While the Willow Creek and Buckhead churches of the world are making small groups a mainstream concept for the current generation, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, is considered by some to be the "Father" of the modern small group concept. (Read one such article
here.) Begun as a post-Civil War Sunday School mission, called St. John’s Mission, Grace has always had a rich history of small groups.
The structure of Wesley’s movement formed around “class leaders” who were assigned the responsibility of meeting weekly to minister to the needs of class members and to report needs back to the Minister as needed. This tradition continues today at Grace. Small groups at Grace are currently organized as such:
- Sunday School Classes
- Community
- Joy Seekers
- Wesley Companions
- Wednesday Night Fellowship
- Demographic Social Groups
- Men of Grace
- Sunshine Club
- United Methodist Women
- Home-based Study Groups