Frank's Blog

Some churches make the mistake of having a one size fits all group mentality.  The problem with this is that if you only have one type of small group at your church, you are automatically excluding people from being a part of what you are doing in group ministry.  Many people have different learning styles and even different social styles.

Some like large groups(20-40), some like smaller groups (6-15), and some like even smaller accountability/transformation groups (2-3).  By offering groups of different sizes you can attract many types of people to get involved.  The smaller the group the less anonymous someone can be and the intensity of the spiritual growth increases.

I would also encourage group leaders to define the type of group they are leading.  For example, at our church we have the following classifications:

Home Teams - by far the most popular, these are groups that are just as social as they are spiritual.  They meet at least twice a month, discuss the Bible and do fun activities together year round. 

Explore Groups - These groups are short term groups (6-12 weeks) that meet weekly to study the Bible or a designated topic from a Biblical perspective.

Restore Groups - These are groups that are focused on helping people recover and cope with challenges associated with addictions and co-dependency.

By organizing the focus of what a leader is trying to do we can help them be more effective.  Doing this also helps those trying to get connected with others that have similar interests and needs.  When that happens we increase the chances for ongoing participation and real life change.  I love it when people tell me that their small group feels like home!

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A Small Group is more than a meeting.  It is an opportunity for others to experience Jesus in a tangible way.  A friend of mine recently wrote about her experience in a local diner:

The waitresses - Joanne ('Red'), Jackie, Sue, Elisa, Queenie, and Jamie - are happy to see me. They all know my name. No matter which one waits on me, they start by bringing me my morning beverage - iced tea/no lemon - without being asked. And they genuinely are there to serve me. 

On days off, I take the week's newspapers and head to the diner's corner booth. It's the booth I like the best because I can hear and see what is happening in the rest of the little diner.

From there, I have seen and heard the waitresses sing Happy Birthday to a 90 year old woman who has no family - except them. The whole restaurant joined in. 

I have seen them fill the thermoses an extra time for the construction workers working on the road out front in the middle of a wicked cold snap. And then run out with some free donuts just because ‘those guys needed a little something special on such a cold day.'

They notice when their elderly patrons haven't been there in awhile. They remember a baby's birth, a death of a loved one, a loss of a job. They don't solve anyone's problems. They just listen, and make sure for those few moments you are with them, that you have a full cup of coffee and a smile.  

I don't know what each of them believes, but I see Jesus when I watch them. No judgment. No chastising. Nothing but a listening ear and a shower of kindness. Often unexpected. Always appreciated.

Just last week, each one of them made their way to my table to ask how my sister was doing who was recently diagnosed with cancer. I told only Joanne about my sister a week earlier when she had noticed that I seemed sad. She cared enough to share my story - to share her concern for me

When someone brand new shows up to your group, what is the experience like for them?  Do they see Jesus in a tangible way? What can we learn from this little family diner that we can apply to the small groups we lead?

You can read Diane's full post here.

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How do you prepare for your small group meeting?  I recently found another small group blog by Jim Egli called Small Group Confessions (while I was browsing some articles from Dan Lentz).  In a recent post he described his preperation process:

This may not be very exciting but I thought I'd tell you how I get ready for small group. I have an old flimsy nylon briefcase that is my small group briefcase. I keep my small group stuff in it. Right now it has songsheets, the Outflow book, and outflow DVD in it. I toss the small group helps-the LifeLine-in there each week.

I PRAYED

The longer I lead small group the more I realize that praying is important and preparing the lesson isn't that important. As many of you might guess, it was my doctoral research on healthy small groups that helped me discover this. It's really true. This week I prayed for the group at various points. Mostly random prayers as the group came to mind but Vicki and I also prayed for things a few times together.

WE PHONED

"You have not because you phone not" is a truth about small group especially when you are starting a new group. We called everyone who has come to group-not many at this point-to inform them of where we were meeting. One person said that she enjoyed visiting our group but would not be back. :-(

I'm not sure why. We'll try to find out from her after the service this weekend. Maybe another group would be a better fit for her.

Vicki called a gal who hadn't come yet but seemed interested. She came! :-)

I LOOKED OVER THE LESSON

I skimmed the small group helps and highlighted key phrases and the questions that I wanted to ask.

I LISTENED

As I prayed for the group this week I would see one of the group member's face. As we prayed on the way to group this happened again, I realized that this was probably from God. I thought, "We need to pray for this guy tonight." We did. I have found if I listen, God faithfully shows where to start ministry.

GOT COFFEE?

We met at a different host home this evening. The couple is moving out of the country in two months so they have sold a lot of their stuff. They told us that they don't have a TV or coffee maker anymore. "No problem," we told them, "we'll bring a coffee maker and a computer to show the Outflow DVD on."

How do you prepare for your small group meeting?

Click here to read the rest of Jim's post.

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