God equips us each with powerful ministry tools. Discovering yours will help you find your place as a vital minister to your small group. Below are two tools to help you identify your shape for ministry. Use the first tool to begin the process. Use your results to complete the second. Afterwards, talk about the results with your group leader and fellow members. Together you can figure out how you ...
What the Society page reveals about our need for each other
Amy Simpson
Ephesians 4:3–6
I inherited an old trunk that sat in my grandma's basement. It had belonged to the generation before, who had used it to bring their possessions across the sea from Sweden. It sits in my dining room. It smells a little musty, but I treasure it as a link to my heritage.
I was thrilled to receive the trunk, but even happier when I opened it and saw my bonus surprise. The bottom was ...
Sooner or later, every small group will experience conflict. In some groups, conflict will become evident from the first meeting. In others, great pain is taken to avoid conflict. The members maneuver around it and make it clear that "we don't do conflict here." But the ways we behave ...
How to manage difficult personalities within your small group
Janet McMahon
The group was new—we had only been together for five or six weeks. That's why I was happy to see a new couple walk into the room. I was also happy to see that everyone greeted them warmly. But about 30 minutes into our meeting, the warm temperature of the group began to cool. The regular members began to exchange looks across the room, and the question on everyone's mind was, "Who invited these ...
Practical information that will help you prepare for that inevitable clash
Abigail Johnson
Depending on how conflict was dealt with in our families—and depending on our own conflict style—we may be more or less comfortable with this area of small-group life. Personally, I assume that conflict is a normal part of all human interactions. Nonetheless, some types of conflictive behavior are easier to deal with than others.
When interacting with my family, I prefer a forthright sharing ...
Embrace conflict as an opportunity for growth and fellowship.
Sue Skalicky
I read through the small group covenant as I had done countless times before. I like to revisit the purpose of our small group and restate the need for commitment and confidentiality every time we begin a new study. I expected this time would be no different than the others, when agreement with the covenant was unanimous. As I finished reading the last point, I asked the group as I usually do, "Is ...
Our neighbor was so busy doing ministry that he had no time to meet or interact with his neighbors.
Don Tillman
I don't know why I was so surprised. After all, it had been my own experience most of my ministry life. The fact that a pastor living in my community was the least known person in the neighborhood should simply have made sense, but it did not.
I was standing in the street with a dozen or so people from my neighborhood. We all were new to the community, as it was a new construction subdivision. All ...
In an age where so many different models are available, many churches find themselves confused.
Michael C. Mack
An interesting phenomenon is happening in many American churches today. As churches develop a small groups ministry, they often begin to feel an identity crisis. This is exasperated by all of the church models, discipleship models, shepherding models, and small group models that are available to churches.
Diagnosis 1: Splintering
We live in an age when we can travel to successful churches, go to their ...
God created living organisms to go through life cycles. Jesus used these life cycles to illustrate points in many of His parables. Because churches and small groups are living organisms (1 Peter 2:4,5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Ephesians 4:1-16)we would be well served to pay attention to life-cycles when it comes to discussions about 'open' and 'closed' small groups. Close knit communities go through ...
Practical guidelines for leading in a difficult situation
Betty Veldman-Wieland
Conflict is a normal part of small-group life. In fact, if we don't have conflict, someone is not being honest. People are just too different from one another to avoid it completely.
Personally, I do not like conflict. It makes me feel, well, conflicted! At the same time, I believe that understanding the nature of conflict and being prepared to deal with it as a small-group leader, coach, or staff ...
Printer view of these results
