Do you remember when church small group leaders gathered together for training and encouragement? Well, those days are back! Lifeway has partnered with The Small Group Network for a brand new in-person groups conference called “Align.” Align is a one-day conference that will help you learn the Small Group Ministry essentials. This training is designed
After a year and a half of days and months seemingly blurring together during the pandemic, a lot of us are starting to see the light at the end of the lockdown tunnel—and just in time for summer. Summer (hopefully) means more fun time spent with family and friends. Kids are home from school, and
Remember when “murder hornets” were the biggest thing we had to worry about in 2020? With all that’s taken place in the first nine months of this year—COVID-19, lockdowns, racial injustice, protests, political tensions—it feels like we should all just take a beach vacation for the rest of the year. Unfortunately, that’s not possible for
We’re talking a lot about health in our current environment, and rightly so. There have been over four million cases and 146,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States alone. Monitoring and taking care of our personal health is vital right now. In the same way, church leaders need to monitor and invest in the
According to Dictionary.com, the definition of the word “system” is: “a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method.” We’re sometimes afraid of systems in the groups world because we feel community is supposed to happen organically, not through an organized scheme. But at its core, a
After we have experienced genuine biblical community in a small group, the thought of anyone leaving that community is very hard. We want to keep what we are experiencing for as long as we can. But the mandate to continue making disciples is clear. The only way to make room for more people to start
One of the most common questions I receive from church leaders is: “How do we make our church a church of small groups instead of a church with small groups?” For clarification: A church of small groups is typically not program driven. They’ll have the basic ministry options of worship, kids, students, missions, and groups.
We are now going on several months where screen captures of Zoom meetings have become the new selfie. In this time of social distancing, a lot of our social contacts are through a camera lens and a video screen. In so many ways, we should be very thankful for the technology that has allowed us
On this episode of Group Answers, Brian and Chris talk to Derek Olson. Derek loves espresso, the outdoors and is passionate about building biblical community! He has been active in
The first step toward launching a new group for new people is identifying someone in your group to be a secondary leader or apprentice. This will be someone who is developing into a mature believer and is showing signs of taking ownership in the group. He may not recognize the leadership potential in himself yet,
