Maybe you’ve been considering starting a huddle. Perhaps a Small Group Network leader has been bugging you to do it. But, while you’re thinking seriously about it, you still struggle with a deeply personal question: what’s in it for me?
Essentially, there are five personal benefits that you gain in starting a huddle:
- You’ll learn more about successful small groups in a shorter period of time than with almost any other thing you will do in your ministry. As the huddle leader you will feel somewhat responsible for the outcome of the huddle, so you’ll take it more seriously than the others that attend. One additional benefit, you’ll remember the lessons longer.
- You will be perceived as a leader. Your reputation improves because you are more visible. In my former company our mantra was, “It doesn’t matter how well you can dance if you don’t get invited to the ball. In order to get invited you have to be remembered. In order to be remembered you have to stand out. And in order to stand out you have to be different.” Being the founding leader of the SGN huddle in your area qualifies you. You stand out, you’re different, you’re a leader! One not so subtle point, being seen as a leader will certainly help your resume, too.
- You will gain wisdom from sources you would never consider. Almost every huddle has members that are relatively new to small group ministry. You’re used to looking at the challenges you face and over time you just accept them. What you are currently doing may need to be jettisoned in order to gain new momentum. An innocent question or fresh thought from someone new to groups ministry can provide the breakthrough strategy you need.
- You will help your church be perceived as a leader in your area. A common mark of a leader is that they teach. Leadership churches have seminars, workshops, conferences and other learning events because they want to be up on the latest ideas. Quick tip: when you start a huddle, have it meet initially at your church. That ties your church to the huddle, and your huddle members will look up to your church for caring about them and their ministry, too.
- You will help other small group ministry leaders by planting a flag of hope in your area and your country. Just seeing that there is a nearby huddle is reassuring to leaders of groups ministries around you. Your huddle says that there are others nearby that are honestly striving to learn how to make disciples with spiritually healthy groups ministry. For some leaders, just knowing that they’re not alone is strong medicine that helps them stay in the game during the rough spots.
If there are no huddles in your area, or even in your country, it’s time for you to step up and start a huddle and watch what God does with your ministry and your community. To create a huddle, simply log in at https://smallgroupnetwork.com/login using the username and password you created when you first joined. Once you log in, you’ll be on your profile page, looking at the Account tab. Click on the tab marked Huddles and you’ll see two buttons on the right. One says Find More Huddles and the other one says Create a Huddle. Click on Create a Huddle. Fill out the information except for Video URL and hit the Submit button. That will get you started on a rewarding journey.
