Leading a small group sounds easy, until you do it for the first time. Then you find out – this is more challenging than it looks like! If you are new to leading a small group, or are looking to breathe some fresh air into your current small group, then consider applying these 4 essential components of a successful small group:
1. Arrival and Social Time
Hosting your small group starts the moment the first person or family pulls up to your meeting location. As the leader, you should be ready to receive them and spend time catching up with them. If something needs to be prepped, then do your best to have those items prepared in advance so you can just focus on socializing with everyone. I know… depending on the week, this may be easy to say, but hard to do!
As more members arrive, ensure you have the space available for everyone to socialize and catch up with each other. This social time may seem small, but it is helpful for everyone to continue building their relationships with each other. Bringing good food into this social time is helpful too. People naturally bond over food!
2. Conversation Starter Questions
After your group sits down, take some time to ask some interesting conversation starter questions not related to your study. Ask questions that help the group members learn more about each other and let everyone take turns answering the questions.
If you have a larger small group, then narrow it down to one interesting question per meeting. This will also help you develop better relationships with each other. People want to know others and be known themselves. Plus, if you throw some funny questions or answers in the mix, then that laughter will help bring the group closer too!
3. Discussion
During this time, focus on discussing the study material for the day. If you are focusing on a specific Bible passage, then consider reading it out loud before discussing it. As the leader, you can certainly do a little bit of teaching at the beginning of this discussion time, but come prepared with a few questions written down that you can ask the group if needed. That way, you can help spur the conversation.
Often, once the group members become more comfortable with each other, then they will begin to open up more. If you have multiple extroverts in your group, then you may need to spend more time steering the conversation, keeping it on track, and inviting the more quiet members into the conversation.
4. Prayer Requests
Once you have finished your discussion, take some time to go around and share prayer requests. Write them down and send them out to the group via text or email, so that everyone can be praying for those prayer requests. If an urgent prayer request is shared, then take time as a group to share for that prayer request on the spot.
These 4 essential components of a successful small group will help guide your time together and ensure your group is meeting the needs of the small group members.
Is your church looking to add more small groups?
