Spring is here and that means it’s the perfect time for your small group to get together for a cookout. Cookouts are a fantastic and effective way to:
- Engage not-yet-believers and those not yet in a small group to get to know group members.
- Let the people who live on the street or cul-de-sac where the group meets see believers having fun together (which can quickly erase negative stereotypes about Christians).
- Give the group a break from the normal meeting pattern.
If you want to host an effective cookout, you may want to consider the following.:
1. Host it in the yard of the house where your group meets.
2. Make extra food. If the yard is big enough, have it in the front yard, and invite neighbors and their families who happen by to join you.
3. Make it a night focused only on fun. No need to have a Bible study or sing songs around the campfire. Just enjoy one another’s company.
4. Invite people who need to be in a Bible study group to join you. Make sure they know there’s no expectation if they come to the cookout. You may be surprised when they say, “Hey, we might want to consider being part of this group.”
Rick Howerton has one passion — to see “a biblical small group within walking distance of every person on the planet making disciples that make disciples.” He is pursuing this passion as the small group and discipleship specialist at Lifeway Church Resources.
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