Last week while leading a small group conference session on "Building Real Community" I mentioned the 80/20 rule. That is, in a healthy small group, the group should do about 80 percent of the talking while the leader should talk...
Category: Facilitating Discussion
Facilitating Discussion
What Small Group Leaders Can Learn from Great Preachers About Facilitating Dynamic Discussions
As small group leaders, we can learn how to lead vibrant, life-changing groups from a variety of sources, and we should always be looking to learn more. Why? Because God uses what we do to transform lives and grow his...
Facilitating Discussion
Top 10 Ways to Stifle Discussion in Your Small Group
As you lead your small group, use these 10 simple tips for suppressing sharing from members:Infuse words like regeneration, justification, and eschatology into the discussion as much as possible.Interject names such as Polycarp, Bonhoeffer and, yes, even Warren and Lucado.Be serious all the time. Since...
Facilitating Discussion
The Incredible Opportunity of “I Don’t Know”
The editor at SmallGroups.com recently posted on Facebook, "Get comfortable with these three words: 'I don't know.' You don't need to know all the answers, but offer to find out." I agree with that good advice, but I'd take it one...
Discipling, Facilitating Discussion
Top 10 Ways to Take Your Small Group Deeper!
Subgroup into smaller groups of 2-4 for deeper sharing during application or prayer.Divide the sexes. Split up the men and women for portions of the study of for prayer and accountability.Meet between meetings. Guys or gals go out to breakfast...
Facilitating Discussion
Why Didn’t You Warn Me?
"Leading a small group isn't easy," says my friend Pat Sikora. "It seems that more people are more wounded than ever before," and it seems most of them are in our small groups! That's why, when I was developing a new...
Facilitating Discussion
The End is Near!
I came across the following video on Alan Danielson's blog. I agree with Alan: this is a great example of a bad small group experience. The End Times from Renaissance Church on Vimeo. What needs to happen to save this group?
Facilitating Discussion, Small Group Leaders
Transcendence in Healthy Groups
One key to a healthy small group has to do with transcendence--an understanding that some things in life are bigger than yourself, like God, values, an organization's mission, policies, the community, etc. This transcendence affects a small group in at...
Facilitating Discussion
The “Right Person” to Lead a Small Group
This morning I received an email from a potential leader who stated she does not know if she's the "right person" to lead a small group. This is a common response to being called to lead. I find the issue...
Facilitating Discussion
Jim Lehrer on How to Lead a Small Group Discussion
One day as I was listening to The Dennis Miller Radio Show, the aforementioned Mr. Miller was interviewing Jim Lehrer about what it takes to moderate a political debate. Here are two simple techniques that we as small group leaders can...