Usually when you hear the term ‘small groups’ you probably think of the church growth movement and megachurches. You might be surprised to learn that they existed in some form during the Reformation in Strasbourg. They were called ‘Christlichen Gemeinschaften’ (literally, Christian communities). Modern small groups often seek to provide a sense of community inside of a much larger institution especially since community cannot be found in the mobile, individualistic American society. In comparison, the motivation behind the ‘Gemeinschaften’ was holiness. They consisted of people inside the church who would model the disciplined life of the Christian faith to the rest of the church. This is quite different from the ecclesiology of the other reformation churches and did not last more than a few years in Strasbourg.