Posted by: Frank Chiapperino in training on
May 19, 2008
One of the best training events for small groups each year is the Willow Creek Group Life Conference. The new website for the conference is now live. This year they are starting some new breakouts for people that arrive early (the morning of Oct 16) and I have the privilege of helping out. I will be participating this year on a panel of speakers around the topic of community and social media. Those joining me will be Heather Zempel, Cynthia Ware, and Mac Lake. The conference is October 16-18 and it has been one of the best tools for me to use to build and create community among my leaders, cast vision, and discover new ways of thinking about group life in the church.
In my previous posts on this topic we covered Small Groups 2.0 for social groups and traditional (study) small groups. In this post I want to cover task groups.
Some churches that are working on being churches of groups instead of a church with groups classify their ministry teams as small groups as well. These type of groups would include ushers, security, parking, tech teams, and the band.
Our CCV band also uses a website to enhance their productivity as a ministry of our church. Here is how they use the website:
To schedule and manage auditions for the student (teen) and adult band
To schedule the student and adult band
To schedule the student and adult tech teams
To access the song list for each Sunday service
To access the song library to download sheet music (password protected)
For task oriented groups technology has everything to do with productivity and very little with social purposes. These groups spend significant time practicing, and serving together so the need to enhance the social experience just isn’t there because their social experience is in the act of serving together as a group. When trying to deterimne how technology can enhance our groups we must always start with answering the question, "What does our group need?" Then look to technology to help meet that need.
Next Post - using tech to track your group ministry
Posted by: Frank Chiapperino in Untagged on
May 12, 2008
You know those moments when you ask a question, or a comment has been made and the group sits in silence? Sometimes as group leaders we make the mistake of breaking that silence too early. We get it in our head that every pause is an awkward pause and that is not the case. Sometimes we need to give our groups time to think, and the God's spirit a chance to work in the minds and hearts of people. Craig Groeschel at Life church recently wrote on this topic related to preaching but I think it also applies in a group environment as well:
When preaching, occasionally you’ll realize you just delivered a very impactful thought. Most communicators continue with their message. I suggest when you realize a bullet just hit the target… Pause… Be quiet… Be still… Wait… Wait some more… And give the Holy Spirit time to seal the thought in the minds of the listeners. The more powerful the moment, the longer the pause. Don’t be afraid of an awkwardly long pause. Let it linger. Allow people to become somewhat restless. Stop speaking long enough to allow God to finish what you started.
So the next time you are in one of those quite moments in your small group, don't be afraid of the pause, just sit and wait. Let God do His work before you jump in and break the silence.
Posted by: Frank Chiapperino in Untagged on
May 10, 2008
There is no doubt in my mind that small groups develop leaders for the church and God’s kingdom. I can’t count how many times I have witnessed a small group leader move on to start a new ministry in our church, begin teaching classes, move on to be a part of our church leadership team, and begin serving in key roles at other churches as they have been called somewhere else. Eric Metcalf recently wrote on this topic at Big Ideas About Small Groups:
There are lots of reasons why I love small groups: Bible study, prayer, possibility of friendships, fun, and snacks! But one of the reasons why I've traded my life to be on staff at COMMUNITY and why I'm so passionate about small groups is the power of the leadership pipeline.
In Exodus 18 we read about how Jethro (Moses' father-in-law) tells Moses to stop meeting with all the Israelites and to instead empower others to meet with them - and then to only bring the really tough cases to Moses. Its this passage and others (2 Tim. 2:2; Luke 10) that has led us to develop leaders through apprenticeship and coaching. This intentionality has helped create a leadership pipeline for high-capacity volunteers, staffing, campus pastors, and church planters and it all starts with being an apprentice.
Apprentice Leader --> Leader
Apprentice Coach --> Coach
Apprentice Staff --> Staff
Leadership Resident --> Church Planter
We have seen people rise time and time again through this trusted process. Its after these individuals step into leadership where they get the chance to invite others into the journey - reproducing their leadership in others. So be careful, next time someone asks you to be an apprentice, it might be your first/next step towards planting a church :)
My latest series of posts is all about how social networking tools on the internet can enhance our small group ministry. My last post shared how our social groups use blogging as a tool but it doesn’t end there!
Another group in our church that utilizes blogging to keep enhance their group experience is one of our Young Adults Home Teams. Home teams at Christ’s Church of the Valley are traditional small groups that study the Bible and socialize together.
This group started their blog in April of 2007 and have been using it for over a year now to enhance their group life experience. They utilize blogging for the following reasons:
- To notify the group of the meeting schedule
- To inform members of cancellations
- To schedule social events
- To share pictures with group members
- To remind group members of reading assignments and homework prep for future meetings and discussions
This small group is a prime example of how to make blogging work to enhance group life. Has your small group ever taken a picture together at an event or a meeting that you wanted to share? Setting up a blog for your group can help you do that, plus it provides you with a place where you can record your memories from seeing that picture and your group members can comment and share their thoughts as well. However, while maintaining a blog is quite simple it does take a little time. So, before jumping into the blogosphere, I would recommend sitting down with your group and asking them what they would like to use a blog for so you appropriately meet the need . For example, if your group only wanted to share pictures, and nothing else, you may want to use a photo sharing website like flickr instead. This way you are not wasting your time maintaining a blog but still using Web 2.0 technology to enhance your group experience.
Photo sharing on the internet would be a great place to start for any group. Especially if using the web is a new thing for them.
UPDATE: I just talked to the group leader and they are upgrading their blog to include some other features! I post on them again in the near future to let you know what they are up to!
Next post – task groups and the web.
Question: what kind of ways can you think of for small groups to use blogging?
