All Entries in the "Christian Small Groups" Category

What are Small Groups?

A small group is a gathering of believers who come together weekly to pray, share, and support one another. Small groups may only have 3-12 members at a time. The best part of small groups is that it allows the members to connect with one another, to share their lives together, and to help one another grow in their relationship with God. Most small groups have a leader, who leads the meeting and teaches lessons from either a bible or a bible based curriculum. Some small groups meet for a limited amount of time, for several months or so. Others will meet for as long as they are capable, with no time limit.

Several important components of small groups include prayer, learning, sharing and multiplication. Prayer is very important in small groups. While each person should pray for their own individual needs, it is necessary that members also focus on praying for others as well. This will help the group have an outward focus. Another component of small groups is learning. This is where the group leader comes in. The group leader will spend some time teaching a bible lesson, whether it is short or in-depth depends on what the group is meeting for. A third component of a small group is sharing. Sharing is just what the name implies. The group members each spend some time sharing about the things that are going on in their lives, whether it be good or bad. Sharing allows the members an opportunity to build lasting relationships. The final component of small groups that are discussed here is multiplication. Basically, small groups should try to have an “open chair” policy. This means that no one should ever be turned away, even if adding another person to the group causes it to be not as small as it once was.

Small groups are an important part of church life. They help church members come together and build strong relationships, not only with each other but with Jesus. They allow members to learn more and to study the bible more than they may get to with just one sermon a week on Sunday. A church member who attends a small group meeting or Christian cell groups will be better off for it, because they will hopefully develop strong relationships with other members, and will have grown in their relationship with God.

May 05, 2008 | admin | Comments 0

How to Start a Small Group

If you want to start a healthy small group ministry, it is important to ask yourself several questions about yourself and your church. It is important, first and foremost, to look around your church and ask yourself what the vision should be for small groups. If your church already has some small groups, what are their visions? If your church does not have any small groups, what is your vision for a small group ministry? And what is your biblical basis? Another thing to ask yourself while looking around your church is: what people need to be reached by a small group ministry? Can your church use a group that targets women, men, or couples? Or maybe there is even another group that needs to be reached by the small group ministry.

The next question you need to ask yourself is how will you reach the people you have created small groups for? People will go to the small group that best fits their needs, so it is up to you to figure out how to best fit most people’s needs. What time will you meet, where will you meet, how long you will meet, etc.; the group that you are recruiting will often times dictate the answers to these questions. Another important thing to consider is, who will lead the small groups? And if there are members in the church who step up to lead, how will you train them to do so? Another component to figure out is your goals for the small group ministry. Where do you see the groups in six months? In a year? What happens if the small groups grow too large? How will splitting the group be handled? You need to come up with a plan for the future of the small group ministry.

Once you have tackled all these questions, it is beneficial to sit down and develop a philosophy statement, or a manual, if you will. In this manual you should put all the answers the questions that you have asked yourself while developing the small group ministry. For instance, you should write about what groups will be established, how you will handle their growth, what people you will reach out too, how you will train leaders, etc. Small groups are a vital part to the church, but establishing the small group ministry is not always the easiest thing to undertake. Asking yourself questions, and developing a manual, can help lead you in the right direction while developing a healthy small group or Christian cell groups ministry in your church.

May 05, 2008 | admin | Comments 0