Here are 24 icebreaker questions and activities I’ve written over the years that you can choose from. (Tip: save or print this for future use!) How are you “lighting up” your home for Christmas? Who is in charge of the lights and other decorations? Any special traditions? ❄   ❄   ❄ What are your expectations this Christmas? What are …

Small Group Leadership TIPS of the past week as Tweeted, posted on the Small Group Leadership Facebook page, and posted on LinkedIn. *     *     *     *     *     *     * Monday, 12/7: Use this season strategically to make a difference in the environment in which God has placed you. Tuesday, 12/8: Remember that nothing that happens in the world surprises God. …

For years I’ve been following Jim Egli. His books, blogs, and brotherly love have influenced my own views toward groups, discipleship, and ministry in general. I recently read a post Jim wrote that I believe could have a profound effect on churches, if it gets into the right hands. With Jim’s permission, I’m sharing here his “4 Reasons Why Every …

I’m a big fan of today’s guest blogger. I’ve known his dad, Kent Odor, who we affectionately call Small Group “Yoda,” for years, and he’s been a great encourager, mentor, friend, and coworker. His son Micah has the same kind of traits. Micah has made it a regular practice to sit in on workshops I’ve led at various events, and …

Small Group Leadership TIPS of the past week as Tweeted, posted on the Small Group Leadership Facebook page, and posted on LinkedIn. *     *     *     *     *     *     * Monday, 11/30: Be (way) more concerned about how much people change than how much they know. Prepare accordingly. Tuesday, 12/1:  If you’re hosting, facilitating, shepherding, emailing, + discipling… you’re not sharing …

It was about this time 20 years ago—the fall of 1995—that I started a new ministry from my basement in Cincinnati, Ohio. For a couple of years I had considered developing a national magazine for small group leaders, and I even had an offer from the preeminent small group ministry of that time to publish it—in due time. As I …

Small Group Leadership TIPS of the past week as Tweeted, posted on the Small Group Leadership Facebook page, and posted on LinkedIn. *     *     *     *     *     *     * Monday, 11/23: Each day this week, send a letter or email or call group mbrs to #thank them for what they bring to the group. Tuesday, 11/24: Thank your #church leaders: …

GUEST POST by Jay Daniell, Small Group Network, jay@smallgroupnetwork.com; @jaydaniell *     *     *     *     *     * As the small group point person in your church, there is no need to stand alone. Around the turn of the century, God moved in me as a volunteer to launch small groups in …

Small Group Leadership TIPS of the past week as Tweeted, posted on the Small Group Leadership Facebook page, and posted on LinkedIn. *     *     *     *     *     *     * Monday, 11/16: Do you feel free? Forgiven? Loved? Do you have peace? This affects your leadership. Talk to God abt it 2day. Tuesday, 11/17: Be radically, irrationally different, as a ldr …

GUEST POST by Joel Comiskey, Ph.D., president of www.joelcomiskeygroup.com. *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *   I really wanted John to replace me as the small group point person. He was knowledgeable, talented, friendly, and likable. He was a good friend and always positive. But he was the wrong guy. Why? He just wasn’t FAT. Or better, he …