For Members of the Small Group Ministry Team -- here are some materials to share and prepare us for our meeting on Suday afternoon, November 18, at 4:30 p.m.

What you'll find below are some basic directions we've staked out for ourselves.  Please review by reading and thinking over (be prepared to offer  corrections/revisions as appropriate.)  I'll be planning for the meeting -- as I do, I  welcome your comments/questions about what has been discussed,  and suggestions about how we should proceed together at the meeting Sunday.  At the bottom of the page, there's a place for you to post a comment (be sure to identify yourself by name).  Others will be able to read what you've written and offer comments of their own.  Come back from time to time, to see what others have added.

Let's move ahead with the Lord's direction!

Questions We Identified for Additional Exploration

1.  Who are in these new groups (among those coming from Community Worship)?

2.  Do they have to be grouped by their "same-ness" (affinity groups)?

3.  Must there be a group for anyone?

4.  Can adult groups be created in a way that makes it easier (more likely) for high-schoolers to merge into them upon graduation?

5.  Should we have blinders regarding age, gender, etc.?

6.  Who is to lead the new groups?

7.  How are the leaders to be trained?

8.  What are the common expectation for groups?  For leaders?

9.  How do we measure success?  What's the score card?

10.  How do we engage the whole congregation in the exploration process?  In the resulting discipleship process?

(Thanks to Joe Kendrick for sharing his notes on these.)

Some Essential Characteristics for a Small-Group Setting

• Its purpose is transformation.
• A covenant is established, to define the  basic ground rules for the group.
• Expectation right from the beginning that the group will not last longer than 2 years (intended to be an ongoing spiritual base, but for a limited time).  There is still a funnel, but without a shift from one organization to another:  The group begins as an open group, closes over time for additional intimacy and accountability.
• There is a leader and an apprentice.  There is someone to lead, but early on someone is chosen to be a leader-in-training.  This is to prepare the group for the next step in its natural life-cycle.  It is expected to . . .
• Multiply.  It  may do this by distributing its members across other groups, by re-configuring itself as two smaller groups, or a number of variations.

As we're exploring these issues, some additional potential actions to pursue:

• Create a "pilot" small group, to create a model and training ground for leaders.
• Create a new Adult Bible Fellowship in the interim, as a means of assimilating guests who are attracted to LOL