Small groups in church

We discussed this book and this issue a while back, but a piece in USA Today by Rev. Henry G. Brinton–after a rather strained comparison with online social media–focuses on the problem introverts have with small groups in church, which have become ubiquitous in churches of every kind.

My Presbyterian colleague Adam McHugh, author of the book Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in An Extroverted Culture, describes the experience of walking into an average evangelical church as “walking into a non-alcoholic cocktail party.” Quiet reverence is gone, and in its place is a chatty, mingling informality, “where words flow like wine.”

McHugh admires the religious convictions of evangelical churches, and understands the value of sharing struggles and spiritual insights in small groups. But he considers himself to be an introvert and knows the difficulty that community life can pose. “Introverts are not necessarily shy or misanthropic,” he says, “but we find our energy in solitude, often listen more than we speak, may prefer to observe more than we engage in the middle, and we may connect with God most deeply in silence.”

Problems arise when open sharing and participation in small groups become badges of faithfulness. “If you are not comfortable with those things,” says McHugh, “then you end up feeling spiritually inadequate or marginalized.”

via Are social media changing religion? – USATODAY.com.

Are small groups necessary for salvation? I know there are some big churches that say their small groups is where the real action is in their congregations, that worship services are for reaching outsiders, but that the goal is to get those outsiders active in a small group, where they will hear the gospel, study the Bible, etc., things that are not necessarily happening in worship services. What do you think of this?