Not only can all relationships serve as learning communities for spiritual formation, but all church groups should focus on hearing, knowing, and practicing faith. From Sunday school teachers to budget committees, cursory prayer will not do. Do not simply bless business-as-usual. Put before the congregation a vision of every group as a small group.

For example, Outreach committees should not just give away money, but they should study the Bible together, explore practices of welcoming strangers, pray together, support one another in ministry, and tackle difficult local and national issues with theological insight.

In a learning community, vestries and boards of elders become discernment groups and mini-seminaries—teaching leadership skills and deepening their members' grasp of the Bible and theology. (See Transforming Church Boards into Communities of Spiritual Leaders). In one congregation of which I was a part, the vestry did no business for an entire year. Instead, they devoted themselves to prayer and study in order to discern the Spirit's direction for the congregation (and these were liberal Episcopalians!). Their dedication to spiritual growth and theological direction sparked a turn-around in their declining congregation. From the community they developed and the insights gained, they led the church to quadruple its membership and budget in less than a decade.

Any time any group gathers, their primary purpose should be the spiritual formation of its members and their ability to discern God's work in the world. Their secondary purpose is their function—not the other way around.

Questions to consider:

• What groups in your church function as learning communities for spiritual formation?
  
• Which ones do not?
  
• How do these various understandings effect the mission and ministry of the congregation?