If your small group is doing an extended study together a blog can be helpful in keeping you connected. Our church is currently doing a sermon series through the book of Proverbs and we have challenged the church to read a chapter per day and do some memorization through the process. One of our Home Teams (small groups) is blogging through each chapter and using the blog to stay communicate through the daily reading.
I think it is another great idea of how to use web 2.0 technology to aid us in enhancing group life in our churches. I also believe it adds a social element to reading the Bible since you can discuss a chapter and share your thoughts immediately with your group. If you were going to blog through a book of the bible with your small group how would you do it?
Community Christian Church is starting a new Small Groups Conference called Connect '08
Saturday, August 9th, 2008 8am to 12:30pm Cost: $29
It's better than ice cream! Don't miss this opportunity to further develop your practical small group leadership skills, connect with other leaders, and expand your vision of using small groups to connect people closer to community and closer to the heart of God.
Here is some stuff they plan on talking about at Connect:
- Beginning Groups with the End in Mind - Recruiting and Developing an Apprentice - Making Disciples in Your Group - Finding Balance in Your Group - Leading Through Conflict and Challenging People - Choosing the Best Small Group Curriculum.
To learn more watch Nick and Eric in the video below...
Brian Jones is the Senior Pastor of Christ's Church of the Valley, outside of Philadelphia. He recently asked me to participate with him in an online discussion on the value of small groups in the church. You will want to be sure to visit his website and contribute to the discussion that he started with this post: Why Churches Should Euthanize Their Small Groups
Bill Donahue started at Willow Creek Community Church in 1992 and helped Willow be a leader in group ministry. But his influence has helped thousands of churches in the US and around world improve their small group experience and draw closer to Christ.
Over the last three years Willow has had a challenging experience as they have attempted to move to a neighborhood model for group ministry and they are ready to try some new things. That is where Donahue comes in. Here is what he said about it in a recent blog post:
Over the last three years, after an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the Neighborhood initiative at Willow Creek Community Church, the church decided to return group life to the core of Willow. There were some positive experiences from doing the Neighborhood initiative, but Willow decided that the model had limited success. (For an evaluation, see my previous blog postings on this).
After taking a fresh look at what really constitutes biblical community, and learning from strengths and failures of the various expressions of group life for the last 30 years, the church has plunged headlong into a fresh expression of group life that encompasses the strengths of the past while trying to avoid the mistakes. And I have been asked to help.
My primary role will be to design the leadership development and support structure for this new era. With a variety of group sizes, purposes and formats, leaders will require a broad spectrum of experiences and services to guide them along. And with leaders who have anywhere from zero to decades of group leadership experience, it is clear that the support we provide must be readily accessible, customized, decentralized and use both face time and technology.
I look forward to hearing and seeing more from Willow Creek as they continue to experiment and try new things in group ministry. Click here to read Bill Donahue's original post.
Our Pastoral Care Coordinator, Steve Lybrand, recently had some conflict in a new group restore group he started. The group is called Making Life Work and it is focused on helping people deal with negative behaviors in their life and help them deal with dependency and co-dependency. Here is what Steve had to say about his recent conflict:
Last night after our MLW meeting we had a leaders meeting. An area of conflict came up. Not serious, but it did touch peoples emotions and the discussion reflected it. What I loved is that the issue was brought out, discussed in a heated fashion and the group came to a concensus with the two members it mostly effected agreeing to work out the details together. It is a classic example of what Patrick Lencioni describes should happen in The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team. Everyone got to speak, and though uncomfortable we stayed on track to resolve the situation.
How different from what many experience growing up in dysfunctional households. There are three rules generally learned in unhealthy personal or work environments; Don't speak, don't trust, don't feel. You see, in unhealthy environments speaking openly, particularly about difficult issues gets you in trouble. You can't trust because something which was perceived innocently last week might trigger an angry reaction this week. And you can't feel because those two create a crazy environment and feeling crazy is generally not an attribute. Ultimately nothing gets done and resentments build.
Often when people tell me that their group is going through conflict I tell them that it is heathy for them to work through the experience. Conflict is necessary for relationships to grow and if it is dealt with properly everyone can benefit.
Brian Jones
Bill Donahue started at 