Small group ministry

Being a Small Group Leader

Being a Small Group Leader is a new book written by Richard Sweatman. Richard oversees the small group ministry program at Hunter Bible Church in Newcastle. He’s been using this material to clarify expectations of leaders in their church for a number of years. Now Matthias Media are making it available to a wider audience.

Being a small group leader is an important responsibility and one that is variously understood and applied in different churches. In many ways, each church that seriously engages in small group ministry should consider producing a resource like this. Here are the qualifications, job description, and modus operandi for leaders. It’s a simple book to use as you recruit, train, encourage, and mentor your leaders. If you’re thinking of becoming a small group leader, then this is worth a read.

Richard identifies 5 core competencies for a small group leader:

Knowledge of God
Character
Teaching ability
Encouragement of others
Leadership

Each of these competencies sit within a framework of grace. We will be more equipped in some than others, we will need to develop some more than others, but we must recognise that it will ultimately be God who develops these competencies in us, so we must rely upon him in prayer.

framework

As Richard considers each competency, he provides us with the grounds for the competency, a description of how it will be demonstrated in a small group setting, and some suggestions for developing the competency further.

Knowledge of God is more than what goes into the head. It impacts the heart and hands as well. This is relational knowledge, shaped by the Bible, contemplated and digested by the leader, and applied in words and action. This knowledge is important for more than individual and personal reasons. Leaders are called to set an example, teach, and guard God’s people in the truth. They need to know God well so as to lead others in relationship with him. Richard offers practical suggestions to grow in our knowledge of God through prayer, Bible reading, theological reading, and further theological training.

Character is that quality of being tested in life and proving solid. (p25) This area of competency matters because it’s really about applying our knowledge of God into our lives. Leaders are required to have integrity. Without it, people will not follow. Hypocrisy undermines leadership. But this isn’t a pragmatic competency—it’s one of essence. Richard outlines the Bible’s path to growing in character. It comes through prayerfully applying the word of God, in fellowship with others, as we face the trials of life. It is only by God’s grace that we can grow in godly character.

Teaching ability is the third competency identified in this book. Richard describes ‘the ability to teach’ as a skill, listed alongside many character qualities in 1 Timothy 3:

Here is a trustworthy saying: whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
(1 Timothy 3:1-7 NIV emphasis mine)

Richard unpacks this skill with reference to awareness of others; an ability to let the group discover things for themselves; an ability to explain things; and creativity and a sense of fun. I agree that these things will help a small group leader to teach well in a group setting, and that these are skills worth developing, but I wonder if there is something else going on with ‘ability to teach’.

Given that ‘ability to teach’ is listed alongside other character qualities, are we meant to understand ‘ability to teach’ as a character quality also? The one who is qualified to teach is the one who puts their words into practice. They teach through example as well as words. They teach with life and doctrine. I know that this overlaps with the former points of the knowledge of God and character, so maybe I’m pushing an unnecessary barrow.

This book offers helpful suggestions about how to grow as teachers. The bottom line is that you grow as a teacher by teaching. But it doesn’t hurt to get hold of some quality resources and to seek further input, feedback, and coaching. Interestingly, this book suggests other books as the place to turn for such training (see especially Growth Groups by Col Marshall).

Encouragement of others is the fourth competency listed for small group leaders. Encouragement is at the heart of Christian ministry. It’s more than saying nice things to people. It’s about valuing a person’s walk with Jesus and doing what you can to urge them to keep on following him until the end. It’s about leading people to keep trusting their Lord and Saviour whatever obstacles, temptations, or threats might come their way. Leaders are called to help people to stay the course.

This is about more than preparing and leading a group once a week. The challenge to small group leaders is to engage with the lives of the people in the group, to stay interested and connected throughout the week. This calls for investment in prayer for others, thinking about others, reaching out to others, offering help, following up on how people are going, and more. Richard refers to some helpful books for leaders, including Encouragement: How Words Change Lives by Gordon Cheng.

Team Leadership is the last of the competencies. Competency in knowing God, growing in godly character, ability to teach, and encouragement will all be essential to good team leadership. Yet it’s more than the sum of these parts. Leadership involves inspiring others to follow. It requires abilities to organise and manage, to listen and to communicate, to exercise direction and to submit to authority, to be wise and generous, to overcome fears and to grow in confidence, to be dependable and to depend on others.

This book is a very good primer on leading Christian small groups as part of a wider church ministry. It’s practical and purposeful. It offers questions for discussion and application. It doesn’t claim too much for itself, and generously links to other resources to explore matters in more depth. It’s a helpful and humble book seeking to equip competent and humble leaders who will depend on God’s grace to lead others in following Jesus Christ.

If you are the leader of a small group, or training others in leading small groups, or recruiting small group leaders, or overseeing a small group program, then I’m sure you will find many uses for this book. It’s worth buying for yourself and others. If you are keen to dig further into small group ministry, then you might like to check out some of my earlier posts by clicking on the small group ministry category of macarisms.

Caring for One Another

caring Who of us wouldn’t want our churches to be genuine communities of meaningful, caring relationships? Perhaps this is your experience already. People invest in each other, they look out for one another, they show genuine interest, they seek help, they ask what they can pray and then they pray. They do more than offer support to others, they show deep empathy, compassion, and practical care. Maybe this is a bit of overreach, but you see glimpses of it and you want it more and more. Right?

If you’re a pastor or church leader, there is a danger of burning out due to the endless expectations that people place on you. Are you tired and weary from being expected to be the ‘minister’ to everyone? Do you wish that some other people would step up a bit, or that other leaders would share the load? Do you long for a community where everyone is looking out for one another?

Or are you getting disappointed that ministry has become more and more like social work? Are you worried that people’s health and finances and relationships are what seem to matter most? Do you lament the lack of spiritual engagement between people throughout the week, and worry that Sunday conversations rarely get beyond small talk?

Let me offer a suggestion for taking things deeper.

Ed Welch has released a new book called Caring for One Another: 8 Ways to Cultivate Meaningful Relationships. Get yourself a copy, read it, and start getting those around you to buy in. Following on from one of his previous books, Side by Side, he provides a simple and practical resource for equipping Christians for real interpersonal ministry. It’s a brief book—8 short chapters that get us thinking about how to encourage each other to live in the light of the gospel of Jesus. There are great ideas, Biblical foundations, practical recommendations, and each chapter finishes with questions for discussion and application.

This book is intended to be read with others. I can see it providing a good tool for one-to-one meetings with key leaders, or in small group leader training, or with a pastoral care team. It’s not specifically a book for leaders—it’s intended to mobilise everyone in the church to be encouraging and building each other—but I’d start by working these things through with leaders and then mobilise them to equip others.

Welch’s book is less of a ‘how to manual’ and more of a ‘keys to the heart’ guide—but practical and hands on nonetheless. He shows deep understanding of God’s part and our part in God’s work of changing people. Humility, prayer, understanding our weaknesses and sin, reflecting carefully on suffering, and knowing the power of God and the gospel are all critical. Caring for One Another moves well past the theoretical. It aims to grow intentionality and to activate us in relationship with each other. It’s grounded in a deep understanding of how people tick and it’s littered with great ideas and suggestions for making things happen.

I’ve read through this book quickly, but I plan to go over it again, and probably again, and again, by reading it with others. I recommend you do too.

Welch writes in his closing:

Caring for One Another has identified ordinary features of person-to-person engagement. There is nothing new here. The purpose has been to remember and live out applications of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But in that, the very power of God is further on display, and the church is strengthened and drawn together. (p67)

Co-leaders co-operate

I’ve recently been teaching a course to train leaders—not simply to prepare and lead Bible studies, but to exercise pastoral ministry in the context of their groups. After one session a leader approached me concerned that I had lifted the bar too high. She explained how it was all she could manage to put in the time to understand the Bible passage and lead the group in a helpful study and discussion. How could I reasonably expect leaders to focus on equipping others, encouraging prayer, caring for people in times of crisis or chronic struggles, supporting people as they share their faith with others, and more?

I sympathise with her concerns and I don’t want to lay burdens on people who are already serving as best they are able. By the same token, these groups are the natural context in our churches for encouraging genuine Christian relationships, spurring each other on, helping one another develop our gifts for service, and for exercising loving concern for one another. So what is the way forward? Am I expecting too much? Is this simply idealism?

These concerns support a strong case for groups having more than one leader. Two is usually better than one, and it’s certainly the case when it comes to our growth group ministry. Two leaders can share the load between them, and ideally utilise each other’s strengths.

When leading a study, one leader might be focused on the content being taught, discussed, or applied. The other might pay closer attention to the group dynamics, working out who is engaged or who is off with the fairies. A co-leader might be able to address the problem where someone is dominating discussion while others are prevented from contributing. Co-leaders can co-operate to assist everyone getting maximum benefit from the studies. But the teamwork can go further.

One leader might focus on preparing the material, while the other manages the communication with the group, arranging supper rosters, or planning times of prayer.

One leader might be the point of contact for pastoral concerns, while the other is spending time training new leaders and building the leadership base.

The leaders might tag-team, leading a week about, a month about, or a term about. This would allow greater preparation time, provide variety in the approach, and help keep the leaders fresh.

In a mixed group with male and female co-leaders, they might decide to focus on building and strengthening relationships along gender lines.

If we feel like every aspect of leadership depends on us, then we will likely be overwhelmed very quickly. Burnout will become all too common. But if we get people to team up, then leadership will not become as much of a burden.

Consider—consult—contribute

There are many reasons why people might find it difficult to speak up in a Bible study. Some will fear getting the answers wrong; some will be too shy to speak up; some will be intimidated by the group setting; some won’t have their head in the game and be distracted by other matters. So how can we make it easier for people to engage?

You might also find that the same people tend to dominate discussion. They are quick to jump in and answer questions or perhaps they will tend to offer an opinion on most topics. Some people are more confident in handling the Bible and others rely on their experience or general knowledge in answering questions. So how can we get others to contribute and keep the study from being a forum for one or two ‘experts’?

Here’s a suggestion: try the consider—consult—contribute approach.

Consider
When you ask the group a question get people to take some time to consider the answer for themselves. Point them back to the Bible and get them thinking about what it means and how it applies. No one needs to speak up at this point.

Consult
Then suggest people get together in twos and threes to discuss their observations and answers together. If there are only two or three people, it will make it easier for the less confident people to speak up. Make it okay for people ‘not to be sure’ and get people cooperating by sharing their thoughts and ideas. Encourage people to listen to each other and give one another equal time.

Contribute
After people have had time to work things through in their pairs and triplets, a few people can be invited to share their little group’s findings with the group as a whole. If you ask a few questions using this approach, then you can ensure that a variety of people contribute by sharing with the group.

Sounds of silence

You ask a question of your group and you’re met with blank looks and the sounds of silence. What do you do?

We all have different tolerance levels when it comes to silence. Some leaders are tempted to jump in and immediately answer their own questions. This isn’t a good idea, as it doesn’t do much for group dynamics! If you need to answer your own questions then you might as well be giving a lecture, not leading a small group discussion or Bible study.

As a general rule you can assume that the silence will seem longer to you than it will to others. People need thinking and processing time. Some need more than others. If the silence continues for an unbearable period, then you might want to ask the group if anyone understood your question. Perhaps your question was unclear, confusing, or too complicated. Maybe you’ve actually woven more than one question together and people are trying to unpack what you’ve asked. It might be helpful to rephrase your question, or ask if there is someone in the group who could repeat the question in their own words. Asking good questions is a skill to be mastered and we will pick up on this in other posts.

Leading growth groups

Leading God’s people in any area is a significant responsibility. This is true for church pastors and elders, but also for growth group leaders. We see growth group leaders as little ‘p’ pastors. They’re accountable for how they handle the Bible in their groups each week. God calls us all to handle his word with care and skill. We expect that our leaders will devote themselves to understanding, applying and teaching God’s word faithfully.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

In particular, we expect them to apply God’s word in leading people, overseeing and caring for God’s little flock—his small group of sheep that meet in a lounge room or coffee shop each week! This is a limited, yet important responsibility. Leaders do this as a part of the larger church, under the authority of pastors, who have broader responsibility for the whole bunch of sheep under their care.

Qualifications

Growth groups need leaders who will apply themselves to servant leadership in the body of Christ—leaders who have Christ-like character, who are competent to lead others, and who have clear biblical convictions being worked out in their lives. 1 Timothy 3 provides descriptions of people suitable to lead and serve the church. It’s helpful to consider these words carefully in relation to growth group leaders and potential leaders.

¹Here is a trustworthy saying: whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. ²Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, ³not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. ⁴He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. ⁵(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) ⁶He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. ⁷He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap. (1 Timothy 3:1-7)

While these words are specifically outlining the qualifications for an overseer, they give us relevant criteria to apply to growth group leaders. Leaders need to be above reproach, well respected inside and outside the Christian community. They must be faithful in their relationships. If someone is unfaithful to their wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, housemates, or work colleagues, then they cannot be trusted to lead a group in following Jesus.

Leaders should display godly character of life. There’s an emphasis on self-control—especially in the areas of temper, alcohol, money, and relationships generally. Notice that the primary qualifications aren’t based on skill, but on godliness of life. They don’t emphasize charismatic personality, confidence, education, training or influence. Godliness, shaped by the gospel (v16), is what counts most.

In the midst of discussion about godliness, Paul says they must be able to teach. This will involve the gift, skill, and ability to understand, articulate and apply the Scriptures. But in Paul’s mind, teaching is far more than imparting information. Able to teach is a character of life thing—what you are teaching is character of life—if you don’t have it then you can’t teach it.

People need opportunity to grow and mature before they are thrust into leadership. We shouldn’t push young Christians, or people who are new to church, into positions of leadership too quickly. There is no given time frame, and maybe sometimes we can be too slow, but it’s wise to allow time to understand what people believe and see how they live and treat others. We shouldn’t be making people leaders so as to give them a job or encourage them to get more involved with church. Leadership is not a right or a church career path—it’s not a matter of doing your time and then being promoted. It’s about sacrificial humble service.

These verses, in 1 Timothy 3, show that godliness lies at the heart of Christian leadership. They also point to the importance of both church and growth groups being marked by Christ-like lives and gospel-shaped doctrine. Truth and godliness must never be compromised. Our personal lives, and our church and growth groups, are to reflect God’s truth and love in words and actions.

Attitude in action

Growth group leaders as little ‘p’ pastors are to model the same attitude as Christ Jesus, who led through humble service. The Apostle Peter taught this to the other leaders of the early church:

¹To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: ²be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; ³not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5:1-4)

The church and its growth groups belong to God. They’re not mine, or yours, or ours—they’re God’s. Our groups, more importantly, the people in them should matter to us because they matter firstly to God. How we treat the people in our groups matters to God. What we do in church and growth group matters. Our use or abuse of money, sex, power, and privilege matters. There are no excuses for mistreating what’s precious to God. Our hearts need to be changed so that we see things as God sees them, so that we love people as God loves them.

The Apostle Peter encourages his fellow pastors to have pastors’ hearts, and he describes what this will look like. We can apply this to growth group leaders:

not overseeing out of compulsion but freely,
according to God’s will

The leader is called to oversee God’s people voluntarily. He’s to do it because he’s willing, not because he must. It shouldn’t be the position, the obligation, or the demands of the pastor, that motivates the leader to serve. The leader is called to serve freely, willingly, voluntarily, of his own accord, not because he has to, but because wants to. Just as God loves cheerful givers when it comes to our money (2 Corinthians 9:7) so he loves cheerful givers when it comes to Christian leadership. This is pleasing to our Father in heaven.

But what about when ministry becomes a chore, a drudgery, a ball and chain? What about when the only thing that gets us up for the group each week is our sense of obligation, duty, and responsibility? Then it’s time to pray. It’s time to remind ourselves of the gospel. It’s time to dwell again on the grace of God who has given us everything we need to serve him. It’s time to ask God to fill us with his Spirit, so that we rediscover the mindset of Jesus Christ who delighted in serving others. It’s time to draw on the strength of God who delights in working through our weakness and frailty.

not for the money but eagerly

The Bible makes it clear that we can’t serve both God and money. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Greed is idolatry and it’s a slippery path to destruction. But we don’t pay growth group leaders, so how does this apply?

Peter calls us to banish greed from our hearts. Ministry is not about earthly rewards. It’s not about making ourselves comfortable. It’s not about what we can get, but what we can give. If we have the opportunity to lead God’s people in our growth groups then we should remember what a privilege it is to be entrusted with something so precious to God and give of ourselves eagerly.

It’s so tempting to put our own needs first. Our world tells us to do this all the time. We’re urged to make sure we get all we can and to protect all we’ve got. Looking out for our own interests is simply ‘normal’ behaviour, isn’t it? No. Not for people who have already been given everything from God. Those who belong to Jesus Christ have already received so much. We have every spiritual blessing in Christ. We’ve been adopted into God’s family. He’s our Heavenly Father, who knows all our needs, and promises to watch over us.

The implications of this are profound. Because God has promised to take care of our needs, we don’t need to spend our time worrying about them. We don’t need to protect our own interests. We’re liberated to look to the needs of others. We’re freed to serve God and serve others eagerly.

not lording it over those entrusted to you,
but being examples to the flock

The Apostle is passing on a lesson that he received directly from Jesus…

⁴²Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ (Mark 10:42-45)

Now Peter passes this on to his fellow pastors. The leader is to be the servant. Authority is to be exercised with humility. The supreme example of this is Jesus himself. He humbled himself, even to death on a cross. Jesus wasn’t in it for himself. He didn’t stand on his rights. Jesus made no claims to position or prestige, even though he had every right to do so. Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, offers us the ultimate example of what a pastor should be like.

Humility flows from following the example of Jesus, but it doesn’t happen without a profound change of heart. Let’s pray that God will liberate us from our selfishness, our controlling desires, and our quests for recognition. Let’s ask him to remind us daily of his generosity and grace towards us. Let’s dig deep into God’s Word and read again of God’s amazing love for his enemies. Let’s ask God to help us forget ourselves and to focus on serving those around us.

Let’s ask God to remind us that it’s not about our service of Jesus, but his service of us. This is the good news. He loves us and has sacrificially given everything to us. Let this be the motivation to serve our groups.

And remember

when the chief Shepherd appears,
you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

We live, breathe, think, act and speak in the light of eternity. Leaders, here is your reward. As you live and even suffer for Jesus now, so you will one day share in his glory. This isn’t something we deserve, we don’t earn it, and we can’t demand it. It’s not payment for services rendered. It comes freely from God to the undeserving.

Let our hearts be satisfied in Jesus. Let’s fill our minds with the things of Jesus. Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus. Let’s trust him, serve him, seek to honour him, proclaim him, model our lives upon him, and point others toward him. For this is the love of Christ in the life of the leader.

Sharpening the tools of the trade

You may have heard the story of two woodcutters working hard to fell trees. One woodcutter worked non-stop for eight hours and managed to fell twenty trees. The other took a break for fifteen minutes every hour and managed to fell forty trees in the same period. How do you explain the difference? You would think that the one who kept on working would have achieved more.

There are two reasons why the second woodcutter managed to fell more trees. Firstly, he spent ten minutes every hour getting some food and drink, resting, and stretching his muscles. Secondly, he spent five minutes every hour sharpening his saw. The former guy ended up dehydrated, exhausted, sore, and struggling to fell trees using a blunt saw. The second guy was regularly refreshed and at the end of the day his saw was just as sharp as when he began.

There are lessons here for growth group leaders. Too many people ‘used’ to be growth group leaders. They’re now tired, discouraged, burnt out, and disinterested in taking any more leadership responsibility. It’s hard enough getting some ex-leaders to agree to even be in a group, let alone to lead one. This is not good and it should be avoidable. How awesome would it be for Christian men and women to be just as keen in leading growth groups in their seventies as they were in their twenties. If we’re going to achieve this, then we need to help people through their thirties and forties!

Refreshment

God knows that we need refreshment. We’ve not been designed for perpetual motion. God made us to have activity and rest each day. God has made our week so we work six days and rest on the seventh. The sabbath reminds us to trust in our creative and redeeming God. The world won’t stop if we do! God knows we need regular refreshment and we need to discover this too.

Please read the paper on Rhythm in Growth Groups if you haven’t done so already.

Leaders should plan to take regular breaks from their leadership responsibilities. If the groups naturally break for school holidays, then take the opportunity to do something different. Take time off over the Christmas period before starting up in the new year. Share the leadership among suitable people in the group, so that you’re not left doing everything. If you just need time-out for a week now and again because everything has become too much, then ask someone to cover for you and take some time off.

I remember one week, years back when I was very stressed with ministry. I couldn’t face my group that night, so I rang my co-leader explained the situation, and went to the movies instead. The group understood!

We want leaders to be in this ministry for the long haul. For this reason we recommend a sabbatical from leadership about every six years. Take a year off and refresh. Don’t pile yourself up with more and more different things. Recharge so you can get back into it for another six years.

Some groups can be very stressful. Perhaps there’s a difficult member causing problems for everyone. Maybe tensions or broken relationships are taking their toll. These situations increase the need for leaders to be refreshed. We might need to ‘rescue’ leaders from such groups, help them work through issues, debrief, and take time out before starting up again.

Sharpening the leadership tools

There are a number of tools involved in leading growth groups. You can get an indication of the diversity by reading the different topics in this toolkit. You will benefit from regularly sharpening each one of them.

Refresher courses:
If you haven’t participated in a training course for leaders, then we recommend you do. Much of what we do in life and ministry we make up as we go along. It can be enormously helpful to engage with some theory, learn from experienced leaders, put what we are trying to do into some kind of plan or framework, and develop appropriate skills for leading others in Bible study, prayer, and ministry together.

If you can identify areas where you are lacking, then seek out courses that will help you focus on these areas. Instead of doing an entire course, you may benefit from joining in one or two modules, or meeting with a trainer to focus on a particular area.

Reading good books:
The world is full of books and not that many are worth reading. However, we recommend sharpening your saw by reading some good Christian books. You might like to consider books in three different areas:

Small group leadership
Biblical theology
Christian living

You will find a list of helpful books related to leadership and leading Bible studies in the Growth Group Leaders Bibliography. Talk with your mentor or pastor for further ideas about books and other helpful resources.

Feedback:
Receiving feedback is a gift. It will help you to know more about how others are receiving your leadership. Then you can respond with more of the good and less of the not-so-good. You can attract feedback from a variety of sources:

Your co-leader
Apprentice leaders
Members of the group
Your peers or mentor

The most natural place for feedback is from your co-leader. As you meet to review and plan your meetings, you can discuss what’s working and what’s not. They can give you feedback on your studies, how you handle people and difficult situations, group dynamics, leadership style and more. Ideally, this feedback is regular, friendly, and mutual.

You can invite apprentice leaders into the same conversations. This has the advantage of helping them tune into the strengths and weaknesses of your leadership, as they prepare for their own. Don’t be threatened—they can learn from your humility. They can suggest ideas and learn from yours.

You can also invite members of the group to provide feedback on different aspects of group life and your leadership. Consider, once a term, asking the members of your group to fill out a survey. If you catch up with people on-to-one you might invite them to share a couple of positives and a couple of areas they think the group could improve. Just be careful not to breed a critiquing spirit within the group. The first thing we should always challenge is the attitude of our own hearts.

You can also invite feedback from your mentor or other leaders. The weakness of this feedback is that people are not ‘seeing you in action’. The strength is that they will be better informed about what to comment on. If someone visits the group from time to time, the dynamic invariably changes because of the ‘outsider’, but it can still help people to offer valuable insights to your leadership. If you meet with a mentor or other leaders on a regular basis, it’s worthwhile sharing your reflections on how you are going, for their advice and comment.

Prayer and reflection:
Set aside time on a regular basis to pray about your leadership. God is the one who gifts you for this work and he will equip, sustain, and grow you. Ask God to make you more like Jesus, to give you a heart to serve, and a willingness to listen and learn. Don’t forget to thank God for the changes he brings in your heart and mind.

Focus your prayers on the group and on the lives of the people in the group. As you prioritise others in your prayers, so you will grow as a servant leader.

As you read Scripture and helpful Christian books on leading groups, take the time to jot some notes, discuss the points with your co-leader and others, and commit to praying about these matters.

Meeting with pastoral staff, mentors, and other leaders:
Many people struggle with isolation as leaders, so make the most of the opportunities available to meet with others.

As iron sharpens iron,
so one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)

If your church offers a structure of supervision, mentoring, or coaching, don’t let the opportunities pass you by. Commit to meeting together regularly. Make a priority of participating in leaders meetings, team training, or whatever is happening to encourage leaders. If you feel like you’ve heard it all before, then share this with your overseers. They will appreciate the feedback. Maybe you don’t think you will learn anything from another meeting, but perhaps you can encourage other leaders in their ministry. As you do, so you will become a better leader.

If there is nothing arranged in your church for the support or training of leaders, then I suggest you speak to your pastor about getting this happening. If he is overwhelmed and can’t offer anything currently, then maybe ask if there is the possibility of meeting up with more experienced leaders for the time being. As a last resort, if your church is resistant to offering any support to you as a leader, then perhaps you could seek out support from mature Christians from another church or Christian organisation.

Serving the church in growth groups

Some churches see growth groups as subsets of the whole church. Others view church as the sum of all the growth groups. Whichever direction we’re coming from, it’s helpful to consider the relationship between the groups and the wider church. There are some things that the growth group can do more effectively than the larger congregation and vice versa.

Perhaps the greatest strength of a growth group is the emphasis on relationships and the opportunity to be more personal and specific in ministry to one another. In larger churches people can easily get lost in the crowd. People may not see the need to contribute or the opportunities that exist for them to use their gifts. If things always seem to get done by someone somehow, then we may not feel there is much for us to do.

There are two significant ways that growth groups can work to serve the church. The first is by seeking to encourage and equip each member of the group to use their God-given gifts to serve God by building the church into maturity. The second is by the group collectively seeking out ways to serve the whole church according to its mission and needs.

Before we look at these opportunities, it’s important to stress that Christian service should flow from the gospel. Christ came first to serve us. He brought us into relationship with God through his death, and gave us his Spirit to enable us to serve him out of love. If we overlook, or assume, the gospel then people will end up serving out of guilt, obligation, or some other wrong motive. Such motivation and thinking will destroy the Christian and the church. It’s not about what we have to do for God, it’s about all what God has done for us and others. Let’s seek to keep Biblical perspective.

Encouraging people to grow their gifts in service

Growth groups provide a more intimate environment for people to learn to serve one another. Ministry grows and develops as people look to the needs of others and consider how they can use what God has given them to meet these needs. Leaders should seek to make the most of the opportunities to spur on the members of the group in ministry to each other. Why not set the goal of every member of your group being actively involved in Christian service—this term, or this year? Your group could be just the place to start. Here are a few ideas to get you going:

Bible study: Different members of the group may benefit from the opportunity to prepare and lead studies in the group. This can provide a good training opportunity as the leader assists in preparation or provides feedback afterwards.
Hospitality: People can learn to exercise hospitality by hosting the group from time to time. They can also be encouraged to have people to meals, invite others out, and create opportunities to share in each other’s lives.
Supper or meals: A member of the group can take responsibility for organising this. Everyone can contribute food and drinks as they are able. It helps for this not to fall to the leader to make all the arrangements.
Prayer: Each member of the group can be encouraged to share matters for prayer, and to pray for the others. Ask people to keep praying for matters throughout the week. Someone could take on the role of prayer coordinator.
One to one: People can be encouraged to meet individually with others in the group for a particular purpose. A new Christian might appreciate doing some basic Bible studies with an older Christian. Someone going through a tough time might enjoy regular support and prayer. A person checking out Christianity might be willing to read through a Gospel with someone.

It’s worthwhile for leaders to take the time to get to know the members of their groups so that they can encourage them into areas of service, and to persevere in their service. Consider these questions: Are people currently serving in an area of church life? Do they have gifts in children’s or youth ministry? What evangelistic opportunities do they have at work? How do they go about reading and applying the Bible for themselves? Do they show initiative in service? What examples have you seen of them sacrificially putting themselves out for others?

If you can’t answer many of these sorts of questions about the members of your group, then arrange to connect with people on a more personal basis. Perhaps, you could spend the next term having a different group member, or couple, over each week before the group meets so as to get to know them and further the ministry conversation.

If your church has a formal process for encouraging people into Christian service, then leaders can help facilitate their members being involved in this. Our church offers ‘serve chats’ which explore issues of gifts, ministry experience, training, and needs and opportunities. Leaders can encourage their group members to engage in these chats or offer to conduct one themselves.

It’s also helpful for leaders to be aware of the needs and opportunities in the church. Pastors should keep leaders informed of the needs for musicians, Sunday School teachers, people to visit nursing homes, people to pray in church, church welcomers, people to host evangelistic courses, and the like. This will create a dialogue within the life of the group and church. The church makes known its needs and the group identifies who is gifted, interested, suitable and available. Likewise, leaders should stay turned to ministry training opportunities and encourage the right people to participate.

Growth groups have another advantage for encouraging Christian service. Each week people open the Bible, learn of God and his grace, and are moved to change and put their trust in God. Sometimes this has very specific ministry application and the leaders and their groups are able to follow this closely with members of the group. For example, if the application area has to do with giving generously to the gospel, then the group can help people work through what it means to give generously and how specifically to make it happen at church.

The group serving the church

Some churches arrange ministry responsibilities in rosters or teams based around growth groups. Our evening church engages the groups in setting up and packing up church on a rotational basis. It’s too big a job for one or two people, and it gets the growth groups serving together. Similar things have been arranged with hosting newcomers courses, with groups providing refreshments, welcome teams, and other areas. There are all kinds of possibilities.

The danger of the ‘group rostered on’ approach is that it may not account for the particular circumstances or gifts of the group members. It could lead to service out of duty rather than coming from a particular passion to serve. Sometimes there can be resentment simply from being rostered on. If things are arranged this way, then it’s important for good communication with the members of the group.

Another angle on groups serving the church is where the initiative comes from the group itself. We encourage growth groups to discuss together whether there are practical ways that the group can be serving the church. Perhaps the group could enquire of the pastors or church leadership team about the needs and opportunities that they could meet collectively. It might be a one-off project, or an ongoing commitment.

There is a power in collective thinking and action. It helps people to be dependent upon one another, to value each other’s gifts and difference, and to cooperate to achieve something greater than people could do on their own. People get to see one another in ministry and this tends to spur each other on further in our service.

There are many examples of how groups can serve a church. A group could organise a church camp or a social event. They could coordinate an outreach event, or visit a local nursing home. Perhaps, they could offer a baby-sitting service to parents in church who rarely get time off. They could provide specific support for a missionary serving overseas. They could commit to additional prayer for a particular need of the church.

The service doesn’t need to be limited to the church either. We are wanting to see our family, friends, neighbours, workmates and others come to know Jesus personally. The group could decide to coordinate an event to help people understand Jesus better. They might see a need in the local school or community, such as catering for a breakfast club, or buddying with disadvantaged kids, or gardening support for the elderly. They might join together to help provide support and finances for a local chaplain.

We want to encourage our growth groups to be nurseries for Christian service. People can learn to look around and see the needs of others to know Jesus and see the needs of Christians to be loved and grow into maturity together. The growth group provides a wonderful context to match the gifts that God has given to the opportunities for their use. Let’s not take for granted or waste what God has so generously given.

¹⁰Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:11-12)

Multiplying leaders in growth groups

We’re forever feeling the desperate need for more leaders. The shortage of leaders to cope with the growing demand for new groups, the exit of leaders moving on for reasons of work or the like, people dropping out of leadership when their lives change due to relationships, the attrition of leaders who’ve been serving for years. These are all reasons that we keep banging the drum for more people to sign up as leaders. They’re all reasonable reasons, but they’re not THE reason we should be committed to multiplying leaders. There’s a better reason by far…

We want to keep spreading the great news of Jesus Christ, because this honours God and it leads to people’s lives being transformed.

God’s word changes people. It keeps reminding us that we are not at the centre of the universe – God is! He is number one. He deserves all honour and praise. God has given us the great news about Jesus Christ so as to rescue people from despair and darkness, and to bring them into life and hope. We want to keep multiplying leaders so as to keep this news in front of people. We want more and more people in groups being encouraged to honour God, to trust God, to live for God. We want our groups to grow together in the truth of God’s word, in love for one another, in prayerful dependence on God, and with a passion to see others reached with the good news of salvation. We want to equip leaders who are focused on doing their part in building God’s kingdom.

The maths we are looking for is multiplication. We don’t want to divide leaders, nor do we want to subtract them. But it’s not enough to simply add leaders either. Our goal is for leaders to grow leaders to grow leaders. If one leader grows one leader in one year, then we have two. If the two leaders grow one leader each in one year, then we have four. If the four leaders grow one leader each in one year, then we have eight. You see how it can work.

If only the first leader adds one leader each year, then in ten years you have eleven leaders. But if every leader adds one leader each year, then in ten years you have over one thousand leaders! This is the power of multiplication. Of course, this is an ideal world. It doesn’t allow for drop out, attrition, failure to train, poor systems, and everything else that gets in the way. But what potential and it all starts with just one leader.

If this is going to happen, then multiplication needs to be built into our DNA as churches. We should not only seek to add a leader, but to add a leader who will add a leader who will add a leader. We need to communicate a vision for multiplying leaders. When someone is recruited and trained as a leader, we should be calling them not simply to be a leader, but to be a recruiter and trainer of more leaders, who will do the same.

Jesus didn’t just call men to himself. He called men to call men (and women and children). The Apostle Paul didn’t simply call Timothy to succeed him. He called him to this continuing task…

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2:2)

Teasing this out, Paul is saying: ‘You Timothy (#2) take my words (#1) and entrust to reliable people (#3, #4, etc) who will do a good job teaching others (#5, #6, etc).’

Not counting the many witnesses, there are at least four generations, and six or more people, involved in this responsibility. Paul is looking to the future. This is his last letter. He’s nearing the end of his ministry and he’s passionate about the ministry of the gospel continuing. He wants the gospel to be protected and the way to protect it is by ensuring its faithful spread.

Perhaps you have heard the story of the Wollomi Pine. It was thought to be extinct, until a very small population of trees was found in the wild in NSW. The species needed to be protected, so what was the strategy? Fence off the small plantation to protect from outside influence? Would this ensure its survival? No. The plan to preserve the Wollomi Pine involved planting seeds everywhere. Nurseries, greenhouses, in the wild, wherever a patch of ground could be found. The key to its survival was its spread. It’s the same with the gospel. We guard it by passing it on to others who will keep doing the same.

What does this mean for our growth group leaders? It means we seek to keep growing leaders, not to meet our needs, but to guard the gospel, to honour God, and to see people’s lives transformed for eternity. So how do we do it?

Leaders on the look out

We want all our growth group leaders to be on the look out for more leaders. Sometimes we might see ready-made leaders just waiting for an opportunity to be asked or step up. This can happen due to people changing churches or being trained in another ministry, such as a university group, but not yet serving as a leader at church. However, more importantly, we should be looking for opportunities to grow new leaders, so as to keep multiplying.

There are a few things to look for in seeking out suitable people. I suggest looking for FAST people. Such people are faithful, available, sacrificial, and teachable. They show their commitment to the group by turning up each week. They do more than turn up. They’re seeking ways to serve others, following up people during the week, asking about answers to prayer. You’ll find them in the kitchen doing the dishes. They go out of their way to offer lifts to others. They show restraint in Bible study, not dominating the discussion, but contributing thoughtfully. They offer to lead a study here and there and ask for feedback and help. They look for ways to serve at church or in the group and they’re open to being trained.

Connecting with core people

Having identified potential leaders, we need to invest in them. Engage them in thinking about leadership and give them opportunities to grow. If there are one or two people in the group who could fill this role, then we suggest talking with them. Excite them about the potential to become leaders a little way down the track. Spend extra time with these people. Perhaps have them for a meal before the group now and then, or catch up for a coffee. You could talk together about how the group is going and how they could take a role in preparing to lead. You could pray for the members of your group. Maybe they could meet one to one with someone else in the group to pray and read the Bible. They could take a responsibility for some organisational role in the group such as coordinating meals, or sending out prayer points. It will help to give them opportunity to lead some studies or coordinate the prayer times. If they’re inexperienced at leading studies, then you could meet with them to help and provide suggestions and support. Give them helpful encouragement and feedback afterwards. Remember, you want to build leaders, not cut people down. So be thoughtful and considerate.

Apprenticing leaders

We want to encourage all our group leaders to seek to identify and purposefully get alongside one or more others in their group each year for the purpose of multiplying leaders. Some churches describe this process in an official or organised manner as ‘apprenticing leaders’. This is what we want to be doing, whether it’s ad hoc, informal, formal, or whatever. The apprenticing strategy has great strengths. It’s on-the-job, highly relational, contextual, personally targeted, intensive training. The apprentice gets to learn from the practitioner by becoming a practitioner also.

This can also reveal a weakness of apprenticeship training. It depends very much on the quality of the trainer. If the current leader sets a poor example, fails to invest time, neglects their leadership responsibilities, or has a maverick attitude to leading in the church, then these problems can sometimes be reproduced down the line. For this and other reasons, we recommend complementing the apprenticeship approach with a training course.

Training courses

Most training courses begin with a curriculum to be transferred to the participants. The key is to identify what should be in the core curriculum for growth group leaders. Two courses stand out in our experience. Both are reviewed on this site: Growth Groups and Spice it Up. Growth Groups is the longer and more detailed of the two courses. Spice it Up is briefer, but seeks to incorporate wisdom from both Growth Groups and Leading Better Bible Studies. Over the years many of our training courses have drawn on material from these and other sources.

These courses rightly focus mainly on the preparation and leading of Bible studies as the core component in the life of the group. We believe the emphasis should be here, because this is how God changes our hearts. However, we desire our growth groups to be contexts of prayer, pastoral care, every member ministry, promoting the gospel, training, supporting the church, and more. For this reason, a tailored training program that addresses the range of growth group issues is required.

We suggest that a course be conducted at least once a year, with sufficient time to prepare new leaders to begin leading in the year ahead. Third term seems ideal for this. We can build on the apprenticing work that has begun in the earlier part of the year, and give opportunities to put things into practice in the later part of the year. The hope will be that trained people will go on to become leaders, but this should never be assumed. We may discover that some people are not suited to serve in this way.

Multiplying groups

If we are going to multiply, or even add, groups in our churches, then this will require leaders to move from one group to another. There are a number of possible approaches:

groups disband at the end of the year and an increased number of groups begin in the new year, incorporating new leaders
some leaders are kept back from groups at the start of the year, so as to lead groups as needed later in the year
apprentice leaders take over the leadership of the group they belong to, while the existing leaders leave to start another
newly trained or apprentice leaders leave a group to start another group
the group divides into two with newly trained or apprentice leaders taking one half and the existing leaders the other

There are strengths and weaknesses with all these approaches. Disruption to relationships and the welfare of existing groups should be avoided where possible, but we will need to prepare for some discomfort if we are going to keep growing the growth groups ministry. Good communication, no surprises, sufficient time and preparation for change will all help.

Not just groups

The strategy of multiplying leaders is not just for our growth group ministry. Our goal is for every area of service within the church to embrace the culture of multiplication. Let’s keep training and equipping one another to build the church of Jesus Christ through evangelism and edification, for the sake of God’s glory.

Who could you get alongside to equip for ministry? How can you pass on what you’re doing to others? Not doing much? Then whom could you ask to train and equip you?

Life together in growth groups

We’ve previously seen how the Bible describes pastoral care in growth groups as being under God, leading God’s people, by the word of God’s grace, into eternity with God. Pastoral ministry looks back to the Good Shepherd dying for his sheep and looks forward to the return of the Great Shepherd who will gather his sheep for eternity. These are the trig points that give us bearings for caring for one another. Pastoral care should be shaped by teaching and modelling God’s word of grace, and by prayerfully depending on the power of God’s Spirit to change people’s hearts and minds. These are the priorities of the one true Shepherd, God himself, and they should shape the priorities of our churches and growth groups.

Family relationships

As we seek to live out God’s word of grace in our lives this will profoundly impact how we live with one another as God’s people. We’ve been called into God’s family as his adopted children. We’re now united with brothers and sisters in Christ having the same Spirit who unites us to each other.

⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:3-6)

When we gather in our growth groups we get to share in a small family gathering. We catch up with each other, hear what our Father has to say, we’re reminded of the awesome work of our Father’s number one Son, and we attend to family business together. We also hear what’s been going on in each other’s lives, seek to encourage and spur each other on, celebrate family joys and share in family worries and sorrows, and we bring our requests and offer thanks to our heavenly Father.

Families exist even when they’re not together. This means our growth groups have opportunity to express our relationships in Christ throughout the week in other ways. Obviously, we see each other at church. This is a natural place to catch up and connect. It’s worth thinking about what you can follow-up from your group meetings at church, and vice versa. It helps to build relationships by connecting with one another over meals, coffees, and doing social things together. If you have space in your calendar, there is great value in catching up with different members of the group on a rotational basis. It’s amazing how much better people know one another simply by spending time chatting over dinner every now and then.

One way of turbo-charging relational connections in your groups is to spend time away as a group. A weekend away at a holiday house will often be worth a year of weekly meetings in getting people comfortable with one another, and deeper into each other’s live. Meals together on a weekly or monthly basis, occasional social nights, prayer and testimony evenings are all ways of strengthening the bonds between the brothers and sisters in your group.

Some families are big on remembering special events. Perhaps you could create a calendar for your group and celebrate each person’s birthday, wedding anniversary, or other significant special occasion. Discover each person’s favourite cake or special ice-cream or whatever as a way of showing you care.

The Apostle Paul provides a model of family-type pastoral care in the way he went about his ministry to others. He taught, dialogued and reasoned from the Scriptures with the people he served. But he also invested his life into them. He used words and life to communicate with integrity the life-changing message of Christ. Take a look at the family language in these words he wrote to the Thessalonian Christians:

⁷Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, ⁸so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. ⁹Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. ¹⁰You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. ¹¹For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, ¹²encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. ¹³And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

¹⁷But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. ¹⁸For we wanted to come to you – certainly I, Paul, did, again and again – but Satan blocked our way. ¹⁹For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?²⁰Indeed, you are our glory and joy. (1 Thessalonians 2:7-13, 17-20)

Whether you are a leader or a group member, we have the opportunity to invest in each other’s lives. As Paul worked night and day for his ‘growth group’, it won’t hurt us to put ourselves out for each other, to go the extra mile. Let’s seek to put each other’s needs before our own. What can you do that would make a practical difference in the lives of one or two of your brothers and sisters?

Well functioning families spend time doing things together. Dysfunctional families sometimes pass like ships in the night and grow apart in the process. I understand how busy we all are, and it might be that your relational ‘dance card’ already seems very full, but it will make a big difference to others, especially those who are new to your church or group, if you spend time together. Do you share similar interests? Maybe you work in a similar area, department or business. If you are going bike riding, catching a movie, having a night at the pub, inviting friends around for a barbecue, going for a Saturday site-seeing trip, playing touch footy, scrap-booking, joining a gym, hanging out in a cafe after church, heading to a sporting event or concert, or whatever else you’re into, then why not think about inviting others from your group?

Encouragement

If we care deeply for our brothers and sisters in Christ, then we will want them to share eternity with us. We’ll want them to run the race, to keep trusting in Christ, and to reach the finishing line rejoicing in their Saviour. If you’ve ever run cross-country, long distances, or even marathons, then you will appreciate the importance of support from others. Sometimes it’s the spectators who’ve made the effort to get alongside the track and cheer you along. Sometimes it’s your fellow runners who encourage you. It’s so helpful to have a running buddy who keeps pace with you, urges you up the hills, or sticks with you when you hit the wall. It’s tough trying do it all on your own.

God wants us to be there for each other. As we run the race, we shouldn’t have to do it alone. We’re urged to keep up with one another often. We need each other: the support, the encouragement, the help along the way. The Christian life is tough and there are so many obstacles and difficult times that we need to spur each other on. The writer to the Hebrews is focused on Christians making it all the way to the end, remaining reliant on the grace of God in the gospel, and keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. In the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, he urges his readers:

²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, ²⁵not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:23-25)

We are urged to consider how – to think in advance – about how we can keep each other living and growing as followers of Jesus. This begins at home before we gather in our groups and at church. Who will be there tonight? What’s going on in their lives? What was it we prayed for them last week? I must remember to ask them about it. (Hint: it helps to keep your own prayer diary, jot notes, pray during the week, and follow up with people.) I wonder how they are getting along with their boss who’s been giving them a hard time? Have they had an opportunity to share what they believe with their class mates? Speak with them about what you’ve been praying, ask for other things to pray, show a spiritual interest in one another. Time to stop cruising. If the best we do every time we meet is discuss the footy, grumble about work, and engage in small talk, then we are missing out on wonderful opportunities to love one another.

You might notice that some people in your group are struggling. Perhaps some have doubts, others are being tested by their unbelieving families, some are battling the weariness of chronic illness and rarely get to the group. How can you encourage and spur on these brothers and sisters? You could commit this to prayer, make regular personal contact, put your mind to ways that you could be helpful. Each member of the group can do this sort of thing. You don’t have to be the leader to be an encouragement to others. Anyone can and should do it. The love and support of group members shows the family of God functioning well.

Care in a crisis

A crisis in someone’s life is an opportunity for the group to show love to their brother or sister. There is no end to the types of crises that happen to people. Here are a few crises we’ve experienced in our groups…

someone losing their job
unrealistic workload expectations placing massive strain on health, family, or involvement in church
bullying at work
a serious illness to a group member or someone in their family
child acting out or refusing to go to school
injuries in a car accident
difficulties associated with pregnancy
sleep deprivation following the birth of a child
difficulties associated with pregnancy
serious doubts over the Christian faith
relationship troubles such as a broken engagement or marriage
extended family putting pressure to turn from faith in Jesus

There are many more issues and I expect you could continue this list. These sorts of crises test families. They need to rally together, assess their resources, change the way they function, take on new responsibilities, and sometimes seek external support or expertise. It’s very similar for a growth group. A crisis is an opportunity time for the group. They can step up a gear, plan how to collectively offer care, pray together, and offer genuine practical help.

We’ve seen some groups do this very well. One time when my wife was bed-ridden with a difficult pregnancy our group arranged shopping, baby-sitting, cooperated in leading studies and took other initiatives that helped our family. Another group had a member hospitalised following a heart attack and the group helped with visits, practical help, and set up a buddy exercise program and roster. Couples with babies often appreciate the support of meals in the first few weeks. Sometimes people have paired-up to read the Bible, pray, and talk through issues with another person. My experience is that our groups often rise well to a crisis.

However, sometimes the needs of a person are beyond the capacity of the group to cope on their own. They may require more people to be involved due to the magnitude of the problem. They might need greater expertise than they have in their group. A marriage break-up, legal issues, psychiatric illness, or domestic abuse are the types of matters that require the involvement of other qualified people.

We recommend sharing these needs with an appropriate person in the church. Maybe you could raise matters with your growth group mentor or coach, a pastor on the church staff, or a specialist pastoral care team, depending on whom you have in your church. These matters will often need to be referred to people beyond the congregation. At this point the role of the group should be to provide support, love, prayer, and care for the person/s rather than seeing itself as responsible to provide the specialised help needed. They might have further tough times ahead, so your care will be very significant.

Care when it’s chronic

Not all significant needs remain crises. Sometimes the matters are ongoing for weeks, months, or years. There are real and often painful issues that simply don’t go away. Again, growth groups have the opportunity to provide ongoing loving care for these people or families that can make the world of difference. These are some examples of chronic care needs that we have experienced in our groups…

ongoing depression or mental illness
psychiatric disorders
chronic back pain or other physical illness
physical or mental disabilities, such as cerebral palsy or downs syndrome
families members who have chronic needs, especially children or ageing parents
chronic fatigue, long-term insomnia
eating disorders
bereavement, especially the loss of a spouse or child
prolonged unemployment
ongoing legal battles

Once again there are many more expressions of chronic difficulties facing the members of our groups and families. The love and care of growth groups is so valuable. Often these people become irregular, occasional, or non-attending members of our groups. Don’t forget them or give up on them. Stay in touch. You can call, visit, write, help out in practical ways. It can help for the group to coordinate its efforts. Find out what you can pray for them each week, ask in advance and follow it up afterwards. Remember them when the group does things that are different, especially if they weren’t at the group to find out. Make sure they hear about the special social night or weekend away. Let them know the news of the group: who had the baby, who is heading on a short-term mission trip, who’s friend has become a Christian, who won the netball grand final, and so on.

Maybe there are people in the church with ongoing chronic needs whom you could adopt as partners to your group. Ask your pastor or pastoral care team who might appreciate you connecting with them. Again, you can go the extra mile with these people. Maybe they’re shut in through illness and would love visitors, or to be taken out now and again. Perhaps, someone would love you to visit, read the Scriptures, pray and talk with them now and again. We adopt missionaries into our groups, so why not do something similar with those in need who can’t actually make it to groups. You know, there might even be people who’ve been burned by groups in the past, who through your love and kindness find their way back into a growth group where they experience the love of Jesus in practice.

As with those experiencing crises, some of these chronic needs will involve the wider church community or the specialised help of people outside the church. This is important. As groups and individuals we need to recognise our limitations. Our role is to provide the ongoing relational love and support throughout their journey.

One particular issue to consider, is how these people are affected by holidays and the changes that happen with our groups from year to year. If a group stops meeting or disbands, don’t forget the people you’ve been caring for who haven’t been making it along. Talk together as a group about whether you continue to offer group support during breaks, whether individuals maintain support when a group disbands, or whether you need to discuss this with a pastor or coordinator.

Growth groups, not therapy groups

Our growth groups are primarily about growing followers of Jesus. This has an eternal focus anchored in the present. It is very easily to allow the immediate, obvious, pressing needs of people to overshadow their eternal needs. Jesus understood this pressure and temptation as he was confronted daily by suffering, struggling, needy individuals. He often chose to relieve people’s suffering and to care for them in practical ways. His compassion was unsurpassed.

However, Jesus came on a bigger mission than emptying hospitals. He came preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God and how people could experience healing of their sins for eternity. We see Jesus alignment with these priorities throughout the gospels.

³²That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all who were ill and demon-possessed. ³³The whole town gathered at the door, ³⁴and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

³⁵Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. ³⁶Simon and his companions went to look for him, ³⁷and when they found him, they exclaimed: ‘Everyone is looking for you!’

³⁸Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so that I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’ (Mark 1:32-38)

Jesus chose to leave the pressing needs of people in one town, firstly to spend time praying, and secondly to go elsewhere to proclaim the eternal message of hope for all who turn to God. He came to seek and to save people who were truly lost. He came to call people into his kingdom. He placed the eternal needs of people over, but not to the exclusion, of their earthly needs. We see this distinction in the incident when some mates bring a paralysed man to Jesus to be healed.

³Some men came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. ⁴Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralysed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’

⁶Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷‘Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’

⁸Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, ‘Why are you thinking these things? ⁹Which is easier: to say to this paralysed man, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up, take your mat and walk”? ¹⁰But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ So he said to the man, ¹¹‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’¹²He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’

I assume that the forgiveness of this man’s sins were far from the thinking of the four mates. They had seen or heard about Jesus healing serious illnesses and disabilities, so they did all they could to see their friend get a piece of the action. How surprised they must have been when Jesus simply forgave his sins. Yes, Jesus forgave sins and then healed the man, but don’t forget one action lasted for eternity and the other only a few years. Forgiveness is the only gateway to healing that lasts for all time.

It can be easy to be dominated by people’s crisis and chronic concerns. We can even build a culture where needs becomes the way to get each other’s or the leader’s time and attention. This is not healthy. Let’s not lose the ministry of the word and prayer. And let’s invest in building leaders and the capacity of our group to serve and care for one another, as this will result in people’s temporal and eternal needs getting the love and support they need. Let’s keep God’s perspective in our growth groups.

Pastoral care in growth groups

Having been professionally trained as a social worker, I made the assumption for many years that pastoral care was the term for social work in the church. It was about visiting the sick, providing for the poor, counselling the messed up, befriending the lonely, caring for the needy, and helping people with their problems. This was the stuff pastors should do. Preachers preached, but pastors took care of people’s social, relational, physical, emotional (and sometimes spiritual) needs. That’s what I thought and, to be honest, I think most Christians I knew would have agreed with me. The trouble was that I’d never examined the Scriptures on the topic. We need to look at God’s definition of pastoral care, and allow his Word to shape our pastoral priorities.

As we consider the role of growth groups in the life of a church, we’ve identified pastoral care as a priority for groups. But what does this mean? What expectations should we have of the groups and their leaders? What will it look like for a group to take pastoral care seriously? Well, we need to be clear on how the Bible describes pastoral care. Pastoral care in the church and growth groups must be shaped by God’s plans as revealed in the Bible. What is the emphasis of pastoral care in the Bible?

God – the Shepherd

The word pastor comes from Latin word for shepherd. Pastoral ministry is the ministry of shepherding God’s people. It’s a leadership picture that uses the image of the shepherd to describe the roles and responsibilities of those who lead God’s people. It’s an idea that starts with God himself. God is the Shepherd and he leads his sheep where he wants them to go. Arguably the most famous description of this comes from Psalm 23.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever.

In this Psalm the Shepherd leads, guides, feeds, comforts and protects his sheep. The Shepherd ensures the eternal security of his sheep.

The image of the shepherd is also applied to Israel’s leaders. They are to lead, guide, feed, comfort and protect the people by teaching and living out the Word of God among them. They fail dismally on this front. Instead of watching over the sheep, they feed on the sheep and destroy them. God holds the leaders accountable for this, and declares that he, himself, will replace these oppressive shepherds. God will act to save his sheep and provide for them.

⁷Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, ⁹therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. ¹¹For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. (Ezekiel 34:7-11)

God specifically promised to send one special shepherd. This new shepherd will be the Messiah in the line of David and he will rule over and care for God’s people.

²³I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. ²⁴I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken. (Ezekiel 34:23-24)

This remains the hope for God’s people throughout the Old Testament, and it’s not until the New Testament that we meet the one promised by God.

The Good Shepherd

Jesus fulfils God’s promises made through Ezekiel. He is the Davidic Messiah, the Good Shepherd who will rescue the sheep. He will not only gather in the lost sheep of Israel, but also people from all nations and he will unite them together under him. The amazing thing about this Shepherd is that instead of slaughtering the sheep, as Israel’s leaders had been doing, he allows himself to be slaughtered in their place. To mix the metaphors, the shepherd becomes the sacrificial lamb.

¹⁴‘I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that are not of this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

God’s plan in saving and caring for his sheep extends from Jesus to others who will lead under Jesus’ authority. Jesus as shepherd remains the model to follow.

Shepherds/pastors

The book of Acts introduces us to the beginnings of Christian pastoral ministry. As the gospel spreads and churches begin to grow, leaders are put in place to oversee the congregations. The Apostle Paul spent three years pastoring the church in Ephesus, and he uses the image of the shepherd/pastor when encouraging the Ephesian elders to continue his work. The church is precious to God. It’s purchased with his blood. It belongs to him. Pastoral care of God’s own flock is very important. Knowing this, Paul urges the Ephesian elders to teach God’s word of grace, so as to see the church growing into maturity, standing firm against false teaching, and persevering into eternity. This is to be their pastoral care. Paul had devoted himself to this responsibility and he now calls the elders to do likewise.

²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. ²⁹I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ³¹So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. ³²‘Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

With the spread of the gospel and the establishment of churches, people are regularly being equipped and appointed to oversee and care for these congregations. Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus are particularly helpful in understanding pastoral ministry. In fact, they are often described as the pastoral letters. Paul is looking to the future, raising up leaders, shaping their priorities, emphasising both life and doctrine, character and teaching. He is working to ensure that the gospel remains central to the life of the church. It’s worth taking the time to read these three letters very carefully in order to understand pastoral priorities.

The Apostle Peter also encourages pastoral care in the churches. He is concerned about the heart of the pastor/shepherd and calls his fellow elders to allow the gospel to shape their attitude to ministry. They are to be willing, generous, and eager servants as they exercise pastoral ministry among the flock, all the while looking forward to the return of the Chief Shepherd, the true Senior Pastor, Jesus Christ.

¹To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: ²be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; ³not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5:1-4)

Pastoral care

From this brief overview of shepherd/pastor ideas in the Bible we can distil some important ideas.

God is the ultimate shepherd/pastor who promises to lead people into eternity with him.
Jesus is God’s appointed shepherd/pastor who gives his life to bring people into relationship with God.
Shepherd/pastors lead others by gospel-shaped teaching and modelling the application of God’s word of grace in their lives.
Therefore, the goal of pastoral care is: under God, to lead God’s people, by the word of God’s grace, into eternity with God.

I suspect this is probably not the way we would have described pastoral care. It sounds more like a ministry of evangelism, teaching, discipleship and encouragement. And yes, it is. This is what flows from the pastoral heart of God. What God is doing in our world isn’t limited to the next ten, twenty or even seventy or eighty years. God is gathering his people for all eternity. He’s keen to see them secure in his grace in this life, so that they will enjoy his full blessing in the next. As Newton wrote in Amazing Grace: ’twas grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home and when we’ve been there ten thousand years bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun. Pastoral care is a ministry of God’s grace for a few years, focused on people enjoying God’s grace for a zillion years. This is the perspective we must carry.

In growth groups

If growth group leaders are to exercise pastoral care among the members of their groups, and if the people in our groups are to pastorally care for one another, then they will need to look backwards and forwards. Backwards to the saving grace of God in the Good Shepherd laying down his life for the sheep. Forwards to the Chief Shepherd returning to usher his people into glory. These are the trig points that give us bearings for our pastoral care.

The leader will be concerned first and foremost that every member of the group has become a member of God’s flock. Is each person in our group a Christian? Are they trusting in God’s grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus? Are they submitting to Jesus as the one who rules and directs their lives? If someone is not a Christian, then the most caring pastoral thing we can do for them is to help them to understand and respond to the gospel. This will likely mean praying for them, catching up with people one to one, reading and discussing the gospel together. There might be questions and doubts to resolve. If there are a number of people in the group who aren’t Christians, then perhaps the whole group might focus on these matters together.

Leaders, do we know where people are at? Have we taken time to get to know people, to understand what they believe, where they’re coming from, what they’re living for, what they’re trusting in? Maybe it’s time for some quiet conversations. This is the starting point for pastoral care.

The leader will desire to see each member of the group becoming more and more like the Chief Shepherd. Bible study will be central to this, as we seek to nourish and strengthen the members of our group in the grace of God. Not Bible study so as to know about the Bible, or even to know about God. We will examine God’s Word together, so as to get to know God himself. We want people growing together into maturity. This isn’t measured by how many theological books we’ve read or the Bible verses we’ve memorised. It’s not how much we know, but how we respond to what we know. It’s about being gripped by God’s grace and letting it shape our thinking and speech and behaviour. It’s about the wonder of the gospel freeing us to walk in God’s ways by the power of his Spirit. It’s about not being tossed around by false ideas. It means not being lured away from God by the idols of this world. It’s seen in patiently keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and the things of eternity. This is what pastoral care is about.

Pastoral care will involve praying. We can’t bring about spiritual change. That’s the work of God’s Spirit. We need God to bring about deep inner transformation, and therefore we pray. We are weak and so we pray for God’s strength. God’s strength to persevere through trials and difficulty. God’s strength to stand firm against temptations. God’s strength to remain faithful in the face of persecution. God’s strength to work through our fears and doubts and struggles and selfishness. God’s strength to run the race to the end. And so we pray.

Pastoral care is gospel-shaped. It’s Bible-nourished. It’s prayer-dependent. This is God’s idea of pastoral care. We are seeking to grow leaders who will care pastorally for the people in their groups and encourage their groups to develop relationships where people care pastorally for one another. Please encourage the members of your group to become pastoral carers.

But I’m sure you are left with a few questions…

So what about things like visiting the sick, counselling, offering hospitality, providing practical helps, supporting couples or parents, caring for the elderly and orphans and widows? Aren’t we called to carry each others burdens? Isn’t this still pastoral care? Shouldn’t we be focusing on these things? Aren’t we expecting our growth groups to provide ‘practical’ care to one another?

This is the topic of another paper: Life together in growth groups.

Rhythm in growth groups

As I write this post, our growth group is taking a break. We’re not meeting this week. It’s the school holidays, between terms 1 and 2. Last week we had a social night, this week we won’t meet, and next week we’ll launch back into things again in term 2. Taking a break can be helpful. It’s not that people don’t want to meet. It’s more that a week off here and there, and changes now and again, helps keep things fresh. There are great benefits to be found in oscillating intensity and renewal. As Bruce Millar writes in Your Church in Rhythm, ‘Life is not a marathon but rather a series of sprints and rests. If churches try to keep a constant pace, they build up higher and higher levels of stress.’ (p141)

God has designed our world with rhythm. We have four seasons each year, at least in my part of the world we do! The moon gives us monthly rhythms, a fact that matters to fishermen at least. God has given us a weekly pattern of work six, rest one. Our days are balanced by night and day. Such rhythms give light and shade to our lives. They reveal a time for this and a time for that. They show the value of variety. Our school system rides these rhythms, with its 4 terms a year, 10 weeks a term, 5 days a week, three sessions a day. Years are broken up with summer breaks, terms with 2 week holidays, weeks with weekends, days with recess and lunch breaks. We’d do well to learn from the wisdom of those around us and go with some of the natural flows.

We want our growth groups to remain fresh, interesting, varied, and engaging. We don’t want leaders burning out before their time. We want to prevent groups fraying at the edges because people are bored with the same old same old. We want to encourage strategies for group life that energise rather than drain. So what can we do?

NB. Most of the following suggestions first appeared in my post Why churches should stop small groups

Yearly cycles

Starting and stopping our groups each year, helps people to pace themselves. It allows time to build relationships and it also offers an opt-out when the relationships aren’t really working, or we simply want to get to know others. Life changes each year. We move, we get new jobs, our kids get older, we enter into new relationships. These changes often mean people should move to a different group.

Consider carefully when groups begin. Our church often waited until March, when uni students got back into town, but this frustrated others who were looking for a group in January or when school started. It might be wise to advertise a number starting times. But equally, set a stop time, so that the group can finish on a strong note, people can be thanked and farewelled, celebrations can be shared. It’s not good when groups simply taper out and dissolve. This can be a recipe for hurt and disappointments. We need to stop our small groups well!

This is not to say that we should dissolve our groups every year. Some groups will continue for years and remain healthy. But giving people some time out at the close of the year can be very healthy. Taking a break from the group can function like an annual sabbath to enable everyone to have a rest – pastors, leaders, participants and their families. Sometimes, short term summer holiday groups can fill the gap for those who need a group during this period.

Term-based cycles

There is much to be gained by arranging our groups according to seasons, and often the most obvious is school terms. While not everyone’s life is shaped by terms, it does have the benefit of pacing the life of the group. We can oscillate between 9-11 weeks on and 1-3 weeks off. It gives the leaders and the group a break. It gives parents time to do things with their children during the holidays. People get time off for other things and don’t resent their group for always demanding their time.

It can also be helpful to match these groups with the program of the church. If the teaching is term-based this allows integration across the church. A short teaching series is offered in the school holidays and the groups get some time off. Larry Osborne, in Sticky Church, suggests that breaking between terms gives the groups an opportunity to take stock, reevaluate how the group is going, and sometimes to help people transition into another group if things aren’t working out. Stopping our groups in the holidays can also give space for doing other things with the group, perhaps a social outing, a special dinner, or a weekend away. If we want people to stay excited about the groups, I think there is great value in stopping our groups at the end of each term.

Weekly cycles

If our groups go for 9 or 10 weeks followed by a break, then we should plan how to use these weeks. Are we following the sermon series? Will the group need some variety over this time? Perhaps, a 4-1-4-1 plan to do studies, with a night of prayer in the centre, or a dinner together, or combine with another group in the church for a night. The church might encourage groups to do something different in one of the terms, perhaps encouraging the groups to do a training course, or to choose their own studies. If so, then we need to communicate well ahead and prepare people for the changes.

Sometimes the group will face a particular crisis and we need to break with the timetable or plan. Maybe a member is in hospital and the group will choose to stop a week so everyone gets a chance to visit. It could be a big issue that is facing the group that needs addressing, so we might stop the program and give this issue the attention it needs.

Daily cycles

It’s also worth considering the basic shape of each group meeting. How much time is given to catching up with each other, sharing needs or joys, learning and discussing God’s word, praying for one another and other things? Does the group share food together – a meal or simply refreshments? Is the group excited about how it uses it’s time?

People are creatures of habit and they build their expectations on their experiences. If a group always starts late and finishes after the agreed time, people will start coming late and often still get irritated when the group goes overtime. If we stick to the group’s agreed timetable, this will build confidence in the group and create a less stressful environment. If you need to, then agree together on extending the time we meet, otherwise we should stop our groups on time!

I hope reflecting on these rhythms will help increase the joy and decrease the stress in our growth groups!

Prayer in growth groups

Once upon a time I used to be part of a Bible study group. We’d spend most of our time studying the Bible together. The problem was we often spent so long looking at the Bible and talking together that we rarely allowed much time to pray. So we changed the name to Prayer and Bible groups. And you know what? Prayer was still frequently edged out by everything else. I wonder if your experience has been much the same.

We want our growth groups to be relational communities. People connecting with each other, getting to know each other, taking an interest in what’s going on in each other’s lives. However, the primary relationships aren’t those that we share with each other, but the relationships we share with God. We gather because we belong to God. We’ve been adopted into his family and God is our Father. Jesus has given us access to his Father, so that we can relate to him as our Father. This is a wonderful privilege. We can come before our Father in heaven at any time and in any place, through the mediating work of Jesus. For this reason we desire to express our dependence upon God and our fellowship together in growth groups through prayer.

I want you to imagine a different scenario with me for a minute.

You are part of a company think tank, gathered in a boardroom to come up with plans and changes for moving the company forward, helping each person in the company to improve their contribution, and using the vast resources of the company to bring these things about. The name of the company is Microsoft (assume you are happy with this!) and Bill Gates has agreed to come to every think tank meeting, and authorise the use of his resources to enable every venture that will improve the company. You meet together, read over the company documents, talk things over, come up with some astounding ideas, realise you’ve used nearly all your time, forget that Bill is in the room, ask him for nothing, and head off to try and do everything yourselves.

What a mistake! Forgetting the most important person in the room! Failing to speak with him, ask for his help, draw on his resources… even when he’s promised to give you more than you could ever imagine! It doesn’t make sense, does it? And yet, isn’t that what we do with God our Father, every time we meet and fail to pray. It seems to me that the key to praying in our growth groups is to remember who God is, and to take seriously his invitation, in fact his command, to pray.

We will spend some time in this paper, looking at the Bible, seeking to understand our God, because it is God himself who invites us to pray. You could use these Scriptures as a guide for your growth group in approaching God in prayer together.

The God to whom we pray

The Holy God

The Bible reveals God to be a Holy God who will not tolerate evil. We cannot come into the presence of God without fear for our lives. It is no simple thing to come before God to pray.

Isaiah shows us the problem when he is brought into the presence of God, presumably in a vision…

¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ²Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”

⁴At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

⁵“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:1-5)

Habbakuk knows the dilemma of sinful people seeking to be heard by a righteous and holy God…

²How long, Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?

¹³Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. (Habakkuk 1:2, 13)

God, himself, says through Isaiah to the people of Israel…

¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.
Your hands are full of blood! (Isaiah 1:15)

And Isaiah speaks to the people about God…

¹ Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
²But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:1-2)

So what hope do we have? Our lives are tainted by sin and selfishness. How can we presume to come before God in prayer?

On the basis of God’s grace and mercy, love and forgiveness. This is how! And it’s the only way. God enables us to pray. It’s not something we can do for ourselves. We need a saviour.

Our Saviour

God, in his kindness, has made it possible to come into a relationship with him. He has dealt with our sin, and invites us to trust him, submit to him, depend upon him, and speak with him.

God made it possible for Isaiah to stand before him…

⁶Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 1:6-7)

God makes it possible through the death of his Son, Jesus Christ, for each of us to be made clean, to have our sins forgiven, God’s judgment lifted, and to gain access to God.

Looking ahead to Jesus, God spoke through Isaiah announcing…

⁴Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6)

Because God is the Saviour, like the Psalmist, we should delight to call on him…

¹I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
²Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live. (Psalm 116:1-2)

Jesus has given us access into the throne room of God. His saving work enables us to boldly approach God with confidence and ask him to help us in our weakness and need…

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Permission to pray is a wonderful gift from God. God invites us to enjoy a new relationship with him. And this is a special, personal, and familial relationship. We’re granted the privilege of relating to the Holy God as our Father.

Our Father

Before Jesus leaves his disciples he prepares them for the relationship they are to have with his Father in heaven…

²³In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ²⁴Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. ²⁵“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. ²⁶In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” (John 16:23-28)

¹⁷Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17, my emphasis)

Paul reminds us that by God’s Spirit we are able to relate to God as our Father…

¹⁵The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:15-17)

As God’s dearly loved and adopted children, we have the privilege of coming to him in prayer. Jesus gave this model for prayer…

⁷And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹Give us today our daily bread.
¹²And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’

Jesus asks us to remember the all-surpassing goodness and generosity of our Father, and so to bring our needs before Him…

⁷“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Through Jesus Christ, and the work of God’s Spirit, we are brought into a relationship with God as our heavenly Father. He calls us to speak with Him, to bring our needs before him, knowing that he will shower his good gifts upon us. God is both willing and able to answer our prayers according to his perfect will. He has our absolute best interests at heart. There is nothing that can thwart his good plans and purposes. So why wouldn’t we pray?!

What to pray

When Jesus was asked how to pray, he responded by telling his disciples what to pray. The Lord’s prayer, as it has become known, gives us a template to pray, as Jesus instructed. We approach God as Father, we desire his honour in all things, we seek his will to be done, we ask him to shape our priorities, enable us to live lives that honour him and reflect him in this world. In other words, the first thing we discover about how to pray, is to have our prayers shaped by God’s own agenda.

According to God’s will

As we seek to pray as Jesus instructed, we desire to have our prayers shaped according to God’s revealed will in the Scriptures. Jesus, himself, submitted his will to the Father as he prayed…

⁴²“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

How can we know the will of God? By reading it! We should allow Scripture shape our prayers. The Bible reveals God’s plans and priorities. It reveals God’s wonderful promises. Scripture shows us how to live and speak and think in according to God’s revealed will. The Bible also contains many prayers, that give us an insight into what matters matter to God and his people. We can even pray the content of Scripture as we ask God to make it live in our hearts and minds.

As we study the Bible in our groups, allow the passage you have been examining to shape the prayers that follow. We don’t want to be mere listeners to the word, but people who put into practice what we’ve learned. Let’s ask God to transform us in the light of what we’ve just read.

Bring our needs before God

We’re invited to bring our anxieties and worries and requests to God. Even though God knows what we need before we ask, he calls us to open up to him…

⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)

¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray continually, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7)

⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

Nothing is too big or too small to bring to God. Whatever burden is on our heart, God invites us to hand it over to him. Whatever we need, God wants us to ask him for it. And God’s word equips us to ask in accordance with God will. The more we grow in our knowledge and love of God, the more we will understand how and what to pray for things.

These verses above give guidance about the attitude we should have as we pray. First, we should trust God rather than clinging to our worries. God is the one most able to resolve our worries, so leave them to him. There’s no point you and God doubling up! Secondly, we’re called to humble ourselves before God. He alone is God. He is the Holy and Righteous One. He is the Judge and the Saviour. He is the Creator and we are the creature. He is the Sovereign Lord over all creation. He is our Father in heaven. Our Father! Humility, requires first and foremost that we acknowledge our sin before him and seek forgiveness. Thirdly, we’re urged to be thankful as we pray. With all that we know of God, and what he has done and will do, we have great reasons for thanksgiving. So let’s ask God, with gratitude in our hearts.

Sometimes our needs are deeply troubling. Sometimes we just don’t know what to pray. Sometimes we’re unable to pray in our frailty and weakness. It’s a wonderful comfort to know that God will help us in these times, so don’t stress…

²⁶In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)

And what awesome promises follow these words…

²⁸And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:35-37)

In our groups

As we focus on the will of God in bringing our requests to God, how should we actually pray in our groups? Here are some suggestions…

Allow sufficient time to pray each week. This means limiting the time in the Bible, or chatting, or sharing prayer points, so that we actually pray. Sometimes we may wish to begin the time together with prayer, so as to give it priority. Some weeks we may set aside the majority of the time to focus on prayer for an extended period.
Let our understanding of the Bible shape our prayers. Draw points for prayer from the passage we’ve been studying together.
Show care for each other by inviting people to share their needs with the group, so that we can pray together for these matters. It can be helpful to write things into a prayer diary or leave them on the whiteboard for the following week. This way we can follow up on how God has been answering our prayers.
Tune in to how comfortable people are with praying out loud in a group. Some may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with doing this. It’s important not to put people under pressure. Going round the circle can make things awkward for people, so it might be better to seek volunteers to pray. Breaking into twos and threes can help our prayers to be more personal, and make it easier for the shy members of the group to contribute.
Pray for needs outside the group; such as current events and issues, our communities, our governments, our churches, our pastors, link missionaries, and more.
Pray for people to hear the truth about Jesus. Let’s ask God to change the hearts of our friends.
Help people to understand we are talking to God, not seeking to impress each other.

Set an example

Prayer is unlikely to be a priority for the group if it’s not a priority for the leader. Let’s come before God ourselves, thanking him, confessing our sins, and bringing our needs before him. Let’s do this regularly and wholeheartedly. Pray for the members of our groups and, like the Apostle Paul, let them know we’ve been praying for them and what we’ve been praying.

Further reading

Karen and Rod Morris, Leading Better Bible Studies, chapter 5
Colin Marshall, Growth Groups, chapter 8

Don Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation
Richard Coekin, Our Father
Graeme Goldsworthy, Prayer and the Knowledge of God
Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne, Prayer and the Voice of God

Bible study in growth groups

Growth groups have commonly been called ‘Bible study groups’ and not without good reason. Studying the Bible together is at the heart of what we do. It’s by no means the only thing we do in our groups, but it is central. Studying the Bible has a purpose. We’re not seeking to fill our heads with facts about God, but to fill our hearts and minds with the knowledge and love of God. Studying the Bible is about relationship, about getting to know God, and living in relationship with him. It’s not a bunch of people sharing our best ideas about God. Rather, it’s about listening to God speak in his word, the Bible, and responding to his revelation by trusting him and changing the way we live.

God’s revelation

It’s important to recognise how the Bible views itself. We should come to terms with the Bible on it’s own terms, not what we might like it to be. Rather than being the best inspirational thoughts of human beings about God, the Bible claims to be unique expirational thoughts from God himself. This is seen most clearly in Paul’s second letter to Timothy, when he writes:

¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:15-17, my emphasis)

The word translated as God-breathed is theopneustos, literally ‘God-spirited’. While the Bible is made up of 66 different books, with a variety of human authors, there is one ultimate author behind it all. God has spoken. The Bible is his breathed-out word.

We find the same perspective in other parts of the Bible. The Apostle Peter wrote:

²⁰Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. ²¹For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

Two authors at work: the human writer and God. The ultimate author is God himself, and the writer is God’s prophet, or mouthpiece. The Holy Spirit has a message for us, and the Bible authors have passed this on.

The Bible therefore is a prophetic book. Not in the commonly understood sense of predicting the future, though some parts of the Bible clearly do this, but God speaking a message through human beings. This has always been God’s purpose, ultimately preparing us to receive the complete and final revelation of God in his Son, Jesus Christ. The writer to the Hebrews begins his letter with these words:

1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ²but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. ³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

God has much to say to us. The Bible is his message, handed down through various people in various ways at various times. But God’s ultimate message to us is found in his Son. Jesus Christ shows us God in all his glory and he reveals what the purpose of life is all about.

The implications of understanding the nature of the Bible are very important. We need to sit under the authority of Scripture. Rather than judging God’s words by our standards, we should allow God’s word to critique our minds and hearts. As we study the Bible in our groups we should anticipate having our ideas challenged and changed. We should be willing to give up our preconceived ideas about God and have them replaced with God’s revelation of himself. It’s a word of love, grace and hope, for it leads us to Jesus, and through him into relationship with God. It’s a word that, when embraced, will bring satisfaction for our souls.

A transformational word

The Scriptures quoted above also give us insight into the purpose and power of God’s word. If we begin reading the Bible at the start, then the power of God’s word shouldn’t surprise us. God speaks and life comes into existence. This was true for the creation and it is equally true for new life in relationship with God through Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:15 reveals that Scripture is able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The Bible shines a light upon Jesus Christ. He is the main topic and focal point of the Bible. Jesus is the fulfilment of all God’s promises and everyone who turns to him and trusts in him will be saved from God’s judgment and brought into relationship with God.

Expect people to be changed as they study the Bible. For some the change will be revolutionary. People will discover how God loves them, and has acted to save them. They will view the events of Jesus death and resurrection with wonder and amazement, They will humble themselves before God to accept his gift of forgiveness and life. What a wonderful reason to study the Bible in our growth groups! People entering into the joy of eternal life. And people being reminded of what they have believed and encouraged to continue their trust in Jesus.

We also see that all Scripture, not just our favourite passages, are useful for making us thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). As we study any part of the Bible there are two types of questions to be asking: i) Wise for salvation type questions; and ii) thoroughly equipped for good works type questions. To put it in other terms: How does this part of the Bible help me to understand what God has done to bring me into a relationship with himself and what should this relationship look like? This has to do with understanding and responding to the gospel of Jesus.

Our salvation has a purpose for life now. We’ve been created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God has prepared for us to do. Paul makes this clear in his letter to the Ephesians:

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10, my emphasis)

We are emphatically not saved by doing good works, as if we could ever do enough. But we are saved, through Christ Jesus, in order to do good works. God has a plan and purpose for our lives, here and now. He calls us to live as his people, to make a difference, to impact others for good, to bring blessing to those around us, to build up his people, to seek the welfare of others, to honour God. This is what the saved life is about. And notice again what Scripture does: it makes us thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17).

Why wouldn’t we study the Bible in our growth groups, when it can do this? It can lead us to Christ and equip us for life with Christ. The Bible not only has authority from God, it is sufficient to equip us for living in relationship with God. We don’t need to be seeking new and special revelations from God. He’s given us everything we need. We aren’t left to the whims of the gurus and priests. We don’t need to try and find our own way in the dark. The Bible can make us thoroughly equipped. If we believe this, then we will keep calling one another back to the Scriptures. God’s word will be a lamp for our feet and a light on our path.

How to study the Bible

The key to knowing how to study the Bible is knowing what the Bible is and what it can do. It’s the same with anything. Take dynamite: we should understand what it is, the impact it can have, handle it with care, and keep it away from unstable people with matches! Likewise, we should recognise the power of God’s word. The Bible can lead people to a saving relationship with God as they come to trust in Jesus. Scripture can fully equip people to live lives that are pleasing to God. So let’s handle it with care, with humility, with expectation.

It starts with the leader

As leaders, let’s prayerfully come before God, asking him to enable us to understand the message of the Bible, grasp it’s implications, and put it into practice in our lives. It must start with us. We lead with example and with words. If we haven’t taken the Bible seriously and applied it to our own lives, this will come across in our studies. They will be half-baked, superficial, and academic. Application will be forgotten or tacked on at the end. We should be impacted by the Bible ourselves first and foremost.

Many of us will be leading studies that have been prepared by someone else. This doesn’t excuse us from preparation and personal application in advance. Ideally, we should come to the growth group having already been profoundly impacted by the passage we will be studying. It’s not a bad idea to keep a notebook where you can write down what you have learned from the Bible, and how you plan to respond.

Engaging the group

Your job isn’t to give a sermon in your lounge room. Someone else can do that at church. We are seeking leaders who will help the members of their groups on a journey of discovery from the passage of Scripture. It’s important for people to learn how to understand and apply the Bible for themselves. We don’t want them dependent on preachers and commentaries. Growth groups provide interactive opportunities for people to get into the Bible in creative ways together.

Four elements to Bible study

Bible study begins with observing what the passage of Scripture is saying. For this we need Bibles open and we will keep encouraging people back into the text to see what it says. There are so many creative ways to do this. Don’t be limited to question and answer strategies. Take a look at the resources listed below for some excellent suggestions.
Secondly, we need to understand the message of the passage. What is it actually saying? What’s the big idea? How do the various parts support this understanding? Are there words, phrases, ideas that people don’t understand? Get the group working together to grasp the message clearly.
Thirdly, we need to grasp the implications of this part of God’s word. How does it change my understanding of God? Of Jesus? Of what it means to be a Christian? Of how I trust God in the difficult times? Of joy in the face of suffering? Of things that I can be tempted to replace God with? And so on. This is about bridging from the message of the passage to it’s implications for how I understand God, his word, and my response? Some of this work will help build our theology (our understanding of God), some with challenge our wrong ideas, some will strengthen our right understanding, some will lead to significant changes in our thinking and practice.
Lastly, and this is the goal and purpose of the Bible study, we should consider how to apply our understanding of this passage. This is what should happen in relationships. As I discover my friend loves drinking coffee, then I can offer to make him one or take him to a great coffee shop. Understanding leads to action. The beauty of studying the Bible together in groups is that we can support each other to take action. We can gently encourage each other to take the Scriptures seriously. We can pray for the changes Tom is seeking to make. We can ask God to help Jenny as she struggles to trust God in an area of her life. We can spur each other on to love and good works, because this is what the Bible study is all about. As it says in Hebrews 10:23-25:

²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Throughout the week

Most groups only meet once a week. Some meet less frequently than this. We encourage the leaders of growth groups, together with all the members of these groups, not to see things stopping and starting on a weekly basis. The Bible calls for real change, not just answering questions correctly in a study once a week. It’s about ongoing transformation. So when we see one another at church, let’s continue to encourage each other. You might ask a friend how that change they were planning to make with how they relate to their boss is going. You could send an email saying that you’re praying for them. You could offer to catch up over a cuppa and talk more about what you were learning in the group and the difference it’s making to each of your lives. Make it real!

Further reading

Colin Marshall, Growth Groups
Michael Hanlon and James Leitch, Spice it up
Rod and Karen Morris, Leading Better Bible Studies

Promoting the gospel in growth groups

Growth groups can have a tendency to focus inwardly upon themselves. Or should we say, the people in growth groups can become attached to their groups, so that the group gets all the bulk of their attention. This might be hard to believe when you first join up with a bunch of strangers, but as we get involved in each others’ lives, we can grow attached to each other. Of itself this is good, but if it leads to the neglect of others outside the group then we have a problem. Sometimes this can manifest itself with a prioritising of the group over the rest of church. But it can also mean that we forget about the needs of people outside church altogether.

I didn’t do much physics at school, but my novice understanding is that growth groups therefore have a centripetal tendency. We tend to become preoccupied with what’s going on inside the group. If so, then I suggest we also encourage a centrifugal interest among the members of our groups. We want to be concerned for what’s happening on the outside, and we want to be preparing people in our groups to live and speak as followers of Jesus outside the group.

We don’t want growth groups to be holy huddles or simply emotional support groups. They are growth groups. We want to see the members of our groups growing together in Christian maturity. This will mean following the mission of Jesus, who came to seek and to save those who are lost. It will involve promoting the gospel of Jesus in our daily lives and it will move us to prayer.

There are many ways that growth groups can focus on promoting the gospel. We’ll explore a few:

1. Prayer

²Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. ³And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

Paul asked the churches to support him in prayer. He had the responsibility of preaching Christ to the nations and he needed God’s help and people’s partnership in prayer. We can also support others in their proclamation of Jesus. Pray for the preachers and evangelists in our churches. Pray for others who are entrusted with the privilege and responsibility of making Christ known. Pray for those who are under much public scrutiny. Pray for people who are using different media, who are writing books and blogs, producing audio, video and TV, to proclaim Christ. Pray that they will be faithful, engaging, and bring honour to God. If our church supports global partners (or missionaries), or has sent people to plant new churches, then let’s uphold them in prayer.

Let’s also pray for one another in our groups, that we will live godly lives and show the difference that a relationship with Jesus can make. Pray for opportunities to do good to others and to bring blessing into people’s lives. Pray that God will open doors for us to give a reason for the hope that we have. Ask God to help us do this with gentleness and respect to others.

Maybe your group could pray for particular people outside the group. Friends of the members, family, workmates, neighbours, people we’re keen to see come to know Jesus. If your group breaks into 2s or 3s to pray, then you could pray more specifically and personally.

2. Living out the implications of the gospel during the week

People notice how we live. It matters! Who’s going to pay attention to someone who tells them that being a Christian can change their life, if they’re known by everyone as the office gossip, a liar and a cheat? Titus 2 gives us gospel motives and purpose for living lives of integrity and grace…

⁵… so that no one will malign the word of God.

⁸… so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

¹⁰… so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive.

For this reason our Bible studies should be focused on producing fruit in people’s lives. Application shouldn’t simply be tacked on when we allow enough time. It’s the whole purpose of the study. Transformed lives is what we are seeking. Not so that we can pat ourselves on the back, but for the glory of God and the welfare of others.

We should make time to get to know the members of our groups. What are their lives like? Who do they live with? What’s goes on in their workplace? What courses are they studying? Do they have any kids? What do they find tough? Who do they hang out with? What temptations do they face? Where do they think they are most on show? Let’s use our time together in growth groups to encourage one another, as it says in Hebrews 10:24-25:

²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

3. Celebrate our God-given differences

The beauty of a church and a growth group is that they’re made up of different people. We’re united in the gospel of Jesus, but we have different gifts, personalities, experiences, opportunities. God has designed it this way so that we recognise the benefits of working together. When it comes to promoting the gospel, it’s important that we don’t spend the whole time making each other feel inadequate. Perhaps John spent a recent plane trip talking with his fellow passengers about why he’s a Christian. That doesn’t mean that everyone else should be doing the same thing. Some people can’t afford plane trips! Seriously, others will be too shy to ever contemplate such a thing. Some will be better communicators than others. We’re all wired differently and we should celebrate this, rather than judging one another.

¹⁵Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. (1 Corinthians 12:15-18)

This doesn’t mean that we can’t be nudging each other along or encouraging each other to grow and change. We must. But let’s encourage transformation into the image of Christ, rather than calling everyone to conform to a particular stereotype. How many Ned Flanders do we really need!?

4. Work on a gospel project together

Perhaps your growth group could work on a project to promote the gospel. This could be an event that you each invite people to. They tend to work best when the members of the group are connected with similar people. If everyone lived in the same community, perhaps they could each invite their neighbours. Parents of the kids in the same school or sporting team could arrange an event for other parents. A group meeting in the same workplace could invite their colleagues to something in a lunch hour or after work. A common ethnic group could promote an event in their community. A common interest group could connect with others in their network. A group of people living in the same university residence have special opportunities to promote the gospel together.

Their are all sorts of events that could be used in promoting the gospel. Here are a few suggestions that I’ve participated in…

A Question & Answer event where someone answers people’s questions about Christianity. People invite friends, put on a good meal or refreshments, invite a speaker, or a panel of speakers, to answer questions. It’s very important people know clearly what they’re being invited to come to. No surprises. And don’t let the Christians dominate discussion!
An fun activity followed by short refreshments and a brief talk. If everyone is into mountain biking, perhaps go for a ride, come back for a BBQ, and have someone share why being a Christian is so important to them. Our group once held a wine tasting event at a local winery, after which I spoke about the one who turned water into wine!
A God party! You’ve heard of Tupperware and Nutrimetics parties. It’s the same idea with a few differences. The good stuff is all free. A friend of mine promoted this idea by encouraging people to take advantage of an excellent opportunity to discuss the often neglected, but important, topic of God. Heaps of people came.
A home brew evening. We have a few clever blokes in our church who make their own. They got together, put on a demo, and invited Pat Alexander (The bloke who wrote I’d love to have a beer with Duncan for Slim Dusty) to speak about the two most influential men in his life – Jesus and Duncan!
Use the collective imaginations of the people in the group to come up with your own ideas!

5. Training together

⁵Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:5-6)

¹⁵But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ( 1 Peter 3:15-16)

If someone was to ask you how you became a Christian, or what makes a Christian different to a Jew, a Hindu, or a Jehovah’s Witness, what would you say? If they asked why you go to church, or whether you pray, or what’s so important about Jesus, would you have an answer? If someone enquired why you have an eternal hope in the face of death… do you know what you want to say? The Apostles, Peter and Paul, both call us to be prepared to answer those who want to know what it’s all about. We’re encouraged to be willing and able to speak to others about what we believe.

Willingness flows from confidence in the gospel, trusting in God to be at work, and that he can use our lives and words to impact others. It’s easy to be embarrassed, or even ashamed, of the perceived weakness of our message. We need to be regularly reminded that the truth about Jesus can change people’s lives for good and forever. Ability comes from knowing what we believe and knowing people, and connecting the two in practice. Growth groups are a great environment to build confidence in God’s word and how it changes people.

A group can take incidental opportunities for equipping each other in sharing what we believe. Maybe we’re telling the group about a conversation we had at work where Christianity came up. The group could brainstorm how we might have handled it well or how we could improve. An idea might arise out of the Bible study that helps us to explain an aspect of our faith to enquirers. It’s good to highlight and reinforce these things. The Bible passage might intersect with some issues that are preventing people from taking God seriously, and the group could discuss how to over come this. People could talk together about how God has relevance to issues that we deal with day to day, so as to be better prepared when opportunities arise.

There can also be formal opportunities for training in gospel communication. If the church is providing courses or one-on-one mentoring, the leader might encourage people to participate (even if it means skipping the group for a few weeks). Maybe the growth group could set aside a few weeks from the regular studies to focus on some area of training.

6. Are people who aren’t Christian invited?

I think the short answer is “Why not?” Why wouldn’t we welcome anyone who wants to join with us, look at the Bible together, enter into life together. We don’t put bouncers on the door at church, so why would we close the doors to our groups? It could offer a wonderful opportunity to build genuine relationships and promote real discussion that will help someone come to a decision to follow Jesus.

It is important for the group to be of a common understanding of what the group is about, who it’s for and how it functions. Let everyone discuss their hopes and expectations. If you are a group of Christians, and then someone who isn’t persuaded joins with you, it will change the dynamics considerably. Not a bad thing, but we need to work with the changes. You might need to talk about whether your particular group is the best context for a friend who’s not a Christian, or whether another group might be better. If your church has special groups for those who are looking into Christianity, perhaps it would be better to go with your friend to that group for a while. Think about whether they’d be more comfortable talking things through with you, just sitting anonymously in church, joining in with the group, or something else entirely.

Remember we are talking about GROWTH groups. Our desire is to be growing followers of Jesus, through people coming to faith in Jesus Christ and growing together into maturity.

Further reading
Colin Marshall, Growth Groups, chapter 9
John Chapman, Know and tell the Gospel
Kel & Barbara Richards, Hospitality Evangelism
Dave Thurston, Making friends for life
John Dickson, Promoting the Gospel
Steve Timmis & Tim Chester, The Gospel-centered Church

Mentoring, coaching, and training

I’ve just returned from a conference called ‘Coaching the Coaches’ aimed at equipping pastors to coach other pastors involved in planting and leading churches. I picked up many things from the time together. Some of it was information to learn and digest. Some of it was method to put into practice. Some of it was encouragement to keep at the task. Some of it was relational in sharing the journey. It was all important.

At one point during the conference we appeared to get bogged down in semantics. ‘What’s the difference between coaching and mentoring and training?’ someone asked. ‘What should we be focusing on?’ ‘Which area is most important for us?’ ‘Does it really matter?’ These questions led to some helpful clarification and we moved on. No doubt you can find many definitions of these roles and tasks. Some will be distinct and some overlapping. I’m not so much interested in crisp textbook definitions, as I am to bring clarity in how we are aiming to use these strategies to support the growth group leaders in our church.

Coaching

My understanding of coaching is largely shaped by the sporting world – especially team sports. As I observe Jake White at the Brumbies, I see a coach who is focused on goals and outcomes. He’s responsible for the big picture and how the different parts fit together to make the whole. He works at directing people towards achieving desired outcomes. He helps people to identify areas of improvement or barriers to be removed.

Mentoring

The team environment instructs here also. I watch senior players getting alongside the junior players, advising, critiquing, suggesting, encouraging, playing practical jokes! The more knowledgable or experienced person invests in the next generation. Relationships are formed and powerful results can flow.

Training

Training can take a number of forms. In the professional rugby world there will be fitness trainers, strength and conditioning trainers, training camps, training drills, training timetables, team training, individual training. Training is provided so as to build the competence needed to achieve the goals. Training is about building competency and gaining the skills, tools and resources to do the job.

All these areas are important, each contribute to supporting growth group leaders in their ministries, and each are dependent on the work of the others. Without being too pedantic, we could say something like:

Mentoring is about encouraging.
Coaching is about directing.
Training is about equipping.

Our aim is to support our leaders in each of these ways. Every leader should be connected with a mentor, to encourage them in their leadership. Every mentor should be connected with a coach, to help direct and support them in their mentoring. All leaders, mentors, and coaches should have access to trainers and training to equip them for their ministries.

Here’s a model of what this could look like in practice:

Coach 1 —>
—> Mentor A —> Leader a, Leader b, Leader c
—> Mentor B —> Leader d, Leader e, Leader f
—> Mentor C —> Leader g, Leader h, Leader i

Coach 2 —>
—> Mentor D —> Leader j, Leader k, Leader l
—> Mentor E —> Leader m, Leader n, Leader o
—> Mentor F —> Leader p, Leader q, Leader r

Coaches aim to catch up with their mentors at least once a term, to guide them in their ministry of mentoring each of the leaders. If the mentors are also growth group leaders then there will be a strong mentoring element to these meetings also.

Coaches are equipped by a pastor or director of the growth groups ministry, so that they are clear on expectations and the direction this ministry should take. They will draw on resources, books and training material to assist them to develop as coaches.

Here’s a timetable of meetings to facilitate these goals:

Once a term all growth group leaders, mentors and coaches meet together for vision meeting. These meetings may include: input on upcoming Bible talk/study series; direction on key goals for groups in the upcoming term; info on particular ministry plans for groups; and prayer together.

At least once a term, the director meets with all coaches; coaches meet with all mentors; and mentors meet with leaders and co-leaders. These meetings could take place in small groups or one-to-one. As relationships grow, it is hoped that people will desire to meet more often.

Here’s some specific training strategies for equipping leaders:

Apprenticing
Encourage all growth group leaders to find core members to prepare for future growth group leadership. Involve them in leadership, providing practical experience of ministry, support, advice, feedback. Encourage them to read some helpful resources.

Training courses
Encourage apprentice leaders to participate in a targeted training course for growth group leaders. This could be ‘Growth Groups’ or ‘Spice it Up’. Offer this course over a few weeks in third or fourth term, with the aim of having potential leaders to begin in the new year.

Turbo training
When leaders find themselves ill-equipped for their roles offer to bridge the gap. Consider a two workshop intensive course that focuses i) on leading better Bible studies; and ii) on pastoral leadership of growth groups.

Access to resources
Provide books, courses, materials, articles that will encourage and equip growth group leaders. This Leaders Toolkit is being designed for this purpose!

The purpose of growth groups

Small groups in churches go by a range of different names, such as home groups, cell groups, community groups, connect groups, Bible study groups, fellowship groups, gospel groups… even growth groups. What is the purpose of a growth group? And is it distinct from any of the other groups?

The first thing to say is that something’s name doesn’t always correspond to its purpose. I’ve belonged to study groups that have had lots of fun drinking coffee and playing pool but have had very little to do with study! You can join a fellowship group for the purpose of fellowship and then discover that everyone in the group has a different understanding of fellowship. Are gospel groups just for people looking into the gospel? Are Bible study groups purely about Bible study? What about prayer? And discussion? And food?!

It seems that our task is to work out what purpose we want groups to have and then shape them around this purpose. Our church has gone with the name ‘growth groups’ for a couple of reasons. The first is that we see our small group ministry fitting into a pathway of church involvement. It goes like this:

Connect —> Grow —> Serve

Our desire is to see people connected to God through the good news of Jesus Christ. We’re also keen for people to build real connections with each other centred on fellowship with God. This starts as people come along to church and get involved in one of our weekly congregations. But it doesn’t stop here. Real connections are developed as people engage with each other in meaningful relationships. People grow as they learn from God’s word and apply it in their lives. Growth groups provide an important context for people to grow together in living out the implications of the gospel. As people grasp the gospel more and more, so they will be moved to serve God and others with the gifts God has given them. At the risk of oversimplifying something that is not simple, our pathway corresponds to these three areas of involvement:

Church —> Growth Group —> Ministry Team

The second reason we’ve opted for the name ‘growth groups’ is that it highlights the purpose of transformation and changed lives in our groups. We don’t want ‘inertia’ groups, ‘atrophy’ groups, or ‘static’ groups! Our goal is for people to grow together as they share in God’s word. Growth focuses on outcomes, not simply inputs. A Bible study group can be committed to inwardly digesting the Scriptures, but give no evidence of any fruit of change in people’s lives. The purpose of our groups is to produce change in people and change in our church as we grow together in the likeness of Christ.

What I’ve stated indicates that the purpose of our growth groups is in step with the purpose of our church. They run in parallel. So why add growth groups within the church? The answers are mainly pragmatic. Growth groups have certain advantages.

Learning from the Bible

In a growth group, learning from the Bible is a relational experience. We explore together, discuss together, question one another, disagree from time to time, help each other, learn together, and push each other to apply what we’ve learned. It’s a very different dynamic from either personal Bible reading or listening to a sermon. More time can be given to the ‘how did you come up with that idea’ question. Our methods of reading, interpretation, and application are on view. We can help hone each others’ abilities in handling the Bible well. Application can become more focused, specific and targeted. We can help one another follow up on our commitments to change. And we can pray specifically that we will be transformed by what we learn.

Educational advantages

People learn in a variety of ways and a growth group is better equipped to accommodate these differences than a sermon. A key factor of groups is that people get to talk – to verbalise their ideas – and this helps them to distil what they’re learning. Getting ideas out in the open allows the opportunity for the group to be involved in fine tuning, correcting, or even total changing a person’s mind. Whereas a sermon should (hopefully) remain on topic, groups can agree to follow helpful and fruitful tangents.

Prayer

We’re keen for our growth groups to be places of prayer. Not cursory ‘opening and closing’ prayers, but the group coming together before God our Father, bringing their requests to him. Such prayers can be shaped by the Bible passages we’ve been studying. They can openly reflect what’s going on in people’s live. They can focus on supporting particular people and ministries (such as a missionary linked to the group). Growth groups are a good opportunity to model prayer and encourage prayerfulness among the members. And it’s very encouraging to follow up on answers to prayer.

Improving your serve

A large church can be overwhelming at times. Maybe it seems like everything is under control and your contribution isn’t needed. The reality is usually the exact opposite, but it’s not always easy to see where to start. Growth groups are a good place to begin because the needs are more apparent and you don’t need to ask too many questions to work out how to respond. You could lead a study, organise a meals roster, offer hospitality to others, visit a sick member, offer to read the Bible or pray with someone, arrange a social outing and more. These groups are are a good way to get practice in different ministry areas and you can make it purposeful by asking your leader for support, advice and feedback.

Promoting the gospel

Our desire is for people to hear the great news about Jesus and respond by trusting him with their lives. God uses us to share the message and to live it out. We’re keen for every member of the church to be engaged in promoting the gospel as they have opportunity. Growth groups can support this happening in a number of ways. The most obvious is that we can be praying regularly for people. We can keep asking God to save our family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, and others. We can also encourage one another to make the most of the opportunities that come our way. The group could consider organising an event to share the good news of Jesus. In some cases, we might even have the opportunity to welcome enquirers into our groups so that can learn and observe what it means to be Christian.

A growing pastoral network

Many churches view their pastor as the ‘hired gun’. It’s his job to run the church, teach the Bible, reach the lost, nurture the new believer, be the caretaker, visit the sick, resolve conflicts, and… pretty much do anything else that needs doing! Who’d sign up? This is a very unbiblical picture of church and it’s a guaranteed recipe for burning out pastors and stopping church growth. By contrast the New testament envisages the church as a body where each part works together for the sake of the whole.

¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
(Ephesians 4:15-16)

Growth groups provide smaller relational environments that enable more personal interaction between people. We get to discover what’s going on in each other’s lives. We listen and talk and share ideas and thoughts and questions. We can ask each other for help. We can offer encouragement. We can carry each other’s burdens. This is more than a microcosm of social welfare. It’s the opportunity to put God’s word into practice in our lives with each other.

Little church – big church

The bottom line is our growth groups are church. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. (Matthew 18:20) People are gathered together with God and each other, centred on the Bible, responding in prayer, encouraging and spurring one another on to good works. Whatever guidance the Scriptures give us on church, we’d do well to apply to growth groups. Spiritually speaking growth groups are church.

However, it would be a mistake to see growth groups as independent churches. They are dependent and interdependent on other relationships. These groups are a subset of a bigger church. They share relationship with other groups that are also subsets of the church. The church has a vision for ministry that is supported and activated by the growth groups. They need each other. The church leadership should be committed to strengthening and encouraging growth groups to fulfil their purpose. Growth groups should be committed to contributing to the whole church fulfilling its purpose. Little church and big church – working together for God’s glory.

Further reading
Colin Marshall, Growth Groups
Andy Stanley & Bill Willits, Creating Community

Growth group leaders bibliography

Every tradie needs their tools. Good tools make it so much easier to do a job well. Imagine trying to cut wood with a blunt saw that’s been left out in the rain, or snipping electrical wires with a pair of kitchen scissors, or trying to mix concrete in your bathtub. Growth group leaders need good tools too. Our trade is dealing with the Word of God and people, so here’s a few useful tools.

1. A Bible

You can’t do without this one. We’re on about knowing God through his word so, unless you’ve got your own special divine broadband network, you’ll need a Bible! It usually helps if most people are reading from the same translation, so you might want to get a feel for what others in your group are reading. There are many good up-to-date English versions available. Try the New International Version, the English Standard Version, or the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

2. A Study Bible or Reference Bible

These are useful tools for helping you prepare studies. Reference Bibles contain cross-references which assist you in chasing themes around the Bible and discovering Old Testament background to New Testament ideas. Study Bibles go a step further and include commentary on verses and background articles on books of the Bible and selected topics. The ESV Study Bible is probably the most comprehensive around.

BUT, I don’t recommend you use a Study Bible when you lead studies because you don’t want people to think you’ve got the Leaders Version with Complete Cheat Notes. The idea is to learn together from the Bible, not someone’s commentary on the Bible.

3. New Bible Dictionary

A good quality Bible dictionary is an excellent tool for getting background and details on the Scriptures. The New Bible Dictionary contains articles on every book of the Bible, names, places, themes and ideas. If you need to research further, these articles are a good starting point, and refer you to other works.

4. New Bible Commentary

The New Bible Commentary is the companion volume to the dictionary. This is a one volume commentary on every chapter in the Bible. Written by authors who respect the authority of the Bible, it can help you to get a handle on the big picture, or grapple with difficult ideas.

There are a number of good books available that will help you as you develop as a leader. A few are summarised and reviewed on this site. Check out some of these:

5. Spice it up

This is a great book for all growth group leaders. Its strength is in getting people into the Bible in creative ways that help them to deeply engage with God’s word for their lives. The book is strictly a course manual, but there is enough in it to pick up the gist if you can’t access a training course.

6. Growth Groups

The name says it. This is the basic text book for growth group ministry. It breaks down the different aspects of group life and address topics such as Bible study, prayer, developing leaders, outreach, group dynamics and more. Great for all leaders and very helpful for mentors.

7. Leading Better Bible Studies

This book in grounded in the Bible, while being very practical. It draws from theological study and adult education theory, to help leaders to creatively approach Bible study and build good group interaction. Coaches and mentors will also find this an excellent resource.

8. Gospel centered leadership

Growth group leadership is part of a bigger picture of Christian leadership. You can read this book personally, but it may have greater benefit if you discuss it with others, such as your mentor, peer leaders or an apprentice leader in your group.

9. The Trellis and the Vine

It’s too easy become caught up with organisation and structures – even organising growth groups – so that we lose sight of the purpose of meeting. This excellent resource reminds us to keep focused on the ministry of the word, training one another in godliness, and growing in relationship with God.

10. Sticky Church

An inspiring book, containing many encouraging suggestions for organising groups, training leaders and keeping groups at the heart of church life. Sermon-based Bible studies are advocated, with the main purpose of encouraging participation and application in groups.

11. Creating Community

The emphasis of this material is on relationships and creating community and it provides a helpful complement to the Bible input from some of the books above. This is a useful book for pastors or directors of growth group ministries to consider as they evaluate and review the ministry.

Mentoring growth group leaders

Everyone needs encouragement. It’s pretty tough doing a job on your own without the support of others spurring you along. Growth group leaders are no different. They require training and resources, but they also depend on encouragement. In a church with many leaders, no one person can be relied upon to provide all the encouragement. We trust it will come from a number of sources. God’s Word is our primary source of inspiration. We look to the members of each group to not only support one another, but also their leaders. Co-leaders can meet and pray and share together about their group. Fellow leaders can catch up and support each other in their roles as leaders. A pastor can catch up with leaders here and there to enquire about how they’re travelling and suggest ways ahead. All this can happen quite naturally without any planning or any specific structures being put into place. However, the truth is it usually doesn’t!

Our plan is for every growth group leader to be able to meet up with a mentor (or coach) to encourage them in their ministry. We will arrange a meeting once a term where all the leaders get together, but we are also depending on purposeful mentoring relationships being established. Mentors should aim to connect with the other leaders at least once a term, ideally face-to-face, to share together in different areas.

Sometimes we can get stuck in wondering what to talk about when we meet with others. How’re you doing? Good. How’s the group? Oh, it’s okay. What’ve you been studying? The same as everyone else! Need any help? Nah, I’ll be all right. Well, I’ll see you next time. Okay!

We can do a lot better! I suggest five areas to give you focus each time you meet together. To keep it memorable, you might want to think about each area as one finger!

1. Passage

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

At the heart of all ministry is the Word of God. God speaks and gives life. He cuts deeply within us to transform us into the likeness of his Son, Jesus. Our growth groups are focused upon the Scriptures because we desire to see change in people’ lives. For the same reason, we want to shape our mentoring times by opening God’s word together. This isn’t the place for a detailed Bible study together, but we do want to hear from God each time we meet.

There are many different approaches we could take to looking at the Bible in our mentoring meetings. Here are a few suggestions:

Choose a few verses that have stood out in your recent Bible studies and share what they have meant to you.
Choose one of the pastoral letters (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus), take a few verses at a time, and reflect together on what you learn about Christian leadership.
Read through one stanza of Psalm 119 each time you meet and share any new insights into God’s word.
Take a short New Testament book, such as Philippians or James, read a few verses each time to encourage each other.

2. Personal

¹²Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

¹⁵Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. ¹⁶Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:12; 15-16)

Leadership involves teaching in word and example. We’re called to walk the talk or stumble the mumble, as I heard recently! Mentors should take an interest in the lives and teaching of their leaders, but we can’t expect people to do what we’re not prepared to do. This means that mentors also need to be open about themselves. Each mentor meeting should allow time to share together about ourselves. This might be a little awkward at first, but will become easier as our relationships grow.

It’s helpful not to be prescriptive about what you discuss together. Some weeks there might be a big issue that takes most of the time. Other weeks there may be very little to discuss. Here are a few suggestions to get you going:

Get to know a little about each other’s lives – family, work, interests, etc.
Share together about how you became Christians.
Is there something you’ve been really encouraged with recently?
Is there something you’re finding hard?
How are you finding being a leader in the group?

3. Pastoral

Growth groups are about more than Bible study. They’re about the lives of the members of the group. It’s important that we recognise that everyone is different and that God is in the business of working in each person differently. This means we need to think specifically about individuals. Mentors can encourage their leaders to show an active interest in each member of the group. One way to do this is simply asking what they have observed.

Our greatest desire is for every member of our groups to know and love God, to place their trust firmly in Jesus, and to look forward to the hope of heaven. We want to spur the members of our groups on to love and good works, that God has prepared for them to do. This means a leader is rather like a Christian ‘coach’ urging the members of the team forward.

Mentors can help this to happen. We can discuss and pray about the people in our groups. As we do this, it’s important to be motivated by love. There is absolutely no excuse for gossip. We need to respect confidentiality. Many times we can talk productively without even needing to mention specific names or details.

Sometimes there will be people in our groups with very great needs. They could be very ill, going through a marriage break up, struggling with depression, out of work, having a crisis of faith, or struggling with other serious matters. This may be beyond the capacity of the group or its leaders to deal with on their own. The mentor may be able to assist by linking the leaders with the wider support of the church, or other resources.

Two books that will assist you to think pastorally about the members of the group are Mission Minded by Peter Bolt, and The Trellis and the Vine by Tony Payne and Colin Marshall.

4. Practical

It takes skill and practice to lead a group well. While we don’t expect mentors to necessarily be trainers, we do want them to encourage their leaders to keep getting better at their ministry. There could even be times when a mentor and leader will undertake a training course or refresher together.

A browse through the contents pages of Leading Better Bible Studies by Rod and Kaen Morris, or Growth Groups by Col Marshall, will highlight a number of aspects to group life worth exploring together. And reading the chapters will give you plenty to discuss! Further, we are aiming to produce a range of papers on this site to assist you with improving your small group leadership. Matthias Media has also started a monthly Home Group Leaders Digest which should offer some helpful ideas.

We’re looking to mentors to take the initiative in encouraging leaders to develop as leaders. Ask questions, be specific. For example:

What aspects of preparing or leading a Bible study do you find most difficult?
Why do some studies work better than others?
What do you think is stopping the group from opening up in prayer times?
How do you think social activities could help the group to click together?
What plans do you have for the term ahead?
Have you considered any ways that the group could serve the church together? What?

One area of practical consideration and long term importance is equipping new leaders. We are keen to be apprenticing leaders within our groups by giving them opportunities to lead and work through issues of leadership. If we don’t do this, then we won’t grow. Mentors can take a role in encouraging the leaders in their task of developing new leaders:

Have they identified people who could be potential leaders? Who?
What are the leaders doing with their apprentices? (e.g. preparing studies together, praying for members of the group, reflecting and planning together, following up members of the group one-to-one)
Have they encouraged their apprentice to participate in a training course, read some helpful books, come to a leaders meeting?

5. Prayer

⁵What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ⁹For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)

Without God we can do nothing. We can’t make a person trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus for their salvation. We can’t fill a person with love for others. We can’t save a person from the judgment of God. We can’t guarantee their future for all eternity. BUT God can… and more! So we are to rely on him, call out to him, ask him to be actively working in our lives and the members of our groups.

As mentors meet with their leaders, so we want them to pray. Together, humbly, asking God to be graciously at work. Allow the time to speak together with God, not as an afterthought, but as the most practical use of your time together. God loves to hear our prayers and he is more willing to bless us with answers than we are to ask him our questions.

Leading better Bible studies

Leading Better Bible Studies: Essential skills for effective small groups by Rod and Karen Morris is a compendium of valuable information on small groups ministry. The authors draw together a wealth of material acquired through theological training, adult education study, and years of practical experience leading Bible study groups. There’s much more to Leading Better Bible Studies than teaching us how to lead better Bible studies, but the Bible is clearly central to the whole agenda. This book is intended to assist leaders to ensure their groups are about helping people (i) grow in their relationships with God, (ii) become more like Jesus, and (iii) experience the joy of doing this in relationship with others.

A strength of this book is its balance. Good small group leadership requires people to build biblically-shaped competence in a range of areas. Leading Better Bible Studies outlines seven areas important areas for leadership development. While the book follows a logical sequence, any chapter can be dipped into at any stage.

1. Being a Christian leader

The assumption is that leaders are men and women seeking to know God and serve him in their role as leaders. They must be Christians who trust in the saving work of the Lord Jesus. Leaders are not called primarily to impart their own wisdom, but to help the members of the group grow in their knowledge and love of God through studying the Bible. This will require leaders to focus on Christ, depend on the power of God’s Spirit, delve deeply into the Scriptures, pray humbly, teach in word and example, and call people to change in the light of God’s word.

2. Helping people learn

The main task of the leader is seen to be helping people learn from the Bible. This will, in turn, shape all the other ministry in the group. This takes diligence in understanding the Scriptures and it also requires the leader to understand how people people learn and how we can assist people to learn.

The content of our teaching is so important that we must use the best possible methods to enable people to learn. (p2)

Rod and Karen apply their understanding of adult learning principles and the adult learning cycle to enable leaders to suitably connect with the variety of people in their groups. They show how people learn through stages, but also how individuals have a preference for particular stages of the cycle. Activists tend to focus on the challenge of something new and fresh. They love the ‘doing’ part of learning. Reflectors take more time to reflect and consider how things relate. They look for patterns, connections and explore things from different perspectives. These people tend to take more time to come to their conclusions. Theorists are more into formulating explanations and developing principles. They’re keen to draw everything together into coherent unity. Pragmatists are keen to get to the point where the ‘rubber hits the road’. Recognising the different stages and preferences for learning can assist the leader to engage all members of the group better and, hopefully, help the pragmatists not to get so frustrated with the theorists!

3. Learning from the Bible in groups

This is the longest chapter in the book and focuses upon the leader’s central task. It looks to develop skills in handling the Bible, both personally and in the group. The foundations of understanding Scripture in its context are well presented here. We’re encouraged to look at the detail in each passage, within the overall theology of the whole Bible. Three aspects are developed in studying the Bible:

(i) observation – what does the text actually say?
(ii) interpretation – what does the text mean?
(iii) application – how do we respond to what the text means?

This chapter is a treasure chest of strategies for doing Bible study in our groups. It helps us to get beyond the boring Q and A approach of so many studies, and explore creative means of learning together from the Bible. They are designed to help people learn from the Bible and not simply discover what’s in the head of the leader! There are 21 different approaches to Bible study outlined here, each with an example study to share.

4. Developing group life

Many of us will have had superb experiences of small groups, along with others we’re still trying to forget. This chapter focuses on the ‘people’ side of our groups and how to develop groups that really work. It’s highly practical, dealing with issues such as group size, when and where you meet, developing mutual expectations of the group, building trust, sharing responsibilities, good communication, celebrating milestones, and more. Groups go through life cycles and good preparation enables the group to navigate these well. They require attention to task and maintenance functions. Finishing groups well can be as important as starting them well. If you’re looking for a range of activities to help people in your group get to know each other, this chapter offers you another 24 great ideas!

5. Helping people pray

Prayer is often emphasised in theory in Bible study groups, yet neglected in practice. We know of groups which run out of time and have only a perfunctory prayer to open and close the meeting; of others which never move beyond the mundane and superficial; and of still others where only one or two people pray, while everyone else remains silent. (p151)

I suspect many of us have been involved in groups that struggle to pray. The strength of this chapter is that it offers practical steps to model, teach and encourage people in our groups to pray. And it needs to begin with the leader.

6. Sustaining group members

A good Bible study leader will seek to look after the members of their group. They will care for each person with regard to their relationship with God, and what’s going on in their lives. They will seek to equip the group to build one another through God’s word and loving service. This requires more than simply preparing a study and opening our homes each week. It requires perseverance and hard work, understanding of people, good communication skills, capacity to work through and resolve conflicts, and more. But it also requires a healthy grasp of the limits of our responsibility. Ultimately, the people in the group are God’s responsibility, not yours. Therefore there are limits to your accountability. (p188) A healthy reminder!

7. Continuing as a leader

How do we keep leaders fresh and willingly serving God in this ministry for the long haul? The book finishes with some more practical wisdom. Refreshment is key to doing anything long term. People need change, variety and breaks. While they may no longer need basic training, they may benefit greatly from ongoing encouragement and support. Supervision, peer mentoring, personal reflections and self-appraisal are all useful tools for developing leaders.

Rod and Karen suggest focusing on the person, the people, and the process. These three areas are all important for healthy leaders and healthy groups. They include a few pages of questions and ideas that could be used either personally, or by a supervisor who is encouraging another leader (p195-8).

Leading Better Bible Studies finishes with a list of resources on a range of topics related to each of the chapters. These are good resources, but it would be useful to update them to include materials written since the first printing of the book in 1997.

I’ve worked through this book on a number of occasions previously. It’s been my ‘textbook’ for teaching courses on leading Bible studies. Along with other books, such as Growth Groups, it’s been a ‘reference guide’ for equipping myself and others to lead. Our church is implementing a strategy of coaching and mentoring for our growth group leaders. My hope is for every coach to be familiar with this book, so they are better equipped to support the leaders under their care.

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