May

20

Seeker Small Groups in SF Bay Area

May 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment

When I attended the Fuller Seminary (Northern California) breakfast last week, Mary Schaller spoke about her ministry. Mary is head of Seeker Ministries, which I referred to in my last post. She and Garry Poole from Willow Creek are working in the SF Bay area to start Seeker Small Groups. They had set a goal […]

Apr

30

Shepherd Your Small Group

April 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Want to learn three important relationships that will help you shepherd your small group? BuildingSmallGroups.com has published an excerpt from Michael Mack’s book, I’m a Leader… Now What? which is the third of the four-book Small Group HELP! Guides that my book is part of. Check it out.

Apr

3

11 Principles for Improving Your Church’s Small Groups

April 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Andy Rowell, professor of Christian Educational Ministries at Taylor University in Upland, IN, offers 11 principles for improving your church’s small groups. I appreciate his common sense, non-legalistic approach that should work in most cases.

Mar

29

The Essence of Small Groups

March 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment

“It is in small groups that people can get close enough to know each other, to care and share, to challenge and support, to confide and confess, to forgive and be forgiven, to laugh and weep together, to be accountable to each other, to watch over each other, to grow together. Growth doesn’t happen in […]

Mar

26

Why Didn’t You Warn Me? Some Truths about Small Group Leadership

March 26, 2007 | 2 Comments

Kendi Tremmel, a small group leader at National Community Church in Washington, DC. shares some of those things that no one ever warned her about. Although she’s talking about junior high leadership, leading adult small groups isn’t much different. Here are the headers. Read the whole post here.

When stepping into leadership, don’t expect reward or […]

Mar

18

More When the Leader is the Problem

March 18, 2007 | 1 Comment

The other side of Judy’s question last week is how she and/or other group members could have reacted. That’s the hard part.
When we’re insulted or misunderstood, or when a person behaves badly, as Judy’s leader did, the problem is that we’re often caught off guard. We’re so shocked we don’t know how to react, so […]

Mar

15

When the Leader is the Problem

March 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Judy asked about the leader who is a challenge. She said, “I’ve attended a group where the leader is so “gungho” that the attendees feel like their comments are an interruption. And at times she rejects their comment and rewords it. An example: I said I had felt envious of someone about something; she immediately […]

Mar

13

Tell Us About Your Challenging Person

March 13, 2007 | 1 Comment

Everywhere I go and talk about my new book people tell me about the challenging person in their small group. Why Didn’t You Warn Me? How to Deal with Challenging Group Members identifies 18 types of challenging people and offers insights into how to lead your group while helping them learn to be more functional.
It […]

Mar

11

No More Mr. Nice Group

March 11, 2007 | 1 Comment

John Ortberg, senior pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, CA lists five practices that take small groups beyond polite “sharing” to the disciplines that change lives. These include
•    Confession: remove the masks
•    Application: look in the mirror
•    Accountability: stand on the scale
•    Guidance: follow the map
•    Encouragement: embrace each other
These are such […]

Mar

9

Bearing Fruit

March 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I love our care group. We’ve been together for over three years, and the growth in the members has been wonderful. Different from what I’m used to. I usually lead groups of challenging people, but this is a group of more mature people. We study for a month to six weeks, and then take a […]

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