And I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake. Philemon 6

What a blessing it was for us to be part of a multi-generational interactive Bible study, this past Sunday afternoon. A room full of Tysons small group leaders got to worship, study, and encourage one another by discussing application questions from the biblical text. If you were not able to be part of our time we want to strongly encourage you to come out for the next two Sundays from 3:30-5:00 in room 1410.

As we looked at Philemon, verses 1-7, our big take away that specifically relates to small group leadership was from Paul’s prayer for Philemon in v6. Paul prays that Philemon’s ministry and fellowship with the Colossian believers, who meet in his home, would be even more fruitful. How might this happen? Paul says this happens through a deeper knowledge of every good thing that Philemon has in Christ. What Paul means is the more Philemon comes to treasure all that God is for him in Christ, the more effective Philemon will be in his love and ministry to those he is with in community. That idea has so much relevance for us as small group leaders! Don’t miss the study and discussion this week. If you plan on coming, then please review verses 1-7 and spend a little time looking at verses 8-16.

Praying that God will make your leadership even more fruitful for the sake of the gospel!

I recently had the opportunity to sit in my son’s kindergarten class and was fascinated how the teacher created such a structured classroom environment. When the children get too loud and talkative the teacher simply gives a verbal cue that prompts an immediate hush. When it’s time for the students to transition to a different learning/project station the teacher simply gives a cue and the students happily comply. Without the careful direction of the kindergarten teacher the class has the potential to quickly give way to “kindergarten chaos”. Ok, well what’s this got to do with leading a small group?

This is not what a small group meeting should look like! Of course, we want your small group to be a structured environment that has rhythm and purpose. We want a group environment to be conducive for learning, for prayer, and for fellowship. But, our goal, as small group leaders, is to get the group to the point to where it’s self-sustaining. What I mean is your small group should not stay at a place where the health and fruitfulness of the group is determined solely upon the skills and personality of the small group leader. In the last lifelines, we introduced this idea and we said that we’d follow up this week on some ideas as to how to move your group towards being self-sustaining. Here are some ideas:

1. Don’t be overly didactic in your teaching style. Great small group leaders are those who are great facilitators. Remember, Leadership is all about dialogue not monologue.
2. Be intentional about raising up leadership within your group and then utilize those leaders (Apprentice, hospitality, prayer request taker, etc). Remember, good leaders are good delegators.
3. Occasionally, have someone else facilitate the discussion on the week’s material. Consider asking someone else in the group to come prepared with 3-4 discussion questions or having everyone contribute 2-3 and draw them from a hat.
4. Take a 3-week break from leading your group and join us for our leader’s community on 3/27, 4/3, and 4/10 at 3:30 PM. It will be a great opportunity for you to be equipped in your leadership and fellowship with other leaders and a great opportunity for your group to learn how to be self sustaining.

Taking a break from leading your small group may be one of the most important leadership decisions you ever make for the group. Admittedly, a leader’s personality contributes greatly to the overall dynamic of a small group. The members look to the leader to help navigate through the dynamics of the relational cycle, to cast vision, lead discussions, and facilitate conflict resolution. All these things are part of your job as a leader but the group must never get to the place where the health and fruitfulness of the group is determined solely upon the skills and personality of the small group leader.

When a group first launches the dynamic is fragile. In our training manual, we call that “chaos community”. This usually lasts about 2 or 3 months. During this time the leader is the glue. Once the relationships in the group begin to solidify, a leader’s goal should be to give enough of the responsibilities away to the members so that the group could be self-sustaining. In the next issue of Lifelines, we will make some suggestions on how to move your group to becoming self-sustaining.

Today’s take away:

1. Determine whether or not your group is self-sustaining or if the group relies solely upon your own personality and skills as a leader.
2. Think about how this break might be an opportunity to make progress towards that goal of having a self-sustaining group.

By the way, if you’ve decided to be a part of the 3-week Spring break beginning March 27th at 3:30PM:

1. Have you decided what the group will do during the break? (We gave you three options in the previous Lifelines)
2. Have you discussed this with the group?
3. If the options you’ve chosen requires planning, have you appointed a point person to handle the task(s) during the 3 week break? (If you do not already have an apprentice.)