As a Sunday School or small group leader, you can probably remember some times when your group gathered together for Bible study and everything just seemed to flow. People participated, the discussion was tremendous, and several group members shared some excellent applications of the Bible study to their life.

Then we have all had those group meetings when nothing seemed to connect! The sharing was shallow, people seemed disinterested, and dismissing the group seemed to be the only application anyone wanted to talk about. The group chemistry just wasn’t happening.

We have all been there.

There are certainly some mechanics to Bible study and principles of Bible teaching that every group leader needs to learn in order to lead the Bible study. But there is more to being a group leader than knowing the mechanics. The spiritual needs of the group members are important to them, and the ability of the group and the awareness of the group leader to properly address those needs is vital.

Many group members become disenchanted if they perceive that the group is more about intellectual knowledge than spiritual care. And let’s face it… we all need some spiritual care occasionally. I have found that the following two activities can have an incredibly positive affect on the individual members of the group and on the group environment too.

Weekly ministry contact
Most groups do a pretty good job of ministering to a member in crisis. The death of a loved one or a serious illness are two prime examples. But group members often do not share the daily needs of life with their group unless they are personally asked. The bigger the group gets, the more likely these more personal needs can be left unaddressed. Contacting group members personally during the week is an excellent way to stay in touch with them and also let them share any personal requests they may have.

Prayer Quads
We have all had those group meetings when the prayer requests were so abundant that there was no time for Bible study. Personal ministry and prayer are important to a biblical small group, but when it squeezes out Bible study, ministry and fellowship, the overall group experience will become a challenge. To address this issue, the group can sometimes save the prayer time to the end of the group. Usually about 15 minutes is appropriate. Here is how the prayer quad works:

• Ask group members to move their chairs and sit in a group of four people;
• Give each person a 3 x 5 index card;
• Each person writes their name and 2-3 prayer requests on the card;
• Each person briefly explains their requests and then hands the card to the person on their left;
• Each group member then prays for the requests on the card they have received;
• An additional option is to give the cards to the group’s prayer coordinator after the prayer has finished praying. The prayer coordinator can then compile the requests into an email and send them to the entire group.

I have found that these two simple activities will heighten the group’s spiritual experience and encourage group members to share their personal needs followed with prayer. A group’s spiritual chemistry is better if the members’ needs are addressed and lifted in prayer, resulting in better fellowship, ministry, and Bible study.

______________

Bob Mayfield serves as the Sunday School and Small Group specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. He has also served as interim minister of education in several churches and is a Sunday School/small group consultant.

Bob is married and has two adult children, Zach and Mary Kathryn. Bob also blogs at his own site,bobmayfield.com and manages an online training site for Sunday School leaders of all ages at reconnectss.com.

What are the essential shepherding “Routines” for a health group?

When you are the group leader/facilitator/teacher you have some very important responsibilities. The primary roles you have are to give attention to the spiritual nurture and growth of those in your group. It is best when the group leader has a team of leaders around them to help with the shepherding of the group. This has been classically called care group leader, prayer leader, social leader and outreach leader. This group organization will determine your routine for the shepherding concerns of your group.

If you have an organization, a team with whom to share these responsibilities, then your “routine” will be to oversee the ministry that your team performs. If you do not have a team, then you are the one who will need a “routine” to take care of the shepherding of your group. So what is involved in this “routine?”

1. Care
2. Pray
3. Play

Each week the group leader should address these three areas.  It is essential to develop a “routine” or a way for those in your group to communicate to the group when they have a need. They need prayer. They had a death in their family. They are having surgery this week. The new baby is here. Set up a process so that the group members know how and who to contact in case there is a need.

Care – A good caring group will make regular (weekly preferred) contact with a designated group within the larger group. This “routine” acts as a way to identify needs, those who have missed attending the group recently and it helps build relationships as people talk with each other through the contacts. Create a “routine” for new people to be assimilated into the group so that they not only are accepted, but so that they make friends.

Pray – A “routine” in a healthy group will have people praying for each other. This can take place by creating a regular prayer list of group needs. Print and hand it out during the group. Email the list to each group member. Design a group web page and put prayer needs on the site (password protected).

Play – A healthy group has the ability to play together, to have fun with each other which helps them feel closer to each other. Having a “routine” group party/fellowship is an essential way for the group to learn about each other, to identify common life points and interests.

“Routine” does not mean dry and boring. It means a regular, strategic way of doing things so that you make sure the shepherding, nurturing, pastoral care, relational aspects of the group are not only being met, but that they are flourishing.

Serving as a guide for a group requires you be a teacher and you will also need to serve as a shepherd. To be a shepherd means that you simply care for the people in your group. The resources needed to shepherd your group really depends on how you express care and concern for those in your group.

As you visually picture a shepherd you probably see a shepherd’s crook or staff. The original purpose of this tool was to assist with the guiding of fallen or wayward animals. The role of a group shepherd is to care for the people in the group and that is the best resource you have assist them in their journey.

Whether you use a 3-ring notebook or a smart phone there is some very basic information you need to be able to care for those in your group. In order to be able to express care and concern to those in your group you need to know the following; name, mailing address, physical address on their residence, home phone, cell phone and email. You’ve got to be able to contact those in group.

The next resource is to know when to express care and concern. The regular occasions for contacting your members will be on their birthday, the birthday of their spouse, the birthday of their children that still live at home and their wedding anniversary. There are those special occasions for contact group members such as a major change in their lives or any kind of tragedy.

As a shepherd you also need to get to know your members. In order to know them you must discover some basic information. It’s important for you to know the following; hobbies/interests as well as the items in their life that causes them concern. What do they enjoy doing and what is it that has their attention? Their hobbies and interest can be a source of building better connections with the guide or other group members.

The hurts in their life is what we focus on in discussing our greatest resource for expressing care and concern for our group members. When we discover the hurts of our group members we need to pray for them. The prayers of a group guide are the best resource to shepherd the people. The group guide will shepherd the group by praying for them on their occasion of special days as well as praying for them on a regular basis.

_______________

Dr. Smith serves as a state missionary with the Georgia Baptist Convention and is the Sunday School/Small Groups Specialist.

Visit their website at sssg.gabaptist.org for more information and other resources to aid your Sunday School.
You can also connect with Dr. Smith at gabaptistsundayschool.org, facebook.com/GABaptistSundaySchool or twitter.com/GBCSundaySchool.