New Small Group

I met with several members of my new small group this evening. We had dinner together and spent some time getting to know each other. Half of the couples have never been in a small group before while the other half has extensive experience. We are also varied in age and life-situation. It looks like it will be a great group to lead!

We are going to meet for one more meal in December and then begin in earnest in January. The plan is to meet the first three Sunday evenings of each month. The 1st & 3rd Sundays will be study nights without kids, and the 2nd Sunday will be a potluck meal with the entire family invited.

Light the Night

Here’s an idea for your small group to consider. Nate Westerfield and his small group have done this for the past couple of years, and they have found that it is a great time of service to the community and that it opens doors for conversations about the church. It is called “Light the Night”.

On Halloween (or whatever night your community does trick-or-treating) gather your group members together at one person’s home and set up some simple games in the yard (not in the house) for kids in the neighborhood to play. Keep the games fairly simple – bozo buckets, bean bag toss, ring toss, hula hoops, etc. Be creative but simple. You may want to consider having some hot chocolate or coffee available for parents while the kids are playing.

When the kids are done playing, give them a pre-packaged bag of candy with a brochure from the church or other information about the church. Be sure to set up some extra lighting for the yard so people can see better and so that the house stands out in the neighborhood. If your group members have young kids, they will still want to go trick-or-treating, so share the responsibility of supervising the games among group members while taking your own kids door-to-door.

Nate said that the kids come back two or three times during the evening to play the games and hang out. It is during those visits that parents will often ask who you are and why you are doing this. That is your opportunity to let them know you are a small group from Great Oaks and that you just wanted to give the kids something extra to do while trick-or-treating. There’s no need to get into deep theological conversations or try to convert someone to Christ on the front lawn. This is simply a method to connect with the people in your neighborhood.

Keep looking for ways to redeem the culture around us for the sake of Christ. A big thanks goes out to Nate & Kalee for this great idea!

The Blend

I found my local coffeeshop! It's called "The Blend", and it just opened today in Washington.

They've got a great atmosphere - contemporary design and color; tables, booths, and couches; free wi-fi; and an assortment of books to peruse. And I love their tag-line: where coffee and community come together.

I can't wait to settle in for a couple of hours with the laptop and a good book!

Great Quote

"We cannot settle for anything less than Jesus' dream of community." Building a Church of Small Groups by Bill Donahue & Russ Robsinon

What is Jesus' dream of community? Read John 17...

Weekend in Review :: 09-23-07

We had a great morning as we wrapped up the 2-week mini-series on authentic community.

Bill talked for a few minutes on needing to have people in our lives who have "refrigerator rights". These are people who have earned the right to open up our lives (our refrigerators) and see what's inside. Sometimes they will even need to tell us that something stinks and needs to be taken care of. (We borrowed this metaphor from Craig Groeschel.) The church responded well to the metaphor. He emphasized that small groups are the optimal environment for accountability, care, and Biblical study.

Nate and the band did a great job leading us in worship. It was an amazing experience to stand in the front row and hear all of the people singing when the band stopped playing for a couple of minutes. I wish I could have seen the audience from the stage at that moment. Here's the set list...

* Let the Praises Ring :: Lincoln Brewster
* I Will Boast :: Paul Baloche
* Beautiful One :: Tim Hughes
* Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble :: Delirious

I concluded the service with a few minutes talking about the picture of the early church painted in Acts 2:42-47 with an emphasis on the fact that they met in both large and small group environments. I then invited three couples on stage for a 20-minute panel discussion on what actually happens in the life of a small group. The goal was to alleviate the fear of the unknown by "pulling back the curtain" on small groups (think Wizard of Oz).

I heard from several people that they really appreciated the format we used this morning with the panel discussion. In my opinion, it is good to hear things every now and again from the mouths of "non-professional Christians" (i.e. pastors)!

We had a number of new people sign up for small groups through the Kick-Off. I will post actual numbers in a week or so after I get the rosters back from small group leaders. Early indicators tell me the Small Group Kick-Off was a great success!

Kick-Off Success

My first Sunday at Great Oaks Community Church went very well!

We had our first Sunday of a two-Sunday kick-off for small groups. We had the leaders of our groups waiting at tables in the foyer to interact with new people and get them signed up for a group. Bill taught about how we all need to be connected with other people if we are to grow in our faith; we can't rely on our commitment and convictions alone.

Almost every group had new people join them for this next season of group life. We have several groups that need to move into the birthing process to launch new groups. One group has enough people to birth three new groups! I know the birthing process is always painful (ask any mother), but it is also rewarding as more children are brought into the family.

One more Sunday to go! I'll report back next week to let you know stats on small groups at GOCC and whether or not the kick-off was a success or failure. Bill & I are team-teaching this Sunday. I will be conducting an interview of three couples for my portion. Our goal is to "pull back the curtain" (think Wizard of Oz) on what life in a small group is like. Should be good!

S'mores & Senior Citizens

I just got back to the house after an evening at Maple Lawn Nursing Home in Eureka, IL.

We spent a couple of hours with the residents sitting around a campfire on hay bales, singing songs, and making S'mores. It was a relaxed time of encouragement for the residents and connection for church members. As a new pastor on staff, it was a great way to meet people in the church.

This is one of the ten community service projects the church is doing in 2007-08 to mark their 10th anniversary.