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StartingWell Guide for Group
Leadership
GFCleader.com
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Welcome ....................................................................................................... 2
Leader Expectations .................................................................................. 3
Honor Code ................................................................................................... 4
Group Values and Commitment ............................................................. 5
Understanding Your Role ......................................................................... 7
Being a Spiritual Leader ........................................................................... 7
How Grace Family Church Supports You ............................................ 9
Getting Ready for Your First Meeting ................................................. 10
5 Keys to a Successful Launch ....................................................... 11
Define the Win ...................................................................................... 11
How to Facilitate Conversation ...................................................... 12
Ask Great Questions ........................................................................... 13
How to Deal with Difficult People .................................................. 14
Off-Campus .......................................................................................... 16
Your First Month ....................................................................................... 17
Between Meetings .............................................................................. 18
Group Prayer ......................................................................................... 19
Apprenticing ......................................................................................... 20
Action Steps and Accountability .................................................... 21
Story and Stories ................................................................................ 21
Off-Campus .......................................................................................... 22
Icebreakers ........................................................................................... 22
Your Second Month and Beyond ......................................................... 23
Building Community .......................................................................... 24
Walking Through Crisis ..................................................................... 25
Group Feedback .................................................................................. 27
Your Group and Grace Family Church ........................................... 28
FAQ ............................................................................................................... 29
Groups 2.0 .................................................................................................. 30
Table of Contents
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Welcome
In 1969 Neil Armstrong placed his feet on the surface of the moon. In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. Now we are asking you to join us on an equally epic quest. OK, so maybe we’re being overly dramatic, but it is a big deal. You are helping people experience biblical community and discipleship... connecting relationally and growing spiritually.
Groups move us from anonymously sitting in rows disconnected from those around us to belonging to a small group of people that can laugh with us, encourage us, and challenge us. Groups move us from learning new information and being inspired by great messages to actually transforming us as we apply it to our everyday lives.
As we strive to facilitate these life changing experiences for people, we know that you, the group leader, are the pivotal instrument God will use to impact the lives of your group members. Our goal is to have the best group leaders in the nation. We know that to do that, we have to provide the best training, coaching, and support. This Starting Well guide is one of the first steps to ensuring your group has a great semester. There is a lot of great information within these pages.
As you read through this, please let us know if anything seems unclear or confusing. We want to make this guide as useful as possible. You can email Pastor Neal McCullohs at [email protected].
Thank you for allowing us the great privilege of serving God and your group members with you!
Praying for you,The GFC Groups Team
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• Attend Next Step
• Agree with Grace Family Church Statement of Faith
• Commit to Grace Family Church Leadership Honor Code and Groups Values and Commitment
• Commit to exercising personal disciplines for spiritual growth
• Effectively communicate with groups ministry leadership
• Keep group roster up to date and report group attendance
• Multiply leadership through apprenticing
• Invite people to join your group• Utilize approved curriculum• Maintain a current background check
Leader Expectations
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We want to maintain a profound respect for each other and those around us, and have created this Honor Code to enable us all to preserve the standard in which God has called us to as followers of Him. This applies to all staff, head ushers, small group leaders, ministry leads, and anyone on stage during services (including children’s, youth, college, and weekend services).
By providing an example in speech and action, we encourage others to grow in Christ and become servant leaders themselves. This is a way of life measured by the heart and commitment of each leader in the Grace Family Church family. We should regard it as an essential part of our development, not as an imposition or restriction.
As a leader at Grace Family Church, you have a responsibility to develop and exhibit mature Christian behavior. This should be the basic premise of your desire to work and serve in a leadership position here at Grace. While serving the Body of Christ and the community, you pledge to present a good appearance at all times. In both attire and behavior, you should strive to demonstrate Biblical standards in all situations. As Christians, the way we present ourselves to others is of vital importance to the way others perceive Christ. Our conduct should never be an embarrassment to Christ, but should exemplify the best qualities of a mature believer and servant leader.
Exemplifying the highest moral commitment, Grace Family Church’s leaders are to maintain a disciplined life of reading God’s Word, personal devotions and faithful attendance in weekend services. You must also refrain from such things as:
• Ungodly speech
• Gambling
• Indulging in much wine or other alcoholic beverages
• Dishonest gain
• Illegal drugs
• Posting to social media that would reflect negatively on you as a leader
• Pornography
• Sexual immorality
• All behaviors which might cause Christ to grieve and others to stumble.
Please contact a member of the Pastoral Team if you have any questions or need further clarification. In the event that a leader compromises this Honor Code, Grace Family Church’s Pastoral Team will determine the course of action on a case-by-case basis.
Honor Code
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RELATIONSHIPSWhile prayer and discussion of curriculum are key elements of a group, the driving force behind the group is building relationships. It is through healthy relationships that prayer and discussion are effective. Connecting outside of the regular rhythm of the group just for fun at least once a semester is a value.
How could you see the relationships in this group helping or hurting the spiritual growth of the group?
SPIRITUAL GROWTHSpiritual growth is not an academic exercise but involves practicing our faith. We want to grow in our relationship with God and the impact we make for Him. Weekly action steps and once a semester group service projects help drive us beyond merely learning new information, to actually internalizing and implementing that information.
How do you think personal action steps and group service projects will help facilitate spiritual growth?
AUTHENTICITYThe atmosphere of a group should encourage openness and transparency among members. This is an environment where people should feel free to be themselves, knowing they will be respected and accepted. For authenticity to occur, members must be able to trust that issues discussed within their group will not be shared outside the group. What is said in the group, stays in the group.
How can we create an environment that allows us to share openly?
MULTIPLICATIONGroup members recognize that one of the goals of their group is to multiply leadership. Every current group member has the potential to be a future group leader. Developing new leaders for new groups helps members grow as they assume new leadership roles and it also creates opportunities for others to benefit from the group experience.
Why is multiplying leadership important?
Group Values and Commitment
Questions for Discussion at Your First Meeting
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RESPECTFUL PARTICIPATIONConnecting relationally and growing spiritually require consistent group participation. This includes making group attendance a priority and actively contributing to the discussion. Group members will be conscious of talking too much or too long so that everyone is able to participate. In interactions, group members will respect others’ opinions, love & care first, and “coach” only when invited to without “preaching.” Everyone will also be respectful of each other’s time and help to start and end the group on time.
What part of this value is most important to you personally? What part do you feel could have the biggest impact on the health of the group?
SHARED RESPONSIBILITYJust like a healthy family, healthy groups share the responsibility of the group. Some responsibilities that group members can take ownership of include:
• Writing down and emailing out prayer requests
• Emailing the group a day before to remind them of the meeting
• Coordinating snacks
• Emailing notes from the conversation to those who missed
• Leading an ice breaker
• Planning a get together
• Planning a service project
All group members share the responsibility of praying for each other regularly.
What is some aspect of this group for which you can take responsibility?
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Understanding Your Role
Your goal is to help people Connect Relationally and Grow Spiritually.
Leading a group is an act of spiritual leadership. Don’t be intimidated – you can do it. The foundation of your spiritual leadership is found in 2-daily behaviors: connect with God and pray for your group.
Becoming a Spiritual Leader
CONNECT RELATIONALLYFacilitate ConversationsYour goal is to facilitate conversation, not to teach or preach.
Do Life TogetherHelp your group communicate and connect outside of the regular group meeting
Care for Your GroupLead your group to pray for and care for one another
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GROW SPIRITUALLYMake DisciplesChallenge and encourage your group members to grow with God through action steps, accountability, and personal spiritual habits
Make an ImpactLead your group to do a local service project, share their faith, and find a place to serve at Grace.
Multiply LeadershipDevelop group members into future group leaders
CONNECT WITH GODAs you maintain a vibrant relationship with God, the Holy Spirit will lead and equip you. Your personal disciplines of Bible reading, prayer, church attendance, serving and tithing will help keep you connecting to and centered on God and will also be a model to your group members. Don’t worry, none of us are perfect. Your coach is a great resource for you and is committed to pray for you and encourage you in your own relationship with God.
PRAY FOR YOUR GROUPAs you pray for your group members, God will give you His heart for them. He will fill you with compassion, understanding, and wisdom for your group. Let them know regularly that you are praying for them.
This Starting Well guide will walk you through some of the more tactical aspects of leading your group and help you to better understand the vision and strategy for groups here at Grace Family Church.
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COACHAs a leader, you will have a coach that will visit your group and stay connected with you regularly to see how things are going. They are your first line of defense if you have any issues in your group. They will be praying for you.
GROUP LEADER WEBSITEVisit the group leaders website GFCleader.com. Please go on there as soon as possible and subscribe to the website. You will get 2 emails every month with some short helpful leader tips, stories of how God is working in groups, and information you will need as a group leader.
RIGHTNOW MEDIAThis is a great resource of thousands of video driven group studies available for you. RightNow Media also hosts our collection of short video trainings for group leaders. GFConline.com/resources.
How to use RightNow Media:
1. Open/Download GFCFlorida App
2. Click the “Ministries” tab
3. Scroll and click “Groups”
4. Click on “RightNow Media” and press sign up
5. Scroll down and click “Register Now”
6. Enter Information on the form and submit
7. Check email account and click “Activate Account”
8. Enter information, accept terms and submit
9. Go to Grace Family Church channel
10. Download RightNow Media app
STAFFOur groups staff team is always here for you to support you and your group any way we can. Let us know how we can help.
How Grace Family Church Supports You
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Getting Ready for Your First Meeting
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PRAY Before you even have your first meeting, begin praying for your group and the members.
WELCOME PEOPLE TO THE GROUP Send a personal email to each person in your group welcoming them to the group and giving them your contact info and the group details. Let them know you are excited to have them in your group and looking forward to getting to know them.
DISCUSS GROUP VALUES & COMMITMENT At your first group meeting, use the Group Values and Commitment and the associated discussion questions to talk about the expectations for your group. This will get everyone on the same page and help people take ownership of the group.
FOCUS ON RELATIONSHIPS For the first month, your primary goal is to help people connect and feel comfortable. Trust has to be established for people to open up and share. How deep the relationships go in the first half of the semester will be the lid for how deep the group goes spiritually in the second half.
FOLLOW UP Make sure you follow up with the group after the first meeting to thank them, tell them how excited you are about the group, and to share the group’s contact info.
DEFINE THE WINThe impact of a successful group is both deep and wide. As a leader of a new group, we want to help make it simple for you to measure success after each meeting.
• Did the group laugh?
• Did everyone in my group contribute to the conversation in some way?
• Did anyone get vulnerable or really authentic as they shared?
• Did we discuss the Bible?
• Did we discuss last week’s action steps and assign new ones?
• Did we pray?
5 Keys to a Successful Launch
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PINBALL VS. PING PONG Remember, the goal is conversation, not monologue. You are the facilitator, not the expert. Try to focus on facilitating a conversation, rather than teaching a lesson. Your group conversation should be more like playing pinball than ping pong.
When playing ping pong, every other time the ball is hit, you are the one hitting it.
When playing pinball, the ball bounces all over the place and most of the time you are not hitting it. You simply are keeping it alive and trying to get it to bounce from one thing to another without coming back to you.
Your job as the facilitator is to start the conversation with great questions and then let the group talk. You want the conversation to bounce around from one person to another and you only interject to keep the conversation alive, to ask another question, or to gently correct anything that is significantly off. You still participate in the conversation, but you should not be the person who talks the most.
Explain Pinball vs. Ping Pong to your group and let them know that the goal is for them to talk. Let them know that ideally they are asking each other follow-up questions and sharing how they relate to, agree with, or disagree with each other’s comments. If someone in the group answers a question and no one else chimes in, you can directly ask others “Can you relate to what she just said?” or “How do you agree or disagree with what he just said?” Also, if someone in the group directs their questions to you, engage the group by asking for their thoughts before you answer.
You do not need to cover every question in a given curriculum. The questions provided are there to serve you, not to rule you. Remember that the goal for the first month is to help the group develop relationships and build trust.
How to Facilitate Conversation
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OPEN-ENDEDA great question cannot be answered with one word.
PERSONAL, NOT FACTUALA great question goes beyond recalling facts and into how a person is affected by those facts. Try starting your questions with “how” and “why” instead of “what.”
Describe a time you have experienced…?
Why do you agree or disagree with...?
How does this verse make you feel?
How did the message affect your view of God?
How does this challenge the way you…?
Why do you think the Bible says this?
Have you ever experienced…?
Do you agree with…?
Does this verse make you happy?
What did the message say about God?
What does this verse tell us to do?
What does this verse say about…?
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Ask Great Questions!
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THE OVER-TALKER You cannot let one person dominate the conversation. When this happens, you have to address the issue. If you don’t, the effectiveness of your group will be compromised and eventually people will just stop coming to your group. Talk to the over-talker one on one and thank them for participating and enlist their help in getting the rest of the group to participate.
Here is an example of what you could say, “Hey John, I’m so glad you’re in this group and that you feel comfortable enough to share your thoughts and experiences. As you know, it is important for all group members to participate in the conversation. I would like your help in making this happen. Can you help me pull other people into the conversation? Often that is going to mean you and I talking less and instead asking others what they think. We can also help by modeling shorter answers to questions...Let’s touch base again after the next group meeting to talk about how it went.”
THE MUTE Most groups will have at least a person or two that does not like to talk. First of all, that is okay. Not everyone is an extrovert. Just because someone is not talking, does not mean they aren’t engaged and benefiting from the conversation. You can still help to pull them into the conversation.
Try to get them talking early in group meeting, when the questions are still more introductory. Most of the time, these questions are less intimidating for someone who doesn’t want to share. Also, try to help your quieter members to connect outside of group. If you have a lot of quieter members, do regular game nights, cookouts, etc. The more they connect outside of spiritual conversations, the more comfortable they will be to share.
How to Deal with Difficult PeopleThere are a variety of people you may have attending your group, and some could be a little more difficult to engage with in a group dynamic. Often times, you are just a conversation away from helping a difficult person become a huge asset to your group. Below are some tips to help you deal with people graciously.
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THE HIJACKER Sometimes someone will try to hijack your group conversation. Often, people do not mean to do this. The conversation hits a hot button for someone and they take it and run with it.
When this happens, you can simply say, “This is a good conversation but we are getting a little off topic. I’d like for us to put this on the shelf and either circle back to it at another time or maybe a few of us want to continue the conversation after group.”
THE AWKWARD GUY From time to time groups experience the awkward guy: the person that stares at people funny, says really odd things, or regularly makes other people in the group uncomfortable. Every awkward guy is different and requires different responses from the leader.
Most of the time, it is minor...awkward still, but minor. In these cases, you as leader can deal with it as you see best. Remember that God loves this person and our church’s first name is Grace. You don’t want to let one person ruin a group, but you want to operate with grace. These are often great times to engage your coach for support.
THE COMEDIAN Many groups have at least one comedian in the group. This is a great thing for the group as long as the comedian knows when it is appropriate to make a joke and when it is not. If you find that your comedian has bad timing (or bad jokes) you need to have a conversation. One of the good things about the comedians is that their outgoing personality makes it easier for them to receive the feedback on appropriate boundaries.
THE NEEDY GUY If you have someone in your group that is constantly needy, please talk to your coach to help find the best course of action to take. We have special funds and people that are purposed specifically for caring for people in tougher seasons of life. We want to make sure we connect these people with the right resources for them. While your group is a great resource to rally around its group members, there are people and situations that your group is not equipped to deal with. Let us help.
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FIRST MEETING SCHEDULE
15 MinutesSocialize and eat snacks
15 MinutesBegin group time with an icebreaker
10 MinutesEveryone shares why they joined the group and what they are hoping to get out of the group
30 MinutesDiscuss the Group Values and Commitment
10 MinutesWrap up with a 1-2 minute preview of the curriculum, pray for prayer requests, and dismiss early
GROUP SPECIFICSThere are some huge benefits to doing a group in someone’s home instead of on campus. People tend to get more comfortable in someone’s home and therefore end of up sharing and connecting more with the group. Being in a home also provides some unique opportunities like choosing your own group study. RightNow Media is an online resource with thousands of video driven studies free for you to use. Please connect with your coach about specifics of curriculum, discussion guides, childcare options, and how to create the right environment for group discussion.
Off Campus
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Your First Month
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One of the keys to a group that fosters relationships, authenticity, and spiritual growth is feeling connected to one another outside of your weekly meeting time. Here are two simple things you can do to help that happen right from the start:
SEND OUT A WEEKLY EMAIL It takes five minutes, but it can be the difference between people feeling connected to the group or never coming back. Some things you can include:
• Share something that encouraged you from the previous meeting
• Give details for the next time you meet
• Let your group know you are praying for them
Subject: It was great to see you!
Hi everyone!
It was great to see all of you last week at Group. One thing I have been thinking about from our discussion is how great God’s love is for us. It really has been changing how I serve the people around me this week!
I am looking forward to our next meeting this Thursday at 7pm! We will be meeting again at the Johnson’s house: 2 Cam Newton Lane, Tampa, FL 33558.
I have been praying for each of you this week. Feel free to respond with any specific requests that you may have.
See you Thursday!
John SEND
PAIR UPEveryone is busy, but everyone can make time to have lunch or coffee with one other person in the group for a given month. Pick names out of a hat or pair up (men with men, women with women) at the end of the meeting. Either way make sure to pair up people who don’t know one another very well already. Have them share phone numbers and compare schedules for the month so they can find a time to get together. This is a simple way to build community outside of your weekly meeting and help relationships begin to solidify.
Between Meetings
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Many of our groups are newer groups or have newer Christ followers in them, so you will have to help members learn how to pray as a group. This can be a truly powerful way for your group to connect and grow spiritually together.
ASK IN ADVANCEWith people less comfortable praying out loud in a group ask them a day or two in advance if they would close the group in prayer that week. You can even give the whole group advance notice that you are all going to stretch your comfort zones and pray out loud at some point.
PRAY SILENTLY TOGETHER Sometimes it can be a great exercise to take 3-5 minutes to sit together and pray silently. After the silent prayer time, you can even ask the group to share something from their silent prayer time. Praying silently and talking about it can help someone grow towards being comfortable enough to pray out loud with others.
MODEL IT In group situations you can tell the group this: “I want us to all pray out loud. It is going to be just like asking each other to pray for us except we are going to give our request to God. Instead of, ‘Will you pray for my upcoming surgery that everything goes well and I recover quickly,’ say ‘God, I pray that my surgery would go well and that I recover quickly.’” Then you go first and keep your prayer simple. Explaining and giving them an example of how they can pray their own prayer request out loud with the same words they would use to ask someone else to pray for them helps eliminate anxiety over praying in a group.
Group Prayer
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VISION God continues to bring more people to Grace and we have the awesome privilege and responsibility to create more and more groups to help disciple the people God is bringing to us. We want to help people take this step of spiritual growth into leadership and help those God is bringing us to connect relationally and grow spiritually in a group.
IDENTIFY Your next step is to identify potential future group leaders within your group. At this point you are really looking for two things: someone who loves God and likes people.
TEST Once you identify someone you have two more questions to ask: Is this a person that really gets the vision and believes in the value of community groups? Does this person faithfully share in the responsibility of the group in some way? You might ask them to do something like handle the midweek emails or coordinate snacks or lead an ice breaker every week. Ideally you find someone who is Faithful, Available, and Teachable.
ASK Now it’s time to cast vision to them and ask them to be your apprentice. Share why you think they would be a good group leader. Tell them what impact you think they could make in others’ lives as a group leader. Explain to them the process of you helping them become a new group leader (the next step) and ask them to start the process and pray about it as they go.
TRAIN Let the church know who your apprentice is, so they will get the monthly group leaders’ newsletter and begin bringing them to leadership meetings with you. Also, start to share the leadership of your group with them. Each week, have them lead part of the group meeting. Begin to debrief your group meetings with them by asking, “How did we help people connect relationally, how did we help them grow spiritually, and what could we have done better?”
LAUNCH The goal is to have a member of your group ready to lead a new group every semester. Communicate with your coach that your apprentice is ready. Your coach will help them launch well. Make sure you follow up with your apprentice after they launch to see how it went for them.
Apprenticing
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Action steps are an important aspect of growing spiritually through groups here at Grace. We want to see people put into practice what they are learning. If your curriculum does not provide you with some sort of action step each week, come up with one simple thing for your group members to do before you meet again. It could be as simple as using this question as your final question each week, “What is one thing you can commit to do this week based on our group conversation today?”
If you do not follow up on the action step assignment the next time your group meets, people will not do it. Start off the group conversation each week by asking for an update from everyone on how they did with their action step and what they got out of it.
One of the best ways to help your group to connect relationally and grow spiritually is to share your Story and your stories with each other. Your Story is how you came to be a Christ-follower. What was life like for you before Christ? What led you to commit your life to Him? What difference has He made in your life?
Your stories are the week-to-week stories of how God is continuing to work in your life. Sharing these stories with each other regularly allows us to be more alert to God at work.
As your group members share their Story and their stories, it will 1) help you to get to know each other better and 2) help your group get more comfortable sharing with others about their relationship with God.
Action Steps and Accountability
Story and Stories
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EXAMPLE REGULAR MEETING SCHEDULE
ICEBREAKERS
15 MinutesSocialize and eat snacks
15 MinutesIcebreaker and action step check
10-20 MinutesVideo driven teaching
30-40 MinutesGroup discussion
10 MinutesAssign an action step, pray and dismiss
Off Campus
• What character from a movie or TV show would you want to be?
• What is your biggest pet peeve?
• If you had the time and resources to pick a new hobby, what would it be and why?
• What are 2 things on your bucket list?
• If you could spend a day with anyone throughout all of history (excluding people in the Bible), who would spend the day with and why?
• What do you miss most about being a kid?
• If you could choose a brand new and different career, what would it be?
• If you had to choose a new name for yourself, what name would you choose?
• What is one thing you want said about you at your funeral?
• What trait made your best boss so good and your worst boss so bad?
• What do you currently fear in life?
• You have a 6 month sabbatical from work but you cannot travel. What do you do with your time?
• What is the most useless thing (not person) in your house and why do you still have it?
• What have you worried the most about in the past week?
• What are you most looking forward to in the next 6 months?
• What cartoon character are you most like?
• If they made a movie of your life, what actor/actress would play you and why?
• How many times do you use your bathroom towel before you wash it?
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Your SecondMonth
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Building Community
Some people in your group will not fully connect with others or open up until they can connect in a more familiar environment. The goal is for every group to connect socially at least once a semester and to do some sort of service project together at least once a semester. These two events are great opportunities to share the leadership of the group by having someone in the group own the event.
HAVE FUNHaving some sort of low key get together at least once a semester allows people to connect and get comfortable in a lighter environment.
• Go out for dinner or dessert
• Have a game night
• Have a picnic at the park with all the families
• Grill out
• Allow your group to get creative and find something fun to do together
MAKE AN IMPACT TOGETHERThe second way groups really connect outside the normal meeting is by serving together. Doing a group service project at least once a semester not only helps your group to connect in a different way but it is also part of the discipleship process for your group. We all have a natural tendency to focus on ourselves and people like us. God calls us to get outside of our normal circle and serve others.
• Go to Grace’s soup kitchen on a Tuesday night
• Serve together at a Serve Saturday event
• Serve together at the Dream Center of Tampa
• Serve with one of our local partner’s: GFConline.com/serve
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One of the biggest questions a leader faces is what do you do when crisis hits? It is important to remember that because we are sinners living in a fallen world, we will inevitably face crisis. This can come in many different forms, everything from family problems, to financial struggles & job loss, to health issues, to loss of a loved one. As you lead your group, it is important to see crisis as an opportunity for growth, rather than a hindrance or road block. If handled well, crisis can provide a pathway to true community.
AFFIRM THEM• Thank them for sharing, being authentic, and vulnerable.
• Let them know the negative emotions they’re feeling are normal.
• Validate their pain and their grief. Do not dismiss or minimize or try to quickly fix their feelings.
• Let them know they are loved, first by God and by you.
• They need to know that you’re for them.
• Encourage them to Abide in Christ. [John 15]
ASK THEM• How can we help you walk through this & pray for you?
• Galatians 6:2 – Bear one another’s burdens
• Colossians 3:12-14 – Put on then as God’s chosen ones, holy & beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another…
• Make sure they know you’re not going anywhere
• What would be the best next step for you?
• How can we best follow-up with you?
• Follow-up is how you communicate that you care about them beyond just when they are conveniently right in front of you.
Walking Through Crisis
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AVOID• Downplaying what they’re going through.
• Comparing what they are going through to your struggles or to “starving children in Africa.”
• Putting the responsibility on your shoulders to single handedly fix their problems.
• Trying to have all the right answers & resolve everything right away.
• Being harsh, trite, or overwhelming with action steps.
• Letting anyone in the group steal the spotlight by turning the attention to their own story.
• Cliché “Christianese” phrases that minimize or dismiss the pain.
• “God won’t lead you to what He won’t lead you through”
• “God has a plan”
• “All things work together for the good…”
• “God has something else for you”
Don’t miss out on how this can impact the group as a whole.• Encourage the person to share with the group.
• Widening the circle of awareness allows for the best care & encouragement moving forward.
• “In the abundance of counselors there is safety.” – Proverbs 11:14
• It enables others to be honest about their own story.
• Sometimes in other people’s stories there are going to be some of the same hurts, habits and hang ups. Inviting in the group provides opportunity for others to find hope and healing.
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Halfway through the semester is a great time to take a few minutes for a quick assessment. Getting some feedback from your group will allow you to make a little tweak or two to maximize your group and will help your group members to take even more ownership of the group. Remember, every group is unique based on the individuals in the group. Here are a few questions to ask:
Group Feedback
What is the best thing this group has done to help you grow spiritually?
What else can this group do to help you grow spiritually?
What is the best thing this group has done to help you connect relationally?
What else can this group do to help you connect relationally?
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Your Group and Grace Family ChurchSERVE AT GRACE FAMILY CHURCHOne way we grow spiritually is by serving others (James 2:18). As a group meets, it’s important that members grow in their understanding and application of God’s Word by contributing to the local church and community. God has uniquely gifted each of us and there are many ways we can use our gifts to serve others such as serving with our children, first-impressions and production teams or even mid-week in the office. You can view many other opportunities at GFConline.com/serve.
INVITING OTHERSIt’s clearly important to God that people experience a personal relationship with Jesus. Two common ways people begin to experience God is through regular church attendance and participating in a group. As a leader, it’s important to model the value God has to invite others to enter into relationship with Him. Share with your group who you are personally inviting and challenge group members to also invite others. Pray for these people together and celebrate the God stories that take place! (Luke 15:10)
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How do I answer a question when I don’t know the answer?
DEMONSTRATE HUMILITY It’s okay not to know everything. You don’t have to pretend to. Sometimes a simple “That’s a great question. You know, I really don’t know the answer to that” will be exactly how you can respond. This simple admission of your own limitation can encourage group members that they don’t have to be experts either.
OPEN IT UP TO THE GROUP Follow up your admission of not knowing by asking the group for their thoughts. “Do you guys have any thoughts about that? Do any of you know the answer?” This can encourage your group to help one another and see each other’s gifts expressed.
DO SOME RESEARCH If the group discussion doesn’t quite get you to an answer, challenge the group to do some digging in the Bible that week and volunteer to do some of your own research. Look online or in a reference book, or ask a trusted mentor. Make sure to share what you learn with the group! You can do this by email or share what you found at your next meeting. (Even better: Ask someone in your group, maybe even the person who asked the question, to follow up and report back what they learned.)
ASK US If you ever need help you can always feel free to reach out to your coach. They are there to help.
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