Tag: small group leadership

Good small groups…

December 4, 2010 / / 1 Comment

I haven’t run into many people who say, “I want my small group to tank.  I want to lead my folks off of a spiritual cliff so that they’re further from God than they were before they even met me.”

Quite the contrary.

Most people want their group to succeed.  They want to grow spiritually, and help others grow as well.  They want to have vibrant meetings that challenge people’s faith and encourage them to love God and others more.  They want to help foster healthy marriages and strong, God-honoring parenting.  They don’t want the group meeting to be a drag on anyone.  Rather, they long for everyone in the group to look forward to the meeting because they’re building healthy relationships with those in the group.

These people are willing to do what it takes to craft a successful group…they’re just not always sure what they should be doing to make that happen.

This week on Twitter and Facebook, I’ve been talking about what good small groups (and good small group leaders) should be in the business of doing.  Here are my thoughts.

Good small groups

  • Communicate with each other more than once/week
  • Are filled with admittedly broken people
  • Embrace those far from Christ
  • Don’t just talk about the Gospel.  They apply it.
  • Serve their community as much as they serve one another.
  • Don’t avoid difficult relational issues. They work through them.
  • Looks a lot like a healthy church.

Good small group leaders

  • Embrace the messiness of relationships
  • Are quick to offer grace because they’ve been given so much [grace]
  • Ask for help
  • Look a lot like good pastors.
  • Are patient with group members who are difficult to love.

What else do you think good small groups should be doing?

What else do you think good small group leaders should be doing?

 

Leading without authority

September 28, 2009 / / 2 Comments

One of my pet peeves in leadership is when I’m given a leadership responsibility, but not given any authority to make decisions.  Have you ever run into this? You’re delegated a task, but not been trusted enough to answer questions, set any sort of direction for the project, or answer questions about the current or future direction.  That’s why, when I ask somebody to lead a small group, I cast the vision for small groups at Grace, then actually let them lead. I get back and watch them shepherd their group.

I could get in and tweak with each and every group.
I could micromanage each group and make sure they were exactly like I wanted them to be.

But I’d rather cast vision, equip the group leaders, and let them lead.

After all, God has called them to lead the group, right?

If you feel confident enough in a person to ask them to become a leader, then it makes sense to actually let them lead!  Try turning loose some of your control.

Have you ever been delegated a task only to find out that you have absolutely no authority, even over that task?  What did you do?

 

How NOT to lead a small group

August 3, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Listening is an important aspect of leading a small group.  I even mentioned it in a recent post HERE.  Actively listening, asking appropriate follow-up questions, noticing body language, and helping people understand the heart of the issue being discussed are all part of facilitating discussion in a small group environment.

If you desire to be a good small group leader, you must work on your listening skills.

Obviously, listening isn’t the only thing that a small group leader needs to be able to do, but I believe that it is a vital skill that group leaders must learn.  Check out this video.  It’s a great example of somebody who does not really listen, does not ask appropriate questions, offends with statements and questions, and quickly judges based on partial information.  Enjoy!

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.3069567&w=425&h=350&fv=]

 

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