Growing Small Groups

Choosing the right material for your small group is harder than it sounds. With a diverse group of people, interests, and sometimes in different stages of life, it can make this decision confusing and even frustrating.   Choosing the right material for your small group is harder than it sounds. With a diverse group of people, interests, and sometimes in different stages of life, it can make this decision confusing and even frustrating. You want to choose material that appeals to…

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Nother jump starts the small group like a great icebreaker question. They have the ability to unlock someone. The right question is like the key to the treasure. That treasure is getting to know someone’s heart.  A great small group icebreaker question is like setting the whiffle ball on the stand and letting someone slug it out of the park. It has to be t’ed up correctly. It has to be supported, but it shouldn’t have boundaries.  Below we’ve put together…

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Tiny groups are the secret to keeping deep meaningful fellowship as the small group grows. If you have an open small group, or you are a seeker based small group, tiny groups can really help you overcome the challenge of a crowded room. Symptoms of Needing Tiny Groups When you know people are willing to talk and share, but for some reason, the contribution to the conversation has reduced. When you’re running out of time in the small group and…

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You want to create a strong fellowship with deep relationships that are transparent and authentic. To make this happen you need to meet regularly. Sometimes people don’t show up to a scheduled small group. When people miss several small groups their relationship isn’t as strong with others in the small group and it can start to make them feel less included leading to transparency and contribution issues. In addition, the other people showing up regularly might start to feel hesitant…

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Inviting people to small group means addressing the question of children or no children. If you don’t allow children it can turn people away, and if you do allow children it can distract attention from the fellowship time. So what do you do? Compromise depth of relationships for inclusion, or promote opportunity for distraction? So should you allow children at small group? Ideally, children should not come. If you need to try to provide onsite childcare with someone is responsible…

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How often should a small group meet? When planning a small group this can be a very critical question and determine who can attend, and the what the flavor of your small will be. This needs to be a frequency that promotes fellowship, and more importantly something you – yourself can stay committed to. Ideally, a small group will meet as frequently as possible. In a perfect world, every day. This is because the single most important ingredient to deep…

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Prayer is an important part of meeting together as believers. Prayer should be included in the small group. But often it can be uncomfortable and foreign to people in the small group. How can you help people pray at small group? Offer them a prayer template with prepared prayer and they can just fill in the blanks like the person’s name or the topic. Pray through the Bible that gives people a subject and platform. Demonstrate it and continue to…

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How can you improve fellowship in a small group? The purpose of the small group is to grow in faith by having a group of other believers to share life with and keep us accountable. When we invest this time and energy into a small group and don’t feel the benefits of the impact in our life it can signal something is missing. Most often the problem is the small group is staying on the surface of issues and not…

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Sometimes people in your small group will ask if they can invite someone new. How do you decide and respond to this question? An important attribute to consider is your system for making this decision so that it can be made consistently and prevent someone else from being hurt by your response in the future. When can someone invite someone new to a small group? If you’re a seeker focused small group with open spots then welcome members to invite…

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You’ve dedicated a time for small group to meet, you have a place prepared, and the material is great and on point. You’re ready for an amazing small group. But then someone asks, are you having dinner together at the meeting? This is a question that occurs with every small group. So share a meal at small group or not. Should you have dinner together at small group? Yes, having the time together members feel more accountable to come because…

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