HUDDLE TOOLS

Steve Gladen on Huddles

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How to Have a Great Huddle | Huddle Invitations | Huddle Schedules | Huddle Helps

The Small Group Network uses “huddles” to gather and connect Small Group Point People so that they might develop relationships, support each other, and share resources. Your huddle may be a couple of Small Group Point People at a coffee shop, twenty people meeting at a church, or a gathering of a hundreds of Small Group Point People after a small group conference. The effectiveness of a huddle is not dependent upon size. Many of our huddles started very small and then grew from there. If you focus on building relationships and providing good content, your network will naturally grow. Unless, of course, you live in a very remote area. In that case, if one other person shows up, consider yourself lucky and start building that relationship!

Huddles are led by our Local Leaders. Each Local Leader holds at least two huddles per year (although some huddles meet monthly, or even weekly). Huddles typically last about two hours and give Small Group Point People a chance to “talk shop” and compare strategies.

“I really appreciate all the SGN is doing. I tell everyone that the day our Small Group Network huddle meets is the best day of my month! You couldn't pay me to miss that time (well, maybe you could, but it would have to be a lot!).” Jay Firebaugh - Ohio SGN Area Leader

How to Have a Great Huddle

Advertise your huddle!
Enter your huddle location, date, and time on our Churchteams Database under your Group Description (on the Browse Networks page). This is the best way to advertise your huddle. Many people go to the Browse Networks page who are just checking out the Network. Let them know where you are meeting and they just might show up.
Send multiple invitations to your network via Churchteams.
Schedule your huddles as far in advance as possible. Once you have set the date(s), go to Churchteams and send an email to all of your network members. You might want to send monthly emails to let them know about upcoming huddles. As the time approaches you might want to increase the reminders to weekly. Then for the previous two or three days before the huddle, send out a daily reminder.
Location, location, location!
Choose a place where people will be comfortable sitting for a couple of hours. This might be a local coffee shop, restaurant, or even a meeting room at your church (as long as the chairs are comfortable).
Food and drink.
If you are eating during your huddle, be sure to add that to your huddle description. Perhaps something like “Bring $5 for inexpensive lunch”, or something to that effect. If you are meeting at a location outside of a restaurant such as a church, supplying coffee and/or donuts would be a nice touch.
Get to know each other.
Just like a small group meeting, everyone will be more comfortable if they know a little bit about each other. Begin by asking everyone to share a little bit about themselves. Ask for basic information such as their church name, title, whether they are married, and if they have kids. After everyone shares that, you might want to add a fun ice-breaker question like, What is your favorite movie or If you weren't in ministry, what do you think you would be doing? Or you may want to make use of a survey (see our Surveys page).
Pray.
After everyone has had a chance to get to know each other a little better, pray. Ask God for His guidance for the meeting.
Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Even if you have an agenda for the meeting, be open to what God may be doing. Recognize and honor God moments in your meeting. Just as in a small group, “getting through the material” is not the purpose of the meeting.
Keep the discussion flowing.
Ask quiet members to respond. Divert the conversation away from those who may monopolize it. Like in a small group, ask open ended questions. Ask for opinions and ideas. When people do share, be sure to acknowledge and thank them.
Ask for suggestions.
As you wrap up the meeting, ask Members what they would like to do for your next huddle. You might also ask them if they have a location where they would like to meet. Someone might have a great room at their church, or a favorite restaurant, to suggest.
Ask for prayer requests.
Ask Members how you might pray for them. Then take a few moments right then and there to do so. Remember to include those prayer requests in your prayers between huddles.
Thank Members for coming.
Thank everyone for coming and tell them how important it is that they come again. Stress the fact that a huddle is an interactive experience where everyone learns from one other and their contributions are vital.
Send a follow up email the following day to your entire network.
Tell everyone (not just those who attended) about the huddle. Give a brief overview of topics discussed and then tell everyone the date, location, and time of your next huddle. Remind them to mark their calendars.

Huddle Invitations

Email invitation to join local Huddle - Cut and paste this email and invite people to join your upcoming huddle.

Seven reasons I love Huddling - This can be sent as a fun way to raise awareness about huddles. By customizing it and adding your upcoming huddle information, you can also use it as an invitation.

Huddle Schedules

Huddle schedules may vary. Here are sample Huddle Schedules for your use:

Huddle Schedule Example 1
Huddle Schedule Example 2

Huddle Helps

Your huddles may simply “go with the flow” and discuss whatever topics come up. Or, you may want to organize huddles around a central topic. Should you choose to do the latter, we have included some Huddle Helps here for you. Huddle Helps are hands-outs of questions on a certain topic (such as Training New Leaders). When you email your huddle invitations to your network, attach a Huddle Helps sheet so members know the topic that will be discussed. This also gives members a chance to think about the questions ahead of time.

Here are some Huddle Helps for your use; please feel free to revise and/or edit: