Have you ever participated in a group meeting that was poorly run? It can drive you nuts. I got stuck in one of those meetings recently when I was asked to evaluate a particular church's group ministry. I went incognito. They had no idea who I was. It was fun but chaotic to say the least. When I arrived, no one greeted me or extended any kind of welcome. I sat down. No one interacted with me. I waited for the meeting to start. It did, about 20 minutes later than it was supposed to. There were no refreshments. The leader stood up and said, "Well what do you guys want to do tonight, anybody have any ideas?" I kid you not. I thought I was in small group hell. It was awful.
Now, I hope that you have never experienced anything like this. I would like to think that this was a worst-case scenario (that actually happened, aaah!). I believe it is absolutely necessary that group leaders plan an agenda for every group meeting. Remember we are part of an incredible mission—to make disciples. We do not meet just to meet. There is a purpose. As we think about planning our small group gatherings, we must first ask and answer a few questions:
- What is the purpose of our group? Is it tied to the great commission?
- What kind of group are we: covenant, seeker, support, task or something else?
- Are we an open or closed group?
Regardless of how you answer these questions, every group should have a basic group agenda that includes time for:
- Connecting people on a human level (having fun together)
- Connecting people's lives with biblical truth
- Connecting people on a soul care level
You can flesh that out in many different ways. For example, closed discipleship groups may include worship as a part of their meeting, while open seeker groups may not. Some groups may not have an actual Bible study every time they meet in order to interact with God's truth. They may study a book like "Shattered Dreams" by Larry Crabb or play a Bible character traits game, or watch a movie and evaluate it's tenets in light of Scripture (my Generation X group loves to do this). The worst thing we can do is to do the same thing at every meeting. We serve a creative God and our group meetings should be varied and creative.
For 17 years now I have used the group agenda taught to me by one of my mentors, Lyman Coleman. It is simple but it works. This is how I have used it in a basic open group including each segment's allotted time:
Gather the People: 10-15 minutes
- Use an icebreaker to create a fun connection
- Have name tags for members and guests
- Facilitate group members bringing refreshments or a meal
- Provide important group information about upcoming parties or events
Bible Study: 30-35 minutes
- Involve "everyone"
- Develop interactive questions. Use relational, inductive and application questions.
- Use personal illustrations
- Develop a lesson handout with the Scripture on it
- Make 1 or 2 practical applications to life
Caring Time: 15-20 minutes
- Tie the application of lesson to a specific prayer focus
- Consider using a Prayer/Praise handout
- Cast vision to fill the "empty chair"
- Provide time for prayer in sub-groups of 4
Never forget that we are part of a larger mission than just getting together or just filling our heads with more information. The responsibility of an effective group leader is to facilitate discipleship and life change in people's lives. That is the bottom line. The group leader will need to think strategically about how that will happen. With regard to meetings, they are the managers of the clock. An agenda provides invaluable benefits for the group leader to accomplish their divine objective. These are the benefits that I have experienced as a result of using an agenda in my small group meetings.
Benefits of a Group Agenda
- We become good stewards of our group member's time. Time is the commodity of our day.
- This particular process facilitates community development.
- Individual sharing moves from low risk (icebreaker, relational Bible study questions) to high risk (care time) sharing.
- Group members become comfortable when they know that there is a plan to follow.
- We accomplish our objectives: to laugh together, to interact with biblical truth, to connect at a soul deep level.
- We stay balanced with regard to touching people in their mind, soul and emotions.
- It allows for other leader's gifts to be used in the meeting instead of one leader doing everything.
- By its regular use, it trains group members in the value of an agenda that they can then champion when new groups are birthed.
- It is less threatening to seekers who come as guests to the group meeting.
- Everyone knows when the group meeting starts and when the group will end.
