Frank's Blog
Frank Chiapperino is the Senior Pastor at Hope Summit Christian Church and founder of Small Group Help.
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Frank Chiapperino's Blog
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Description:
Small groups are the crossroads where life and discipleship meet. This blog is an on going discussion forum about small group ministry in the Christian community and churches. |
Sometimes group leaders can forget they need accountability and deep personal relationships. My friend Jon recently posted about this on his website: A few weeks ago, I found myself in quite a tough spot. Many things around me seemed to be collapsing in on me, and I felt all alone. This seems kind of strange for a guy who has tooted the "GroupLife horn" for so long, but it's true. At a time when I needed a shoulder to lean on the most, I was generally isolated from the kind of relationships which would know that life was crazy for me at that moment, which would care enough to ask me how I was really doing, which would carry me through when I just couldn't muster the energy to continue. That's when a friend of mine, Adam, jumped across the "ocean" to join me on my island. Through our conversation, he could tell I was hurting. He simply asked, "Are you in a group right now? Do you have someone to lean on? Who's got your back?" Right in my face! Here I was the guy who was supposed to ask people this question. After all, I know how important it is to be in some type of small group. I had been leading groups and leading in group ministry for years. But...with no great excuse...when Adam asked me these questions, all I could say is, "No. I'm not in a group right now. I feel alone. And I'm not sure if anyone has my back right now." Thankfully, Adam didn't leave it at that. He invited me to join him with a group of guys that meets every week. He said I'd be more than welcome to check it out and join them. So...I did! That's right. A few Wednesday nights ago, I drove over to a local diner and met with a crazy group of guys, who made me laugh, who listened to me, who made me think. These guys obviously don't have it all together, but they're trying to do their best to live life in a way that honors God. And they realize the importance of meeting together. That night, Adam shared a passage from Hebrews 10 about the importance of meeting together. I'm not sure if that was meant just for me or if it was for the whole group, but it was just what I needed. I'll be checking out this group again, and I'm looking forward to being in community again. Community that will spur me on. Community that will lift me up. And community that will take me off of my island.
As leaders, we really aren't leading effectively, nor providing a good example to those that follow if we keep ourselves in isolation. Thanks for the reminder Jon!
Posted by: Frank Chiapperino in resources on
Aug 09, 2010
 Christianity Today and SmallGroups.com are offering a new free tool to help small group leaders with ideas, resources, and leadership insights. Their goal through this digizine (digital magazine) is to equip and support small group leaders while offering extra encouragement to those passionate about group ministry. The best part is that they are offering this for FREE. They haven't released it just yet but you can get a sneak peak right here. Click on the magazine cover below to take a look: 
Posted by: Frank Chiapperino in resources on
Jul 09, 2010
A new Barna study takes a close look at the active profile of those that participate in small groups, Sunday school and house churches and other church activities. The recent study pulled together nine interesting insights: 1. Women drive most faith participation, with the exception of home churches or house churches. A majority of weekly churchgoers are women (53%). Small groups that meet for prayer or Bible study (60%) and Sunday school programs for adults (59%) are also more likely to be attended by women. Similarly, a majority of church volunteers (57%) are females. Home churches are the only type of participatory religious involvement in which most attenders are men (56%).
2. Religious activities are typically missing single adults, especially those who have never been married. Just less than half of Americans are unmarried; however, the Barna study found that two-thirds of those who attend church, go to small groups, and participate in Sunday school are married; and 69% of church volunteers are married. Furthermore, single adults who have never experienced matrimony – that is, they are not currently divorced, separated or widowed – represent fewer than one-fifth of the adults involved, with worship attendance and volunteerism the least likely to attract these never-attached adults. House churches fared better in this regard, reflecting a 50-50 split of married and unmarried participants.
3. Older adults also dominate faith involvement. Conventional wisdom suggests that older adults are more likely to participate spiritually, and the Barna research confirmed such thinking. Two-thirds of small group attenders as well as house church participants and three-fifths of church volunteers and Sunday school goers were ages 45 older. The most age-balanced activity was church attendance, with 56% of the spiritually active population being age 45 or older and 44% being ages 18 to 44. (Nationally, 52% of the population is 45-plus.) One of the challenges for churches that rely on small group strategies is that they are the “oldest” form of participatory faith expression (median age of 56) and they are least likely to include parents of young children. 4. Regionally, Americans’ faith involvement falls along stereotypical lines. Residents of the South make up half of the nation’s small group attenders as well as a majority of its Sunday school attenders. Still, Southerners were among the least common house church participants. Those hailing from the Northeast were unlikely to be active in terms of small groups, Sunday school or volunteerism, while those in the West were among the largest share of house church participants. Sunday school was also comparatively uncommon in the West. Midwestern residents were about “average” on each of the five activities.
5. Catholics are not particularly active beyond worship attendance, while evangelicals participate in many different forms of “group faith.” While Catholics make up one-quarter of all the nation’s worshippers each week, they are only one-tenth of small group attenders, Sunday School participants, and church volunteers. An even smaller proportion of house church attenders (6%) are Catholic. Protestants associated with an evangelical denomination are the largest share of involved believers, including activity in small groups, volunteering, and Sunday school. Interestingly, those associated with a mainline denomination represented an above-average percentage of church volunteers and house church participants.
6. Attenders of larger churches involve themselves in the broadest spectrum of faith activities. Americans who typically attend a church of at least 500 adults were among the most likely to also attend small groups, and house churches, and to volunteer. Those attending a medium-sized congregation (101 to 499 adults) were among the most likely to attend small groups and Sunday school classes. No notable patterns emerged among smaller churches.
7. African-Americans represent a significant share of those involved in participatory faith. True to their community-oriented religious heritage and experience, blacks help to power the group religious expressions of the nation. While blacks are 13% of the nation’s adult population, the segment accounts for one-quarter of America’s small group participants (27%) and three-tenths (30%) of its house church attenders. They also comprise a healthy slice of Sunday school attenders and church volunteers. Whites were comparatively less engaged in small groups and house churches, while Hispanics tend to abstain from small group involvement.
8. Personal Bible reading is most common among small group attenders. In comparing a personal spiritual activity with participatory involvement, the study showed that two-thirds of church attenders (67%) said they had read the Bible outside of church in the last week – whether their church was a conventional or house church. Small group attenders were more likely to read the Bible personally (84%). Bible reading levels among church volunteers (77%) and Sunday school attenders (77%) were sandwiched between the other forms of group engagement.
9. Many religiously active Americans lean toward conservative political views, though there is more diversity than expected – especially among house church attenders. Churchgoers, small group attenders, and church volunteers are likely to be either politically conservative or moderate. House church attenders are unique in that one-quarter of such participants describe themselves as political liberals and nearly half are registered Democrats – uncharacteristically high levels compared with other faith activities, perhaps connected with the above-average proportion of black adults who report house church attendance. Further demonstrating their non-conventional and independent inclinations, one-quarter of house church attenders said they are not registered to vote, twice the national average. Click here to read the entire article and to dig deeper into the research details.
I have always found summer to be an interesting component of group life. Some of our groups experience a dip in attendance while others continue to thrive. I have heard all sorts of advice from other small group pastors and breakout sessions at conferences but I am of the opinion that the group leader can make the best decision for his or her group.
They know their summer schedules, vacation times, children's activities, church events, etc. I've always been a part of churches that have had very volunteer intensive summers. Summer is some of the best opportunities for outreach events for kids and teens, and these events often need the volunteers that attend our groups! Not only will church events impact our groups but so will summer vacation. I have often found that my own group experiences about a 50% drop in attendance during the summer. Some leaders may decide that it's best to just break for the summer and meet once per month for a social to stay in touch. What I have found that typically works for my own leadership style and summer schedule is to meet twice per month over the summer, instead of meeting weekly. In general I think scaling back for the summer is helpful. When it comes to group ministry I like to generate a buzz for a big fall launch with new curriculum, or sometimes an all church alignment campaign. I find people are looking for something when school starts to create a routine and stabilize after their hectic vacations. Hopefully your summer is refreshing and your group stays in touch.
Posted by: Frank Chiapperino in group health on
Mar 03, 2010
Whether your group has been together a long time or just a few months it can be challenging for a leader to decide what to do next with their small group. This article can help you gain some perspective by guiding you through some key questions to evaluate your small group. When trying to figure out where to take your smallgroup (bible study or whatever you want to call it) one of the best things you can do is figure out where you are. There are four major relationship areas to consider: - God - Your personal relationship with God and your group's relationship with God.
- Each other - The depth of your relationships with your group members and their relationships with each other.
- Leadership - The number of future leaders your group is producing and you are personally investing in.
- Evangelism - The relationships your group has with unchurched people and the passion they tap into to connect those people to God.
Evaluation Questions God: How often do you pray for your group each week? Do you and your group members discuss personal time spent with God? How much time do you spend in prayer and bible study each day? Does your group spend time talking about prayers that God has answered?
Each other - How many times does your group meet in an average month?
- How many parties, socials, or fun group activities has your group had in the past 3 months?
- How many times have you invited someone from your group over for a meal in the past two months?
- Do you ever participate in church activities as a group by going together?
- How often do you communicate with group members by phone, email, cards, or letters to encourage them?
Leadership: - Does your group have an assistant-leader or an apprentice?
- How many of your group members expect to lead a group sometime in the future?
- How many people in your group participate by leading different components of the meeting? (For example: prayer time, ice breaker, bible reading, etc.)
- How often does your group pray about developing new group leaders?
- Who in your group would you like to see become a leader?
Evangelism: - How often does your group pray for people far from God?
- How many parties or gatherings have you had, not spiritual in nature, that your group members could invite their non-Christian friends to.
- When a visitor attends your group for the first time, how often do you follow up with a phone call, card, or an invite to breakfast or lunch?
- Does your group have a goal to grow or start another group?
These questions help me figure out if I am on target with leading my group. Hopefully, you find them useful. You may even want to bring them to your next meeting and discuss them as a group! For other great articles on small groups visit our article section by clicking here.
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