So your church doesn’t have a small groups ministry yet? The key word is “yet” and I think you are the person to help get it going. I’m not asking you to launch the entire thing by yourself. I’m suggesting you host one small group to help show the impact a small group ministry could have in your church. Here are four steps to getting your church’s first small group started:
First – Get approval from your church’s leadership! You have to respect the vision and mission of your local church. If this is going to be successful you need to have buy off. You are NOT asking to launch a small group ministry for the entire church. All you want is to host a small group for six weeks with a few members of your church and see how it goes.
Second – Invite friends to go through the study with you. Select a video based material from Pastors.com library for your first study. Follow along with the teacher in the video and host a guided discussion time with the questions provided. This is a next level resource, not required for your beta small group, but you could read “Leading Small Groups with Purpose: Everything You Need to Lead a Healthy Group” by Steve Gladen.
Third – Report back what worked and didn’t work to your church’s leadership after the small group is finished. Your church’s leadership wants people to come to know Jesus and live for Jesus, so any stories around small groups facilitating these goals will encourage them to embrace the idea more.
Fourth – Let them know SmallGroupNetwork.com is a resource to help launch a small group ministry. Your church doesn’t have to do this alone. The Small Group Network can help make the process smooth. A few helpful posts to send over:
- How to Launch New Groups and Find New Leaders [Podcast]
- Designing Your Small Group Ministry Model
- Find A Huddle: Gathering Small Group Point People Regionally
Can’t wait to hear how God uses your beta small group!
