaching,
> all the visitation. I am going to start every thing the same and end
> every thing the same in his church!'

> I suspect that there was always work for laymen to do and I suspect that
> there would have been few ministers who would have wanted to discourage
> such work.

Sprinkle jumps in:

Virtually every pastor draws a sharp distinction between
what happens when the church comes together and the work
which is accomplished outside those meetings. He and his
congregation expect that he will be the focal point of
the meetings and perform his ministry there. The work of
the "laymen" is to be done largely outside those gatherings.
Nothing could be farther from the New Testament picture
of church meetings! It is principally when the church gathers
that the saints are to function in their various gifts and
ministries for the purpose of edifying one another!

This dichotomy in the traditional view of ministry simply
is not to be found in the New Testament--especially in
the meetings of the Body of Christ. Moe is right on here!

> ......
> I worry also that people begin to put their faith in techniques of
> 'ministry' rather than in the ministry of the word, though I fairly sure
> that no one here would be guilty of that.

What you are calling "techniques" I would probably call
the New Testament pattern for church meetings.

> ......
> Yes I have been in small groups and yes I believe they can be effective.

There is no need to distinguish meetings of believers in
this way. Often in the New Testament the church is said
to meet in a home. Surely such a meeting was what is being
called a "small group." In the New Testament, however, it
was simply the church coming together. Shortly after the Day
of Pentecost, the one church at Jerusalem (comprised of
several thousand believers) met daily in the Temple and in
homes all over the city. Every such gathering was nothing
less than a meeting of the church at Jerusalem!

> In a society where there is so much break down and disintegration they
> may well be the way to go and a place where gifted teachers of the word
> can make a real difference. 

The Body of Christ is much more than "gifted teachers of the
Word," and truly New Testament church meetings provide an
environment which encourages and permits each believer to
function in his gifts and ministry as the Head (not the
pastor) of the church directs.

> ......