COMMUNITY GROUP TRAINING

A. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF COMMUNITY GROUPS? We believe that spiritual growth happens best in the context of meaningful

and authentic relationships. We believe that as our church grows LARGER it also needs to grow

SMALLER How can a church grow large yet maintain close friendships? Through

Community Groups… Biblical support for Community Groups:

Acts 5:42- “They met day after day, in the Temple courts and from house to house.”Acts 20:20- “You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.”Hebrews 10:25- “….not 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.

B. COMMUNITY GROUPS PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR:- Learning God’s word- Authentic and meaningful relationships- Praying together- Caring for others needs- Worship and praise to God- Personal and Communal Growth

Acts 2:42-47- “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

C. COMMUNITY GROUP STRUCTURE: a. Fall 2014 Session- Mid September- Mid December (3 months)

Meet Ups- Random times, locations, and days (Lunch, Mommy & Me, Missions, Society Connect Events, Family, ect)

Community Dinners (Set time and day, once a month) Society University- 2 week Intro to the church and faith in community Community Groups- Focused on bible study, prayer, relationships and

spiritual development (Weekly or bi-weekly) Leadership Collective- Focused on spiritual, personal and leadership

development & serving the church. (Meets monthly, works weekly)

D. BASIC PEOPLE GATHERING TIPS- i. Start off with at least 1 other committed person to the group.

ii. Utilize Personal Invitation with clear information. The more personal the invitation the better.

iii. Follow Up, Email/text Reminders, create a facebook group pageiv. Have other people help (bring food, help lead, bring a friend, ect).v. The group should be around 3-12 people. If it gets larger it may be time

to multiply, if its smaller than 3 it may be time to re-asses facilitating and being a participant in another Community Group.

vi. Develop a core 1-3 people to share in leadership, hosting, facilitating, follow up, ect.

E. BASIC HOSTING- Clean, provide some food and drink, have chairs/space for people to sit.

F. BASIC FACILITATION- 90min- You don’t need to talk/teach as much as help get others talking and discussing and engaging. (Ask specific people specific questions, create a safe environment for sharing)

i. 10 min. Connect Time (Introduce people to each other, have some food out), make people feel welcome and connected.

ii. 10min. Intro Time (Make sure you all know each others names, highs & lows of the week or ice-breaker question)

iii. 20min of Content (Teaching, Video, Reading, ect)iv. 30min of Discussion (Questions, Comments, ect)v. 20min of Prayer/Hang Time (Prayer Requests, Prayer Time, Hang Out,

Post Connection)

G. BASIC DISCIPLESHIP- Less about learning more about modeling and following. Who is following you? How can you include people into your everyday life and into helping you amidst the Community Group Leadership. Facilitation, Snacks, Hosting, Follow Up.

H. BASIC DUPLICATION AND MULTIPLICATION- No “Holy Huddles” of the “Frozen Chosen” allowed. Personal Growth is the goal, personal growth causes communal growth.

i. First Step- Identify someone that you think would be a good group Leader. This may be someone that others seem to like or listen to, it may be someone that seems to have good leadership skills, or it may be someone that has been in a Community Group before. (In some cases you may be partnered with someone to train by a Society Church staff pastor)

ii. Second Step- Ask that person if they would be willing to co-lead a session with you the following week. (1-2 weeks),

iii. Third Step- Co-lead the group together and follow up with them and evaluate their performance. Ask them if they would feel comfortable with leading the 4th or 5th week on their own.

iv. Fourth Step- Have your co-leader, lead on their own. Help them if they get stuck and evaluate their performance.

I. BASIC PLANNING- Using wisdom in planningi. Purpose/Passion (Why are we doing this?)- Is there a good reason?

ii. People Power (Who will help?)- Are there people to help me?iii. Plan/Strategy (How will we do it?)- Do we have a good plan?iv. Progress/Implementation (What are we looking to accomplish?)- How

will the impact affect others?

J. ACTION ITEMSo Fill out and turn in your Community Group Info Sheet with necessary

details about your group. Make sure to supply that to us by next Sunday, Sept 7th.

o Take the time to personally invite people to your Community Group. There will also be an opportunity for people to sign up on Sept 14th so please follow up with each person that signs up for your group. They can also get details and sign up online at http://societychurch.com/groups

o Contact everyone who has signed up for your group 3-5 days before your first small group meeting. Contact through a personal phone call or text message is recommended.