Tag: small groups

Building community dialogue

This Saturday I plan to meet with a number of folks interested in building community within our tribe.

The group will be made up primarily of our community group facilitators and hosts.

We’ll be working through our regroup material as some what of a refresher course and I hope to show this video from the TransFORM Network as well…
Continue reading Building community dialogue

Change for the better

Shared this with our community 2.0 leaders today….

Hello community 2.0 peeps…

Last night at our community group the three of us (yeah it was a slow week :-)) sat and talked about a number of things from prayer, to leadership, to future community groups etc. etc. We each talked about how refreshing Sunday at encounter was this past week. How it was a change from the ordinary and really seemed to spark something new.

It made me think about how often we get set in a routine even in our weekly community groups.

This morning, Small Group Dynamics touched on that as well. If things are starting to get “stale” or “traditional” in your group maybe it’s time to change things up a bit. Here are some of the things they suggested…

  • Change the expectations. If people expect to gather around a Bible study or a DVD curriculum or even around social interaction, the presence of the Spirit will be minimal. If people expect to meet with God and trust Jesus’ words: “Where two or three gather in my name, there I am also,” then people will seek something different in the group’s life even if they do not know how.
  • Shorten the Bible study to make room to wait on God together.
  • Take the risk of allowing silence during the meeting.
  • Vary the agenda from week to week.
  • Eat together. You might be surprised by this one, but I have found food as essential to connecting with one another and in inviting God’s presence into our midst.

    • I know some of the groups have had “coffee house night” and met at a local coffee house. Its not only given a change of pace for the group members, but also opened opportunities for discussions with others.

    What other ideas have you and/or your group done to change things up and keep it fresh?