TechPastor.net

My small group started up again after our winter break and I was reminded of a challenging time I had when we were first starting our small group ministry at CCV. What I call a “no show night.” If your are a group leader at your church you know exactly what I am talking about. You have a meeting scheduled, you have cleaned your house, spent a few hours preparing, and nobody (or only a few) actually shows up for your small group.

It can be quite challenging to stay motivated as a leader when this repeatedly happens. It really is unavoidable, especially when you are just starting as a group. People have lives outside of your small group, birthdays, jobs, family stuff, vacations, and other unexpected life events.

When this happens, a group leader can’t help but wonder: is there something wrong with me? Am I preparing lessons that are lame? Does my coffee taste bad? Am I just boring? Do I talk to much and dominate the discussion? Do I not know enough about the Bible to answer questions?

Let me take a sec and answer these question for you:

• There is nothing wrong with you.
• Your lessons may not be perfect and that is ok.
• Your coffee is fine (although Dunkin Donuts is still a favorite of mine).
• If you talk too much your coach should have told you already.
• You don’t need to be a Bible scholar to lead, just be yourself

So what are we supposed to do when only one or two people show up?

VIEW IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY

This has happened in my group more that once. It actually happened last Tuesday. Over half of my group couldn’t make it due to sick kids or other circumstances and we always view it as a chance to get to know others in our group more intimately. We ended up making a last minute change and went out to dinner at a new local restaurant that had just opened down the street.

However, if this is a regular occurrence in your small group there are a few things you should consider:

• Have I called my group members from time to time and attempted to stay relationally connected?
• Does my group do more than just a Bible study? If not, you should probably consider regularly scheduling some social time.
• Do my group members share responsibility for the meeting? If not, you should probably assign others some tasks – leading the study, bringing food, organizing childcare, etc.

When we went out with the few that made it this week we had a really great time. We laughed, our kids had fun, and I learned some things about some people in my group that I may not have ever found out had we not had that time together.

So the next time you have just a few group members show up, view it as an opportunity!

To read more about small group ministry visit http://www.smallgrouphelp.com/