Presenting our new online training course – “Align!” Align will help you learn the small group ministry essentials. It features…
- 8 HD video session taught by Steve Gladen
- A downloadable workbook
- Lesson discussion questions
- An official Small Group Network completion certificate
- A special gift to help further your Small Group Ministry
Learn more by watching the free course introduction & ENROLL HERE!
We all have said the same thing, 2020 is not what we expected. It is nine months into the year, and we are still uncertain what the rest of the year will look like. But, Proverbs 29:18 reminds us “where there is no vision, the people perish.” So, how do we continue to create vision for our small groups amidst uncertainty? Our group leaders are looking to us as Small Group Point People for guidance, direction, and vision.
There are two things that I believe will help us through uncharted territory:
- Prayer
- Kedging
Prayer:
We know that God knows all, He sees all, and He is still leading! He knows the remainder of 2020. And yet, sometimes we think we have to come up with a plan, fast, all on our own.
Prayer is a step towards the One who guides the path. Prayer will help you put feet to the vision. Prayer helps us better understand what God’s will and plan is. So, I’ve been asking God two questions each day in this season: 1) God, what do you want to do with this ministry? 2) How can I be a part of it?
I promise you, if God can give Noah the exact cubit measurements for an ark, he can give you the blueprint for your small group ministry.
Kedging:
For all of you boaters, you are probably familiar with this term. The Royal Navy seamanship manual from 1904 describes this as a way that they would navigate large ships in and out of tight harbors and narrow places.
Essentially, the method is the they would cast their anchors out ahead of the ship and pull the ship towards the anchor. They usually only do this 600ft at a time. As you can imagine, this wasn’t a quick method, but it was the only way to navigate challenging waters.
Similarly, I’d say with these crises we are in, we too have been learning to navigate challenging waters. So, what would it look like to cast your anchor out ahead of you? I mean, kedging is really just casting vision- casting a wider net. So, there are three questions I have for you:
1- Where do you need to go back to the basics in this season in order to cast an anchor point out ahead of you so your small groups will follow?
2- What do you know to be consistently true about God? (This is an anchor point in an of itself!)
3- What do you know to be consistently true about your small group ministry that you could use as an anchor point and people would be able to grab hold of?
Through prayer and kedging, even if it is only 600ft at a time, we will be able to have greater vision and navigate challenging waters.
