Small Groups Ministry as Effective Spiritual Care and Nurture at Kimara Seventh-day Adventist Church, Tanzania

Abstract

This study investigated the small group ministry program at Kimara Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church which is based in the city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It sought to examine the spiritual care and nurture in the church in order to explore ways of making the program more effective. The study was especially interested in caring and nurturing programs. It was observed that there were a large number of church members who drop out or who are missing at the church of Kimara. Some of these members have backslidden and are no longer attending the church. Others were not available after the church audit was done, no one recognized their name or knew where they were. Yet, each year the church receives new members through baptism and membership transfers. The church services are normally held on Sabbath, and during the week days, especially on Wednesday, which is mid-week prayer day. There were only a few of the church members attending the sessions. The question was: when do members visit and meet together for fellowship? If all this is not done, how many members, especially those new to the faith, are assisted to grow? In order to investigate the effectiveness of the spiritual care and nurture program at Kimara SDA Church, this study reviewed literature from the Bible and Ellen G. White writings on the concept of spiritual care and nurture. Other authors have been also consulted on the same concepts, which may be applied in the church. Description of ministry context was given, both at the macro and micro context levels, and also research methodology was applied to assist to solve the problem. Interviews, observations, and questionnaires were established as instruments for gathering information. After data collection to assess the problem, the intervention was designed and implemented. Evaluations were done to measure the outcome of the results. Based on the findings, the study recommended steps to be taken for a small group ministry program to conduct and to train both leaders and church members.