Revitalizing small group for church growth at Heung Hae Central Presbyterian Church

When we look at the representative churches that have attained church growth recently, majority of these showed active movements of small groups within the church body and through the process, recovered the communalization of the body of Christ (which is the true essence of Church), and at the same time achieve both quantitative and qualitative growth.;Nonetheless, there is a similar small group community system called the "district" which has been a long tradition within the Korean churches. There is no denying that this district system played a vital role in fueling the church growth in the history of founding the Korean churches. Through the district system, the church's essential missions such as fellowship and maturity of church members, evangelism and volunteer work were carried out, and in the process the church growth was evident. However, in the recent years, this form of district structure is quickly collapsing.;This phenomenon has led to the disintegration of district as an active small group, and instead of being autonomous it is becoming heteronymous, and at the same time, modern districts are becoming heterogeneous instead of being homogenous. This district problem prevails year after year but as there is no distinctive alternative, the district is being operated simply as a formality. Personally, as I looked closely into the district structure of Hunghae Central Church, I discovered the following problems.;Firstly, the close mutually dependent relationship between the entire church and district is not being defined clearly by the latter. Secondly, the family community element is not grafted into the district structure. Thirdly, the district structure is still not being effectively divided into smaller units as well as being autonomous and homogenous. Fourthly, the district meeting which is put together through a match of distinctive characteristics such as age and/or occupation, talent and/or aptitude is not being carried out. Fifthly, the close family-like fellowship between district members is not being realized.;By searching for an alternative to counter the above mentioned district structure problems and to vitalize the district structure as a family community unit, and by changing the district structure within the church which 'till now has been organized as one of the long-term educational program by offering Bible study and shallow fellowship to a structure based on family community unit and revitalizing the district structure, we suggest a pastorate that works together with church workers. In order to fulfill this, a research on the rightful family community based district structure from theological evidence as well as the Biblical and the historical perspectives has been carried out. Through this research, a concrete model on how to operate this system is offered.;In conclusion, by proposing a district structure model based on the family community as a small group community unit which could be applied realistically to an actual church situation and contribute to church growth, it is hopeful that not only district structure of Hunghae Central Church but also those of today's churches would experience the change and vitalization. As such, as a final note, it is our expectation that a district structure model based on rightful family community would play a significant role in the growth of churches and to become a strong foundation for 21st century pastoral care.