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What's Next for My Small Group?

Whether your group has been together a long time or just a few months, it can be challenging for a leader to decide what to do next with their small group. This article can help you gain some perspective by guiding you through some key questions to evaluate your small group.

When trying to figure out where to take your small group (Bible study or whatever you want to call it) one of the best things you can do is figure out where you are. There are four major relationship areas to consider:

  1. God – Your personal relationship with God and your group’s relationship with God.
  2. Each other – The depth of your relationships with your group members and their relationships with each other.
  3. Leadership – The number of future leaders your group is producing and you are personally investing in.
  4. Evangelism – The relationships your group has with unchurched people and the passion they tap into to connect those people to God.

Evaluation Questions:

God:

  • How often do you pray for your group each week?
  • Do you and your group members discuss personal time spent with God?
  • How much time do you spend in prayer and Bible study each day?
  • Does your group spend time talking about prayers that God has answered?

Each other:

  • How many times does your group meet in an average month?
  • How many parties, socials, or fun group activities has your group had in the past 3 months?
  • How many times have you invited someone from your group over for a meal in the past two months?
  • Do you ever participate in church activities as a group by going together?
  • How often do you communicate with group members by phone, e-mail, cards, or letters to encourage them?

Leadership:

  • Does your group have an assistant-leader or an apprentice?
  • How many of your group members expect to lead a group sometime in the future?
  • How many people in your group participate by leading different components of the meeting? (For example: prayer time, icebreaker, Bible reading, etc.)
  • How often does your group pray about developing new group leaders?
  • Who in your group would you like to see become a leader?

Evangelism:

  • How often does your group pray for people far from God?
  • How many parties or gatherings have you had, not spiritual in nature, that your group members could invite their non-Christian friends to?
  • When a visitor attends your group for the first time, how often do you follow up with a phone call, card, or an invite to breakfast or lunch?
  • Does your group have a goal to grow or start another group?

These questions help me figure out if I am on target with leading my group. Hopefully, you find them useful. You may even want to bring them to your next meeting and discuss them as a group!