Hopefully, by now, we are beginning to see how small groups emerged out of a desire for personal piety in the Protestant states following the Reformation. Of course, this idea was not new; it was simply a return to the biblical model practiced by the early church, for that was the very spirit of the Reformation. Another key figure to whom we owe much of the modern concept of small groups is John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.

Wesley was deeply influenced by the Pietist movement and had direct contact with several of its leading personalities (including Spener’s godson—see yesterday’s devotional on Spener). In fact, many historians would even classify Wesley himself as a Pietist, though that reality is often overshadowed by Methodism’s lasting contribution to the religious landscape of the American frontier.

John Wesley remained an Anglican minister throughout his life, but his interactions with the Pietists inspired him to organize small religious societies called “bands” and “classes” that met weekly to cultivate practical Christian growth. Each band consisted of five or six people, most of whom were members of the Church of England. They did not intend to start a new denomination. Rather, they sought to put “methods” (hence the name Methodists) into practice as a way of strengthening everyday Christian living.

In December 1738, John Wesley drafted a set of rules by which these small groups would operate:

“The design of our meeting is to obey that command of God, ‘Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed…’

To this end, we intend:

1. To meet at least once a week.
2. To come punctually at the appointed hour, unless prevented by some extraordinary reason.
3. To begin, with those who are present, exactly at the appointed time with singing or prayer.
4. To speak, each of us in turn, freely and plainly, of the true state of our souls, including the faults we have committed in thought, word, or deed, and the temptations we have experienced since our last meeting.
5. To end every meeting with prayer suited to the condition of each person present.
6. To have one person first describe the state of his own soul and then ask the others, in turn, as many searching questions as necessary concerning their spiritual condition, sins, and temptations.”

In these rules, we can clearly see the prototype for many practices that are common today, such as accountability partners, confession, and the intentional questions often asked during small-group discussions. Their influence is still evident in our own evangelical churches, even if the specific practices have evolved over time.

It is also worth noting that Wesley grounded the Methodist bands in James 5:16: “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.” At the heart of the Pietist movement was the conviction that Scripture must be put into practice—that we would “be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).