Small Group Help Blog - April 2008

Small Groups 2.0 - Social Networking For Social Groups

frank@moviechurch.com — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Does your small group ministry take advantage of all that the web has to offer? Are you utilizing all of the functionality of Web 2.0? In order for us to dig deeper into how the web can enhance your small group ministry experience we first should define what Web 2.0 is. Here is how Wikipedia defines it:

Web 2.0 is a term describing a trend in [...]

Invitational Group Culture

frank@moviechurch.com — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:00:00 +0100

How do you encourage group members to invite others to your group? Carter Moss, from Big Ideas About Small Groups, recommends the following:

Challenge your group to make a list of people to inviteHave a contest for whoever brings the most people to group Lead by example and invite Go into service early and introduce yourself to someone sitting downHang [...]

Get To Know Your Group

frank@moviechurch.com — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Sometimes our small group relationships can get stuck in a superficial limbo. There are people in our groups that we never really get to know deeply. When that happens we miss out on the life experience that others can teach us. Bill Search has a great activity you can do with your group to learn more about each other and go deeper with your relationships. Take a look...

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPCeXr5qJzc&eurl=http://www.simplesmallgroups.com/simple [...]

Group Life Conference 2008 - Preview

frank@moviechurch.com — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Dave Treat is starting to release some details about the Group Life Conference this October in Chicago.

Main Session 1 - Why Community Is Essential.
John Burke, Lead Pastor, Gateway Church (Austin, Texas)

Main Session 2 - Where Community Grows Best
Mark Batterson, Lead Pastor & Heather Zempel, Discipleship Pastor. National Community Church (Washington, DC)

Click here for more details

Leading A Great Small Group - Part 4

frank@moviechurch.com — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Ask The Right Questions

Questions make or break every small group discussion. There is a quick exercise you can do when evaluating the discussion questions before you start you group meeting. Look at each question and ask yourself,

"Does this question require a yes, no, or factual response?"

The best questions that create lively discussion are all about the opinions of your group members, what they think, and how they feel. When there are no wrong or right answers you ar [...]

Good Weather For Small Groups

frank@moviechurch.com — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Sometimes the good weather can have a bad effect on small group attendance. I think we are all familiar with that trend. However, I have found that my group loves to be together if we take advantage of the great weather as a small group! We will regularly BBQ together, picnic with the kids and do a day trip now and then.& [...]

What Can Kill A Small Group?

frank@moviechurch.com — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:00:00 +0100

I am really enjoying Bill Search's Blog and I can't wait to read his book Simple Small Groups. He recently addressed some issues that can kill a small group and that they all boil down to three catagories for a group leader to examine. Environmental, logistical and relational. Here is what he we should counsider asking ourselves about these areas.

With environment you should ask these questions: Is there adequate and comfortable seating? How's the temperature in [...]

Leading A Great Small Group - Part 3

frank@moviechurch.com — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Don't Be Afraid Of Silence

A little bit of silence in a small group is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes the type of questions we ask are good questions and require a few seconds of thought. So don't jump in too quickly you should let the silence hang there for a moment. There have been many occasions that a question I've asked took a minute to process and turned into a great discussion.

However, there have also times that I think silence is a good indicator [...]

Accelerate Your Small Group Bonding

frank@moviechurch.com — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Building relationships takes time and like it or not our time is limited. However if we can dedicate larger blocks of time with our group doing servant oriented tasks and having fun we can accelerate the relational process. Bill Search, author of Simple Small Groups (coming out in September), says the following about giving a jumpstart to our small group relationships.

If a group meets every other for a couple of hours, it could take months before people become really comfortable with [...]