here's a little game that I love to play, and it's call "Hot Seat." The basic idea behind this game is as follows: Get together with a small group of friends. Choose one person to be in the "hot seat." Now, take turns amongst everyone else asking questions to the person on the hot seat. My rule is that no question is off limits; however, the person in the hot seat can decide to plead the fifth on any questi ...

I have learned over many years how to meet and talk with people. Was it simple or easy? Not for me as it took effort and time, and still does, but it has been rewarding. I have met some great and fun people in my life and anticipate meeting many more. Many of you fit into that category. ...

The first five minutes of a small group meeting or bible study group set the pace for the whole night.  As leaders, if we can get the discussion started it is likely participation will continue as the study progresses.  Much of the small group curriculum out there includes ice breaker questions but many of those questions don't always work.  Here are five quick tips you need to know to kick start your discu ...

Relationships are an essential part of the Christian life.  To follow Jesus and his teachings means we live in community with God, and community with others.  The challenge we face in our culture is the busyness it creates in people's lives. The very people that we are called to ministered to and I believe social media is a tool we can leverage to enhance our relationships. So here are three ways you may wa ...

Sometimes in small group world we get caught up in the present. We think about how to enhance my group situation this week. How do I find a better study, how do I encourage my group to share deeply, or how can we support others through stress in life. However, as leaders we must also be thinking about the future. In order to have our churches remain culturally relevant we must understand the social tools th ...

There are lots of tools out there to help you manage a growing small group ministry but few combine two essential components - affordable and effective.  I recently connected with Matt Harrell over at MemberHub and it seems they have a solution that group leaders and pastors should consider.  They even have a free 30 day trial for you to testdrive, but I wanted to ask him two key questions to help us unders ...

Great small group leaders are always hunting for new ways to get the discussion going.  The link below is a free e-book with 40 different small group icebreakers! Here is an a example of one you can find in the e-book: ...

So often in our groups we talk about great plans and techniques to try out and improve community in group life.  However, what about the things we should NOT do?  Below are the top ten worst small group icebreakers and I just couldn't stop laughing! ...

My buddy Jon Stolpe loves doing an activity in his small group called "the hot seat."  Here is his recent blog posts: ...

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 da ...