Small Group Help Has Now MOVED

This blog is now officially inactive and has moved to a new location! If you enjoy the content that is already here don't worry, I will be moving all of the posts over to the new website.

The new Small Group Help blog will continue to be a free place of discussion online, but we wanted to make other resources available to you.

Please visit the new Small Group Help website and register for FREE.

The blog and discussion forums are both free features.

There are some other features that we offer for a small fee but take some time to visit, explore, leave comments on the blog, and share your great ideas in the forums! Click Here or on the image below to visit!

LAUNCH - smallgrouphelp.com

We are ready to launch the new website! Domain transfer should be happening any day now. So keep checking back. The new small group help blog now has much more to go with it. Hopefully you find it a useful resource and you are willing to learn from one another to build a better Christian community.

Can your Home Team or Small Group exist without you?

I have been convinced for some time that a Home Team (or Small Group) exists because of the leader. It can be a person, a couple or several couples who can attract and hold the group together.

What happens if the leaders can’t continue to lead the group? I think it is entirely possible that the group will dissolve if no one else has the ability or desire to develop the relationships with the other group members and to continue leading the group.

Relationships are key as this is a volunteer group. Being able to influence people in a positive way through encouragement, respect and love is critical. Why are there so few people who can or want to do this?

Is it gifting? Desire? God’s Will? Leadership? Passion? Or something else? From what I have read it is called being a shepherd. Being concerned with all the sheep, all the members.

Whatever it is we need to find the people who have ‘it’ and get them involved in either leading a HT or handling some parts or responsibilities of the HT as soon as we recognize that person and helping them grow to the point where they can lead.

Everything will continue without us if God is truly involved in the church and the HT’s. We need to call on him constantly for His guidance and Wisdom and to read His Word. We need to ask God to lead the church and the HT and to show us what He wants done.

In James He we are told how to get what we don't have. We are directed to ask for Wisdom. And in Matthew we are directed to ask, seek and knock.

Wow! Maybe it’s not our power and strength that builds the church and Home Teams but God’s. We need to develop a strong relationship with God and encourage those in the group to do the same.

Don't Be Afraid to Try Something New

This fall, my wife and I are going out on a limb just a little. OK, a lot. We are hosting eleven couples along with their 24 kids at our house for a different kind of small group. We're actually calling it a parenting discussion group. We are utilizing clips from the ABC series Supernanny to kickoff conversation about various parenting related topics. This upcoming week we will be discussing the subject of routine, and we will be talking about respect the following week. The hope is that we'll provide parents with a forum to enhance their parenting skills. We're also hoping that this will provide another chance for connection and community. Several of the families who are signed up for group have never been in a group like this before.

Honestly, we're not sure how this whole thing is going to work. It's an exciting subject matter, and it has been amazing to see the response. But... it seems rather daunting as well. This is a big group for holding a discussion where everyone can contribute. This is also a large group of kids to be managing in our basement and backyard. Obviously, we will be forced to be creative in finding ways for both kids and adults to get along and make the most of our weekly time together. Splitting the kids up for childcare will be one method we'll try. Splitting the adults up for smaller discussion groups will be another thing we'll attempt.

Will all this work? We're not sure. We hope so! Bottom line is that sometimes you have to take a leap of faith.

We'd love to hear some of your crazy and creative efforts to help people find community. Let us know.