A little while back I received an email from a friend of mine named Cindy Scott. Cindy was giving suggestions on how to better facilitate small groups. The tips were great and I knew they would be helpful to us in campus ministry. So, I asked her to share them with us on the blog. You can hear more about who she is and the life coaching services she offers at the bottom of this post.
Leading a small group well can be tricky. It’s very different than being a good devotional leader or well prepared hostess. Being a good small group leader involves the savvy of listening to the Holy Spirit while creating a safe environment for authentic spiritual development. Here’s some tips to help you lead the conversation.
#1 Ask the right questions.
The goal is discussion – not a right answer. Ask questions that have multiple “right” application answers. Also, make sure your questions ask for answers that have more than one word, not yes/no etc.
#2 Don’t be afraid of silence
Let people think. If they are too quick with the answers then maybe the question didn’t really need to be asked.
#3 Follow the Leader (the Holy Spirit).
Sometimes a discussion can take a turn and “rabbit trail”. It’s your job to decide if it’s a Spirit led deal or if you need to get back on track. At times this can be a way of really getting to the core of what God is doing in someone’s life while at other times it can just be a comfortable topic, or a pet peeve or soap box etc.
#4 Watch for the quiet ones
They have a lot to give, but may require encouragement on your part. You may need to be creative in getting everyone involved. It may be good to ask everyone to share something in kind of a go-around-the-room fashion, but maybe it would be good to just directly ask someone what their thoughts are. For instance, “Bob, I’d love to hear what you are thinking…”
#5 Help the wordy!
Some people just feel obligated to answer every question themselves and they feel like everyone wants or needs to hear how they are seeing things. One way to help them out is to direct a question to a certain person or area of the room before you even ask it, like “Okay for this next one I’d like to hear from Kathy or someone in that corner over there.” Or sometimes you can even directly thank the person for sharing and say you’d like to hear from others. “Tom, thanks for being so willing to start up the conversation. It’s great that you share so easily. This time I want to hear from someone who hasn’t shared at all yet.” Hopefully this can be a gentle way of saying that others need to be able to talk too.
#6 Affirm the sharers without favoritism.
Always thank people for sharing but be cautious of showing too much appreciation for any one person as this could put others off from sharing or make people who already shared feel like their sharing wasn’t up to par.
#7 Expect change in people.
When you view people as growing in the Lord and not stuck in their issues then God can really use your empowering to help people see who they could be. Jesus was such a great model of this. Eric has a phrase for this, “Don’t ‘freeze frame’ people”. We as leaders need to keep this in front of us.
#8 Be careful not to preach or teach.
This is a small group for a reason and the reason is for people to think and apply truths to their own lives in a comfortable and real setting.
#9 Defer when necessary.
Sometimes deep issues can come to the surface during a small group discussion. The small group is normally not the place for in-depth personal ministry by the group. So, when necessary you may need to assure someone that God has a plan and say something like, “I can see that God is really moving on your heart. Let’s talk about this later so we can make sure you are getting the support you need for God to help you work through this.”
#10 Model vulnerability.
If you share your “stuff” people will be more open to sharing theirs.
Hope these help you lead with confidence. Remember the Holy Spirit is the True Guide as He leads us all! For more tips on listening to the Holy Spirit while leading, consider taking the Bridges Coaching Foundations class. More info can be found at cindyscott.org. Happy Leading!