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Because so much depends on the Sunday School, we developed the Five C's of a Missional Group to help a group leader be able to grasp different components of his group's mission. The Five C's of a Missional Group are:

• Consecrated Leadership
• Connect with Others
• Biblical Content
• Missional Cause
• Transformational Change
  

Notice that each of the Five C's has a qualifier. It is not only a leader that is needed to lead a Sunday School group, but a consecrated leader. A small group needs a leader that has set his or her self apart and is living a godly life. Likewise, people attending a group need to connect with others. We are trying to do more than just ask our people to attend or show up, we want them to connect with other people in the group and connect their unsaved friends and neighbors to the group as well. As for content, not just any book or periodical will do; we teach the Bible in Sunday School.

Furthermore, each group needs a cause, a mission that is beyond itself and is expanding the Kingdom of God. Without an understanding of opportunities to get hands-on with God's mission of redeeming humanity, the group can easily turn inward and become a holy huddle instead of group on mission.

Finally, your group is about change. But not just any change will do, but transformational change. The first four C's are all areas of life where we have a significant amount of control, but transformational change is God's work. Only God can change the human heart. The degree of your group's commitment to the first four C's tremendously impacts the final C - change.
God is in the business of transforming the human heart. Your small group should be about His business too.

Bob Mayfield is the author of several books related to Sunday School. He is the Sunday School and small group specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. He will be speaking at several of our All Star Sunday School Training events.