Congratulations! You are the new Small Group Point Person for your church. Now what? Small groups are a great way to help people across your church get connected, both to Christ and with each other. Small groups can help your church develop future leaders and create a pathway for spiritual formation. Small groups can do so many different things, what do you feel like God wants your ministry to do? Here are 4 steps you should take as a new small group point person:
Read, Read, Read
There are great resources out there to help you develop a thriving small group environment. One of those resources is right here, the Small Group Network. There are also great Small Group leaders from churches of different sizes and backgrounds that have written terrific books specifically designed to help you! One great book, soon to be released is Planning Small Groups with Purpose, written by the founder of the Small Group Network Steve Gladen. Another great book, Big Change, Small Groups, was written by Heather Zempel of National Community Church. Each book provides helpful tips to help you lead and grow your small group ministry.
Vision Cast
As the new small group point person, you want to make sure that you craft a vision that fits the culture of your community and the overall view of the church. Most importantly, a small group point person will want to make sure God inspired that vision. As Gladen noted, most people “are often much more eager to help realize a God-inspired vision for a growing ministry or church” (p. 73).
Build a Plan
Every map has two things in common; it has a beginning and an end. All of the stuff in between change map to map, but you have to know where to start and where to finish. That is no different for small group planning. As the Small Group Point person, you should ask, exactly where does God want us to go? Once you have an end goal in place, you’ll want to develop a plan that fits your community. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
Love One Another
In the Gospel of John, we read that Jesus taught His disciples about the importance of loving one another. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35, NIV). When you love someone, you tend to be more encouraging, more forgiving, and more trusting. As a small group point person, we should never lose sight of His command to love those that He placed in your ministry.
Published by Michael Grayston
Michael lives in Palm Bay, Florida with his wife and two kids. He serves CenterPointe church as the Next Steps and Multisite Pastor. He is pursuing his Ed.D. in Ministry Leadership at Liberty University. Prior to full-time ministry, Michael worked in healthcare leadership for over 10 years.
