Small Groups are unmissable and they are spaces where there’s a higher expectation and faith that God will move in people’s lives and are transformative, because they build everyone’s faith up and are missional. However, they don’t just happen and you need to be intentional about making them unmissable.
But what makes something unmissable? What makes your small group unmissable – a place where everyone is genuinely looking forward to coming to?
Below are a few Do’s and Don’ts in leading a small group that I personally have found very helpful in creating an unmissable small group meeting:
Do’s
1. Prepare – praying helps a lot with preparing well for the meeting. Maybe spending some time during the week to pray for people, sending them voice messages showing them that you care about them. Also praying for the meeting beforehand helps you focus on God, to lift up your meeting and your time together to him, and ask him to lead the meeting and invite his presence to be with you. You may also get a sense of what God would want to do during your meeting or a word of encouragement for someone in the group.
2. Purpose – Each time you get together, communicate why you gather together, because it helps them get excited about getting together and being on a mission together. What's the purpose of your meeting? What vision God has given you for your small group? What values have you considered for your group to guide and protect your group from going off track?
3. Plan – Have a plan for your meeting. If you want to lead an unmissable meeting, trust me, you need a plan otherwise it can be chaotic and people may feel unsure about why they are there and where the meeting is going. Personally, a simple structure that helped me lead, plan and delegate well was the 4Ws: Welcome, Worship, Word, and Witness.
4. Postures – Every time I start the meeting, I share three things: (1) Be listening to each other, so that we all participate. Also being present and listening to God; (2) Be expectant that we will hear the Father’s voice; (3) Be ready to respond to God’s word and faithfulness.
Don’ts
1. Do not meet in busy, chaotic places – Make sure you’re meeting in the right place where there’s no background noises and you can be fully present and somewhere you’d feel comfortable praying and leading.
2. Do not interrupt – We’ve all been using Zoom for a long time now, so I’m sure we’re pretty familiar with the Zoom etiquette. But make sure every time you meet, you ask everyone to close all the unnecessary tabs on their laptop and to turn off their notifications as you want to be fully present and avoid unnecessary interruptions.
3. Do not overrun – Make sure you also set a time for your meeting and try to stick to it. Honestly, you know by now that 1.5hr meeting on Zoom is long enough, and anything longer than that is just too long and people start to flag out. Also by sticking to the time, you honour their time.
If you want more information on small groups, get yourself a SGBM and look at our website for some small group resources and talks. Also for some training in leading unmissable small groups, get in touch with a Fusion team member in your region here.
