5 Ideas to Help Small Group Members “Be Present”
BEST EVENT VALUE: Lock in EARLY BIRD PRICE of $395 by April 17th! INCLUDES: registration, lodging & meals for 3 days & 2 nights at the beautiful Rancho Capistrano Retreat Center! Enjoy the beauty of Southern California, grow as a leader, strengthen your team & accelerate the health & growth of your small group ministry! REGISTER […]
1 Simple Way to Improve Conversations
We have all been there. You are sitting in your small group; a member shares a vulnerable story of what is happening in his/her life. The room falls quiet as people try to figure out what to say. In desperation, another person replies with a story of his/her own, which typically begins in this manner, […]
What Do Small Groups and Hot Chocolate Have in Common?
The day after Christmas, my wife and I, along with our two girls (ages 2 ½ and 6 months), hopped on a plane and flew to southern California to visit my parents and some other friends and family. My parents, being amazing grandparents, had the food items that they knew our toddler loved, like chicken […]
12 Book Recommendations for 2019
As leaders, one of our tasks is to continue to learn. I have heard it said that great leaders never stop learning. And in 2018, a number of your colleagues read some great books that they would recommend to you. So here are 11 books recommended by other small group point people in the Small […]
8 Steps to Celebrating Communion with your Small Group
I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that we are firmly into the Christmas season, which means that another year is coming to an end. While a lot of the focus is rightfully on the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the closing of another year provides all of […]
Small Group Point People: How’s Your Soul?
Our church just concluded our six-week fall sermon series and small group push. But the fall didn’t start with the start of the sermon series, it started back during the summer in getting everything ready. So it’s no wonder that on Monday, I felt a little more tired than usual. Thankfully I was scheduled to […]
Prepping the Soil of your Small Group Ministry
The house that my wife and I bought just over a year ago now has a wonderful little garden plot off to the side of the house. The previous owners had done a great job making it a place that will be great to grow vegetables. However, our first summer there we were just acclimating […]
Preparando El Suelo Para Tu Ministerio De Grupos Pequeños
La casa que mi esposa y yo compramos hace poco más de un año ahora tiene una pequeña parcela de jardín a un lado de la casa. Los propietarios anteriores habían hecho un gran trabajo para convertirlo en un lugar ideal para sembrar verduras. Sin embargo, nuestro primer verano allí nos aclimatarnos a ser dueños […]
Community Formation and Stone Soup
A little while ago, I wrote on the power of food as it relates to being formed into community. Because of our technological age, which is premised on easy everywhere, we have somehow become less connected. Authentic, transformative relationships seem harder. One of the most beautiful aspects of eating together is in the mutual recognition […]
Lead from Authoritative Vulnerability
I continue to reflect on Priya Parker’s excellent book, The Art of Gathering. In my last post, I talked about her principle that gathering is about people not just a checklist of logistics. But once we have the people in our midst, how do we lead? Parker suggests that the best hosts lead from a […]
