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Church Leadership, Group Leadership, Uncategorized

Six Summer Strategies to Invigorate Your Group

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by Reid Smith

By the end of spring, It’s not uncommon for groups to want to change things up for the summer instead of starting a new Bible study. This comes from a common felt-need to take a break and get refreshed before school, ministries, and so many other things restart in the fall. 

However, if you only saw the summer as a chance to unplug, you’d be missing easy and effective opportunities to invigorate your group. Groups don’t have to break from being together in the summer and potentially breakdown their momentum of community-building. Rather, they can use this season to change gears with their regular meeting rhythms in order to find new ways to grow together in Christ.

  1. Mix it up! Instead of your usual, say, Tuesday, 6:30-8pm time – decide to get together every other Friday for dinner and a movie together. If you meet weekly, try meeting every other week. Or everyone could plan to attend the same service and afterwards do an outdoor activity together.
  2. Morph into a shared interest group. Discover who shares the same interests in your group and organize activities around them. Start out by asking:
  • “What do you enjoy doing the most with your free time?”
  • “If you could invite a few others to join you in an activity, what would it be?”
  • “What special interest, topic, creative hobby or sport do you enjoy doing?”

You don’t have to choose one! Create a “mixed shared interest group” out of the ideas that came up. You might do a specific topical study one week and then softball the next. Plan it all out, but don’t try to do too much; just enough to keep the relational connection and continue building upon the community that God has built so far.

  1. Schedule it! Before the onset of summer, ask group members to bring their calendars to a meeting and plan around the dates people know they are going to be away. Before scheduling, appoint somebody to find out what is happening in your surrounding communities during the summer like farmers markets, festivals, outdoor concerts, etc. Besides community events, other examples of fun activities to put on the calendar include:
  • Going out to a restaurant together and/or the movies.
  • Grilling in a local park or the backyard of somebody other than your typical host.
  • Going to a sports event together or doing an activity everyone can get into like bowling, paddle-boating, volleyball, hiking, etc.
  • Taking a day-trip to the coast, mountains, or state/national park.
  • Watching July 4th fireworks together (invite neighbors to join you and introduce them to others in your group).
  • Having group members pray for one person in their lives they can invite to your group by the end of the summer. (Take a meeting to pray for these people and for what group members hope to see happen in their personal lives by the end of the year.)
  1. Plan a servant evangelism project together. Click HERE for ideas and select a project that would be low risk for people in your group and shows God’s love in practical ways.
  1. Volunteer to help your church with an event or project.
  1. Encourage group members to discover and develop their spiritual gifts. Here’s a simple three-step process: 1) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12:1-8; Ephesians 4:7-16; 1 Peter 4:10-11. 2) Have each one complete a spiritual gift assessment. 3) Affirm the outcomes for everyone and brainstorm how they could use them to build up the group in the fall.

Group members who wouldn’t take on new responsibilities for the group in the midst of a study might be willing to do so during the different pace of the summer. Seize this season to “test drive” potential co-leaders by giving them bite-size responsibilities that will help you implement any of the strategies above. Also, seriously consider sub-grouping by gender when you change things up in any of these ways because it will help relationships grow deeper and develop new leaders for future groups so more people can be impacted with the love and message of Jesus Christ!

Reid Smith has been equipping leaders in churches of all sizes and stages of growth for effective disciple-making since 1996. He currently serves as a Pastor of Groups at Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach County, FL and has been a contributing author for various publications, including LifeWay’s Ministry Grid. Learn more about how to start and multiply healthy groups throughout your church at www.reidsmith.org.
Church Leadership, Group Leadership

Free Small Groups Webinar

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Can small groups really work in smaller size churches? That is the topic that we are going to tackle in this free webinar on March 19, 2019, 11am – 12pm CST. Here are a few of the questions that myself and our expert panelists will take on:

  • What are the greatest challenges to groups in a smaller church?
  • What is the best type of groups system for a church that is just starting to offer small groups?
  • How do you best utilize your budget (or lack of one) for small groups?
  • What does leader recruitment, training, and care look like?
  • and many more

Spots are limited, so register for this free webinar soon here.

Chris Surratt is a ministry consultant and coach with more than twenty years of experience serving the local church. Chris served on the Executive Teams at Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN., and Seacoast Church in Charleston, S.C., prior to becoming the Discipleship and Small Groups Specialist for LifeWay Christian Resources. He is the author of  Small Groups for the Rest of Us: How to Design Your Small Groups System to Reach the Fringes. You can follow his blog at www.chrissurratt.com.
Church Leadership, Group Leadership

Free Online Small Groups Cohort

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UPDATE: This group is now full, but if you would like to be considered for a future cohort, email Chris Surratt at chris.surratt@lifeway.com.

We can all benefit from spending time with other ministry leaders asking the same questions we are. That is why I am launching a free online cohort for church small groups point people. There will be six mandatory online meetings where you will have the opportunity to be a learner (ask questions) and a leader (teach others). We are keeping this group small, so if this cohort would interest you, register soon at the form below.

Church Leadership, Group Leadership

Take Sunday out of Sunday School if you want a Healthier Ministry

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“Sunday” is quite the misnomer. My understanding of Sunday School is that the best Sunday School happens after noon on Sundays and continues through late Saturday night six days later. As I’ve told training conference attendees before, “There isn’t anything ‘Sunday’ about Sunday School done right.” Sunday School done right is a 24/7 ministry that should find group members engaging with one another and their communities weekly.

“School” also may not have quite the right connotation about what happens in many Bible study groups. School is a term that may conjure up images of boring times, uninteresting subject matter, and teachers who didn’t “get us.” In many Sunday School groups, the teaching is discussion-centered and learner-centric. It is a far cry from the mental image some people have about Sunday School.

The best thing many of our groups could do is to take Sunday out of Sunday School. We should see Sunday School as a 24/7 ministry and not something we only do for an hour on Sunday morning. A few ways to do this include:

  • Contacting every absentee each week.
  • Fellowshipping together as a group regularly
  • Engaging in ministry as a group
  • Contacting and praying for one another throughout the week
  • Challenging group members to remain in God’s Word daily as they continue to wrestle with the truths discussed in the group’s Bible study

If Sunday School is only about Sunday, I believe it will struggle to be attractive to current and new members of our churches. It can be so much more than an hour of Bible study before or after the morning worship service. If, however, we take the “Sunday” out of Sunday School, it will become a vital part of who we are as the body of Christ. If we make Sunday School a true 24/7 ministry, its best days are still ahead.

Ken Braddy manages LifeWay’s ongoing adult Bible studies and is a 20+ year veteran in Sunday School ministry. His new book, Breathing Life Into Sunday School, releases in April 2019.
Church Leadership, Group Leadership, Uncategorized
Church Leadership, Group Leadership, Uncategorized

Last Chance to Register for Free Small Groups Webinar

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Hey everyone, my name is Chris Surratt and I am the Small Group and Discipleship Specialist at LifeWay Christian Resources, and author of Small Groups for the Rest of Us, and Gospel-Centered Small Groups. I am super excited to let you know about a small groups webinar that I will be hosting on October 9th, 2018 at 11AM Central. Our panelists: Steve Gladen from Saddleback Church, Heather Zempel from National Community Church, and Bill Willits from North Point Community Church, will be discussing how to have effective small groups in the modern church. At a time when churches are giving up on, or moving away from, offering small groups, how are these three trend-setting churches continuing to produce life-changing and disciple-making groups for not only just church members, but for people outside of the church as well? And, the best part about this webinar? It’s completely free! Just hit the registration link on this video and join us for one hour on Tuesday, October 9th at 11am to learn about producing effective small groups in the modern church.

 

Group Leadership

A Word to the One Who Has Failed as a Mother

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Mother’s Day is approaching. If you lead a group that includes moms, share this word with them. 

For those times when you feel like you blew it with your kids—whether you yelled at them, didn’t listen, accidentally played favorites, was too controlling, or was too lenient—you’re not alone. I wonder if the following women ever felt that way. Consider their background.

  1. Tamar was married to a wicked man, so wicked that, well, let’s just say God “took him out of the picture.” Tamar was angry with her father-in-law, so she tricked him into having sex. Tamar raised twin boys in a dysfunctional family setting (Gen. 38).
  1. Rahab was a prostitute in a seriously evil city, Jericho. Now she did a good thing when she protected the Israelite men who had come to spy on Jericho before they attacked (Josh. 2), and she is remembered for her faith and trust (Heb. 11:31). Yet I wonder if guilt over her past affected her parenting, or if her children were laughed at because their mother had turned tricks.
  1. Ruth had a story we love to tell. She was not Jewish, but she embraced the faith of her mother-in-law Naomi. But one part of her story usually gets glossed over. Boaz was a man related to Ruth’s deceased husband, and in their culture, he was a candidate to step in and marry her. But instead of just informing Boaz, Ruth went to where Boaz was sleeping and layed down. Scholars disagree on how much of a sexual advance we should read into this—and if that was Ruth’s intent, Boaz was righteous enough that he did not take advantage of the situation. This may not have been Ruth’s intention, but she sure made it easy for the whole scene to take a bad turn.
  1. Bathsheba had an affair with King David, which resulted in an unplanned pregnancy. After her husband was killed, she married the king and her child died. She had at least one other child, Solomon, but her entrance into motherhood was marred with sin.

There you have it—four women whose background would make them suspect in the local parent-teacher association. Were they good mothers or bad mothers? We don’t know, but I can assure you of one thing:

God used them.

All four of these women are mentioned by Matthew in his account of the genealogy of Jesus. He didn’t mention Eve, Sarah, or other women who surely had better pasts. He mentioned these four women by name. Yes, they were not perfect women—and by extension, we can assume they were not perfect mothers—but God used them to ultimately bring us the Messiah. 

God uses us in spite of our mistakes. If there are things you can correct, do so. If you need to ask for forgiveness, ask. But rest also in God’s grace and ability to work in the lives of your children—even your wayward children.

God is not through with your kids. And He is not through with you.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Lynn Pryor is a team leader for adult resources at LifeWay. He is serving a Nashville church as their transitional interim pastor. Lynn and his wife, Mary, have survived raising two sons to adulthood. A graduate of Southwestern Seminary, Lynn has previously pastored and served churches in Texas. Read more from his blog at lynnhpryor.com.

 

Church Leadership, Group Leadership

When Mother’s Day Hurts

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Mother’s Day. It’s almost a sacred institution in our culture. If you think I’m exaggerating, ask any preacher who’s ever failed to preach on the topic or have a Mother’s Day emphasis on the second Sunday of May. 

I’m all for honoring mothers, but not everyone looks forward to Mother’s Day, such as:

  • Those who grieve over what once was. Many people still feel the pain of the death of a mother or a child.
  • Those who grieve over what could’ve been. Many women have suffered a miscarriage. (Read The Silence of Miscarriage.)
  • Those who grieve over what never was. Many women want children but have never been able to conceive.

Let’s find ways to encourage people to honor their mothers while being sensitive to those who hurt.

  1. Acknowledge the hurt. Most of those struggling with painful emotions on Mother’s Day do so in silence. They endure the emphasis during a worship service, but it’s not easy. Let’s be open and acknowledge that many of us feel pain when we talk about motherhood. People are encouraged when they don’t feel forgotten or overlooked.
  1. Avoid overstating the worth of mothers. I’d better explain that. Mothers are important. The Bible is clear on the importance of the family, and its pivotal role in all our lives. But consider the message we send when we make motherhood the greatest task a woman can undertake. For those women whom God has not blessed with children, they can be made to feel they have no worth. For women who’ve lost a child through miscarriage or death, they can be led to think their worth has been taken from them.
  1. Make it a day to appreciate our own mothers. To put it bluntly, my role as a church leader is not to honor all mothers; my role is to encourage and challenge everyone to honor their own mothers (and fathers). That’s biblical.

“Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise” (Eph. 6:2).

We can honor our mothers whether they are living or not.

  • Honor is seen in our attitude toward them.
  • Honor is seen in what we do when we’re with them.
  • Honor is seen in how we talk to them or respond to their advice.
  • Honor is seen is how we talk about them.

Make this Mother’s Day a day that honors Christ in the way we both honor mothers and love those who are hurt.

Lynn Pryor is a team leader for adult resources at LifeWay. He serves a Nashville church as their transitional interim pastor. Lynn and his wife, Mary, have survived raising two sons to adulthood. A graduate of Southwestern Seminary, Lynn has previously pastored and served churches in Texas. Read more from his blog at lynnhpryor.com.

Group Leadership

Three Ways to Keep Your Groups From Dying This Summer

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As the springtime pollen settles and the summer sun starts to scorch, it’s tempting to allow that summer heat to affect your small groups, too. With vacations and conferences, camps and family reunions, summertime is notorious for poor small group attendance. Yet with the proper attitude and the gusto to plan ahead, below are three ways to keep your groups from dying this summer: 

  1. Plan ahead.

I try to live by the Boy Scout motto, “Always Be Prepared.” And its effectiveness has proven true! For example, when you invite someone to an event such as a wedding, you send out invitations three months in advance so you will increase your odds of more people showing up. The same is true for your small groups: if you provide your group members with your summertime plans—whether that be a new book, an online Bible study, or a group camping trip—the better odds you’ll have that members will prioritize your group on their calendars.

  1. Emphasize the importance of year-round discipleship.

Just because it’s summer doesn’t mean we have to get spiritually stagnant. In the same vein of being prepared, try giving a three- to five-minute “blurb” to your group about why you plan on keeping up with meetings over the summer months. Get philosophical, if you must. Because unlike summer, discipleship doesn’t take any breaks. If group members see that you prioritize your ministry, they might prioritize their attendance. 

  1. Have fun.

Some of my fondest memories come from my college small group in the summer at my home church. I looked forward to attending every summer because my primary community came from this small group. Because we could have fun with one another, we could trust one another with our vulnerable moments. Terry hosted “kickball Mondays,” where we’d play (pretty competitively) and go out to dinner afterwards. And when it was time to have our Bible study, Pam would bake chocolate chip cookies. My leaders created a relaxed environment, which enabled us to open up more.

Caroline Case is a proud Nashville transplant from Naples, Florida, who serves as the Production Editor for LifeWay’s smallgroup.com and custom Bible study teams. Caroline has a Bachelor of Communication from Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, FL. She is pursuing her Master of Arts in English at Belmont University in Nashville, where she will go on to pursue her doctorate and teach.

Group Leadership

Links We Love

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2 Possible Outcomes of Being Overwhelmed – Eric Geiger

I have encouraged leaders to look for seasons of being overwhelmed, to disregard the cliché, “don’t bite off more than you can chew,” and to intentionally take on more than you thought you could handle so you will be forced to learn and grow.

3 Obstacles to Living God’s Will For Your Life – Michael Kelley 

“What is God’s will for my life?” we have asked. And we should ask. We should, as Christians, care deeply about God’s will for our lives. Yet this question shouldn’t be informational in nature; when we ask the question; it shouldn’t be like we are looking into a crystal ball. We should be asking with positive intentions. We have already made up our minds that our lives do not belong to us; instead they belong to Jesus, so we have already resolved to follow Him in whatever and wherever He might lead.

What Would Happen If You Found Your Purpose? – Kris Dolberry

What would happen if you found your purpose and lived it out? How would that change things for you? Imagine waking up every morning and saying, “Good God, it’s morning!” than, “good god, it’s morning!”

Leading Well: 5 Ways Psalms and Proverbs Can Build a Leader’s Relationship with God – LifeWay Women’s Ministry 

As a leader, the poetry and wisdom books of Scripture (from Job through Song of Solomon) should be a regular part of your devotional diet. Not only do they help us relate to others, but they also help us relate to our Creator.

5LQ: Episode 242: How to Ruin Your Life with Eric Geiger – LifeWay Leadership

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Eric Geiger discuss Eric’s new book, How to Ruin Your Life and Starting Over When You Do.

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