“Ideally every Christian should belong to a group that is small enough for individuals to get to know one another, care for and particularly to pray in meaningful depth for one another, and also to a fellowship large enough to contain a wide variety in its membership, its styles of worship and its kingdom-activity. The smaller the local community, the more important it is to be powerfully linked to a larger unit. The larger the regular gathering (I think of those churches where several hundred, or even several thousand, meet together every week), the more important it is for each member to belong also to a smaller group. Ideally, groups of a dozen or so will meet to pray, study scripture and build one another up in the faith.”

Wright, Tom. Simply Christian. London: SPCK, 2006, p. 181

Comment: Bishop Wright makes his case for small groups in the congregation, but without invoking either psychology, or sociology, or Jesus and the Twelve. It is built on a network of supportive relationships within the group. Good for most people in most places, I guess, to belong both to a small group and to a larger fellowship.