A skit you can do during service to encourage people to join small groups.
Charles Bennetch
Note: This skit was given in the fall, prior to beginning a new small groups ministry.
Setting: Six to eight adults on platform, seated in semicircle.
Spotlight is first on narrator, then it moves to leader as he begins to lead the group. After he speaks, time stops—and the light moves to each member in turn as he or she thinks back over the previous year. (Their thoughts are prerecorded, and ...
The New Year is a prime time for churches to launch 40 Days of Purpose campaigns. And, of course, small groups play a key role in this. Much could be said from the trenches of these campaigns, but after listening to some of the most successful small group champions, we've boiled down their wisdom to five thoughts on what really works.
1. Do it again! "40 Days of Purpose is and was one of the most successful ...
Reading groups encourage unity and lead to some deep discussion.
by Randy Hasper
Every pastor knows that growth as a Christian requires more than a Sunday experience. I want to give the congregation something worthwhile to do between sermons to stretch their intellect and their faith.
I started a reading group.
Today, homemakers and house painters read and discuss Kierkegaard. Hair stylists and law officers read Augustine and Bonhoeffer and Pascal. And they love it. My first group ...
One church learned that prayer is the essential ingredient for small group success.
by Life Together
Linda lay in bed recuperating from knee surgery. As much as she wanted to go to church and participate in the weeks leading up to the 40 Days of Purpose campaign, Linda could barely get out of bed.
She kept thinking about Pastor John's challenge to host a group for the 6-week campaign. How could that be possible? Though she couldn't sign up group members at church, she prayed people would become a ...
How one reluctant small group participant discovered God's purpose for her.
by Life Together
I knew God was leading me to be a part of a small group. Every time I heard an announcement about sign-ups or saw a flyer, I felt more and more convinced that I needed to get involved.
But I was nervous about it, and a little reluctant. The first night my group met, I had butterflies in my stomach as I walked toward the front door. But after everyone started showing up, I began to relax. They were ...
A few changes in the approach to small-group ministry can make a big difference.
by Life Together
Often small groups become a place in the church, where "every person (or small group) does what is right in his own eyes." Too often small groups operate independently like nation states, where the individual groups choose curriculum, choose frequency of meeting, and refuse any governing or leadership structure but their own. Everything tends to move toward chaos.
Brett Eastman's story about the development of small groups at Saddleback church.
by Life Together
After five years of championing small groups at Willow Creek Community Church, Brett Eastman shuttled his family westward to Orange County, California. He was hired at Saddleback Church and figured he would pick up where he left off at Willow.
But Saddleback was not Willow. In this interview, Brett Eastman, founder and CEO of Lifetogether, talks about the difference between the churches and what he ...
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