Small Group Member

What am I supposed to do? What is expected of me?

1. Build relationships with those in your Small Group by doing your best to participate in each meeting. Your group is depending on you and wants to see you! A group is made up of members. If the members don’t participate, you won’t have a small group!

2. Serve others in your Small Group. Each member within the small group will help the group in some way by hosting, facilitating, helping with childcare, bringing snacks, etc…. These roles will help the group best experience the practical side of being friends and working together to make your meetings successful.

3. Commit to the “covenant period” of your small group. This time period will vary but usually is set at 3 months to 12 months. Once you find a small group that is right for you, it is important to commit to the group for a set period of time. Once that time expires, you then reevaluate as a group and as an individual if you are being called by God to continue in the group.

4. Agree with your Small Group on the following “Ground Rules” for your group:

“Big Five” Ground Rules – Most Important To Foster Healthy Discussion

• Don’t Advise – Don’t give advice, offer fixes, point out problems/solutions for others in the group unless specifically asked to do so by the individual
• Confidentiality – Keep things shared strictly confidential and within the group
• Safe Environment – Help create a place where people feel heard and loved. Listen, empathize, and encourage. Don’t point fingers or be derogatory.
• Keep on Topic – Don’t talk too much or get off topic, follow the leader’s guidance. Give everyone a chance to share and discuss the questions.
• Be Timely – Show respect by starting and ending on time to honor others

“Foundational Three” Ground Rules – You Can’t Build Without the Basics!

• Attendance – Give each meeting priority (let the group know if you’ll be absent)…your presence matters!
• Participation – Contribute to the discussion. Share your story but don’t share someone else’s (e.g. don’t point out your spouse’s or your friend’s faults)
• Accountability – Give the group permission to help you live a healthy spiritual life

1. Open your own heart and your Small Group to others who are looking for friends (just like you are/were before you joined a small group). A small group is only small if it stays small; however, God brings people into our lives every day that need to connect with Him and with us. If someone feels led to invite someone to your small group, don’t get frustrated with them, go to God and ask how you can help expand your circle of community and invite that person in. Typically if a group has 14 or more folks meeting together consistently over a three week period, we encourage that group to “multiply” and form two separate groups of 8 or so folks. Then these groups can pick up several new folks and still have folks from the “old group” in the group to maintain closeness and friendships while allow new people to join. Of course, the two groups that form from the one can continue to be “sister groups” and get together periodically for socials, fun times, special times of worship, prayer, etc….

2. Humble yourself and consider the desires of your fellow group members when your group is making decisions about what it should do, how it should operate, what you should focus on, etc…Living together in community is rewarding but also life changing…and this is mainly because we each must change our own agendas to focus on caring for those around us. Of course, God works it such that He ultimately cares for us through our Small Group friends even as we are focus on caring for them! .

3. Support your group leader as he or she helps navigate the complexities of small group life. Here are the “Top Ten Typical Issues” a Small Group faces at some point. Familiarize yourself with these and then be sure to encourage and support your small group leader when this issues surface in your group.