Important Dates
- June 1 | Groups Launch + Leader Lunch @ 12:30P
- June 7 | Saturday Campus Prayer + Devotion @ 9A
- July 5 | Saturday Campus Prayer + Devotion @ 9A
- July 12 | Groups Season Ends
Facilitating Care for Your Group Members
Access forms and tools to help you facilitate and coordinate Campus Care, Care Counseling, and Childcare
How to Create a Healthy Group Dynamic
Growth requires vulnerability. As leaders, it is our responsibility to create environments that encourage people to be open and real. This requires two things:
- The vulnerability and openness of the leader. If you aren’t willing to be open and real about who you really are and where you need growth others won’t be either.
- An atmosphere of trust and safety. None of us are willing to be vulnerable if the relationship doesn’t feel safe. Leaders must cultivate acceptance, trust, and confidentiality in order to encourage vulnerability.
People are more likely to open up when they feel comfortable. As leaders we want to promote an environment of hospitality.
- Provide a clean and comfortable meeting space.
- Seek to minimize distractions.
- Offer food or snacks.
- Engage everyone in an open way.
- Some personalities will take longer than others to engage. Be inclusive, but patient.
Facilitate with Excellence
- Start and end on time.
- Be a facilitator, not a lecturer— your goal is to encourage personal interaction and self-discovery. Be a good listener.
- Focus on what scripture says, not your own ideas and opinions.
- Seek to understand before being understood. Never put down a person’s comments or contributions.
- Don’t allow one or two people to dominate the discussion.
- Don’t force anyone to talk, but encourage involvement by calling on reluctant participants by name.
- Keep the discussion on track. If new issues are raised, suggest that you return to them after the current discussion is completed.
- Ask good follow-up questions to take the conversation further.
- Remember, the goal is to build relationships, not complete the curriculum.
- Be sure to include fun into your semester. Set aside some time to just do something fun as a group.
Keep the Conversation Relevant
Remember, everyone in your group will be at different places in their spiritual journey. Be thoughtful when you talk about spiritual concepts or church terms that might be unfamiliar to new Christians or new church-goers.
Follow the 70/30 Rule
Give the members of your group room to speak up instead of doing all the talking yourself. About 70% of talking should come from members and 30% from the leader.
Set Clear Expectations
A key to helping people feel comfortable in your group is to let them know what to expect. Take time to share how the group will flow from week to week. This can include things like explaining the times you will begin and end the group, how discussion or group activities will happen, and how the group will rally as a family to care for and support one another.
Peer-to-Peer Accountability
Growing in our faith always requires taking steps and making decisions. Some of which aren’t easy.
How to Cultivate Accountability in Your Group
- When appropriate, encourage group members to make specific commitments about their next steps.
- Lovingly ask group members to share the progress they are making on their next step commitments.
- If progress is slow or no action has been taken, seek to help group members remove obstacles and take action.
- Remember your primary goal is not to judge other’s progress, but to help them take steps closer to Jesus.
- Being the hero and not pointing people to Jesus.
- Not following up with Group Coaches.
- Not caring for group members.
- Inconsistent gatherings.
- Not enough members (open spots) or too many members.
- Not addressing a problem member.
- Not communicating with group members.
- Engaging in drunkeness or mind altering drugs.
- Groups are not a place for:
- Business, multi-level marketing.
- Receiving offerings or tithes.
- Unsupported materials or speakers.