I recommend 5 or 6 people as the maximum size. Moving conversation from one to the next takes some time and larger groups may become tedious. If you already have a larger group, you may want to divide it into two groups.

It is more important than ever to know the purpose of the group so that everyone has the same expectations and are on the same page. Is the group primarily to share in fellowship and be a place of prayer, care, and support for one another? Or is it primarily to provide an opportunity for discovery of the word of God together? Or is it primarily to be a base for planning and carrying out missions, works of compassion, and discipleship with an outward focus? Or a balance of all three?

Assuming that the modus operandi of the group is that all participate, it is important that there is a good facilitator who keeps the conversation moving, does not let one person dominate, and invites conversation from those who would, otherwise, remain quiet. The facilitator (who can rotate among the group, by the way), should be responsible to carry out the purpose of the group as mentioned in the previous paragraph.

In regards to technology, I have experience with Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, and Skype. There are pros and cons to each and there are others, but they all serve the basic purpose of getting you face-to-face virtually with others.

One person reports more than six working well (and of course multiple people can share one connection), but I believe these provide a valuable guide. Particularly important is the need for everyone to be clear about the group's expectations, and the need to ensure no individual dominates and that quieter members are encouraged to share.

An additional idea comes from one of Roger's posts from a while ago. We don't have to be limited to one "church". This isn't "church hopping", but more being part of different "churches" for different purposes. A "virtual" church needn't be "local", although most would be a temporary substitute for a physical house church.

I'd also add to his technology solutions one called Jitsi meet. Jitsi is open source, and although comes in various versions (including Android and Apple), runs in a browser - no installation required. After the URL just add your meeting name and you're away. If you want to set up a meeting, just "start a new meeting" and let others know the name. We had a few initial issues - ad-blockers and giving out browser access to camera and microphone, but that's the joys of living in a world of less than honest people. It's ironic that open-source Firefox doesn't work as well (at this stage) as browsers based on Google's Chromium open-source project (Chrome, Edge, Opera, etc).

If you want to join an email group called Taught of the Lord where we can have emails (including groups by area, interest etc, please join groups.io. Send us an email, and we will reply. Once we have confirmed you're a Kiwi and your reason for joining, we'll send you an invite to TOTL, and you can go from there. Sorry that it's slightly convoluted - trying to make it harder for nefarious types prowling the internet looking for victims.