Hello Grow Together leaders, I hope you had an awesome Easter weekend!
While I realize that many of you were at the Leader Huddle a few weeks ago I wanted to recap some of the information we talked through to make sure we are on the same page.
As you probably know, Brian Talty came and shared with us and I am hoping to capture a follow-up from that for next week’s post. In the mean time, here are some things I want to remind you of.
REST OF SCHOOL YEAR
We will not have a group study to go along with our series in April and May. In light of that, I want to remind you that you all have access to Rightnow Media. There are some great studies on there. You can find them at https://www.rightnowmedia.org If you’d like some suggestions, please let me know, or if you are looking for a study outside of Rightnow Media, please let me know. I’m here to help!!!!
SUMMER
Most groups take a break from their normal routine during the summer. While I realize that some groups are able to continue to meet, for many of us, our rhythms change enough that it makes it difficult to meet on a regular basis. Honestly, I think taking a break can be a healthy thing too. Not only does it honor people’s schedules, but it can make them more eager to jump back in in September.
Having said that, it is very important to not completely drift away from your group during the summer. You still need to gather. You still need to pray for and care for one another. So, with that in mind, I would encourage you to begin thinking about summer now. As a group, answer questions about how often you will gather, where and when. I would highly encourage you to put those things on your calendar now. Otherwise, you will get to the end of August and wonder what happened to your group. I know that might sound crazy, but that is exactly what happened with our small group last summer.
If you are looking for a guideline, I would suggest a once a month social gathering coupled with a weekly email check in. Please don’t take that as a requirement. Just a thought.
FALL
You may have heard that our Family Ministry is making a shift in the fall to using a curriculum called the “Gospel Project”. As they launch this in the fall, the church will be joining them for a 4 week series. So, for four weeks the entire church will be studying the same thing. Pretty cool Huh? We will also have an adult small group/class curriculum to go along with those 4 weeks. More to come on that.
The last 3 years, we have partnered with a number of churches in our community for a series in the fall, and used a common curriculum for small groups and classes. We will be doing that again this fall, only it will happen in October (right after the Gospel Project series) instead of September. For the time being we are still working on topics for this series. More to come about that in the weeks ahead.
Well, thank you again for your taking the time to read this. As always, please let me know if you need anything! Have a wonderful week!
Thanks, JG
As I mentioned at the Leader Huddle and two weeks ago on the blog, we will be beginning the ministry year with a 4 week study on the book of Genesis. We would love for each small group and class to join us in these studies for the next four weeks. This study is intended to be used following this weekend’s sermon.
Ever had someone in your group try to dominate the discussion? If not, I’m a little jealous of you. If so, welcome to the club. In light of that, I came across this article that addresses “Group Dominators”. Whether you have one or not, I would recommend taking a couple minutes to read this and think through how it might strengthen your conversations in group or class.
