Church Small Group Dynamics

I am wondering what experiences you've had at your churches with small groups, specifically in regards to going co-ed vs. single gender.

I've been involved in both, but the co-ed experiences have been for very specific purposes. So what have been some pros and cons to having single gender and bi-gender small groups y'all have gone through as applies to theological small groups with the Bible (not, typically, extra-Biblical books) as the core focus?

Well, I met my husband of (almost) 13 years at a prayer meeting which a friend of mine, his sister and I would have music and prayer and Bible reading!
His wife felt left out (even though she was cheating on him), but, she didn't have much passion about prayer, etc...

We used to have a women's meeting at my old church with tea and cakes!
The leader was our preacher's mother-in-law.
That woman had SO much compassion and Godliness!

reply to post by junglejake


good to see you back around FST, jj.

speaking from my experiences observing religious discussion in church settings, i've found that co-ed discussion tends to tackle issues more than single gender study. in single gender discussions you tend to have more of a situation where people discuss something for about 15 minutes, come to a consensus, and move on. in the co-ed groups i've found that oftentimes a single issue becomes the focus of a whole night, leading to a far greater understanding than in the single gender group. people also tend to be more engaged in the co-ed groups with less people keeping to themselves.