The topic of accountability is not very popular with many church leaders. I understand their reluctance because there have been those that have abused their leadership position and been very heavy-handed in holding others accountable. Meaningful accountability will exist only if all those involved benefit from the steps toward the goal. Everyone must benefit and none should be abused or belittled. It is also important to realize that no spiritual growth takes place outside the realm of accountability.

The first step in building accountability in your group is to share and understand all expectations. Make sure that all expectations are understood from the leader/mentor as well as the group members. The basic expectation that builds accountability is attendance and participation. In my group I still take attendance every week.

Another thing I do to build accountably is waiting until the week before I give them the materials to be studied the following week. In many groups they get three to six months’ worth of study materials at the beginning of the group. I’ve found that it works best to give it to them just one-week or one-session at a time.

The thing that I’ve found that works the best is giving my group members responsibilities related to the group time. I share the leadership roles. They know well in advance of when they have a leadership responsibility and it is never a surprise thrown at them. The roles to be shared are leading the ice-breaker, taking prayer requests, telling or reading the Bible passage, and guiding the discussion.

During the week it’s also important to work to build accountability. Everyone needs to be prayed for and know that others care. To make this happen assign your group members a different accountability partner every month for the purpose of talking every week for prayer requests and then praying for each other.

These are just a few ideas of helping you build accountability in your group, but please remember that accountability does happen without first building trust. Show people you care and then accountability will come natural to your group.

Dr. Smith serves as a state missionary with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board and is the Sunday School, Small Groups and Faith Development Specialist. Visit their website at gabaptist.org/groups/ for more information and other resources to aid your Sunday School or Small Group. You can also connect with Dr. Smith at facebook.com/GABaptistGroups or twitter.com/GABaptistGroups. Dr. Smith is available for conferences or other speaking opportunities and can be contacted at tsmith@gabaptist.org.