NORTH WAY OAKLAND

Hello Small Group Leaders,

 

Many of you already know our Adult Life Development Champion, Amanda Seidler.  Amanda is responsible to be sure small groups and other adult ministries happen with excellence in all of our North Way campuses.  She's an excellent resource for all of us.  Below you'll see a note from her as she shares a bit of her vision and heart for ministry.

 

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What do you do when one of your group members feeds your dog an unsolicited Big Mac? Or how about when someone gets up in the middle of the prayer to root through the host's refrigerator? Or the person whose prayer request is an inevitable 25 minute monologue? Or the person who will never leave? 

Of course, those are actual examples from real North Way small groups. I bet you could add a few stories of your own. 

As small group leaders we have to become masters of the unexpected. We want to care for each individual group member while respecting the integrity and purpose of the group. We hope to create fun environments that encourage vulnerability and transparency. Every small group is unique. There are certainly no one-size-fits-all solutions. We can learn from each other and turn those precarious scenarios into thriving communities where life change happens. 

This is our first edition of our Small Group Leader Newsletter. Consider it our virtual 10 minute monthly get-together. It will be a platform to share stories, ideas, and best practices from all or our campuses. Since it's new, I would love to hear what you would like to see. What does your group need? What great idea did you implement? What challenges are you facing? This month we are going to look at some tools to help you launch the semester well. 

You play such a HUGE role at North Way Dormont ! Hopefully, this newsletter will give you a few more tools in your tool kit to help the people you are caring for experience life changing community.

So glad to be in this with you. 


 
Launching a Successful Small Group

Getting your small group off to a good start is critical to its long-term success. Bill Search, Senior Pastor of Rolling Hills Christian Church in Eldorado Hills, California, offers practical advice to help you navigate the first few meetings of your new group. This short training session is offered through RightNow Media, our online study video database. As a small group leader you should have a login and password to access the video. If for some reason you don't, please contact me.




 

Need some good conversation starters to help your group get to know one another and open up a bit?  How about trying a couple of these at your next group?
  •   If you found an abandoned car with $50,000 in the backseat, what would you do?
  •  What was something you intended to do today, but didn't.  Why not?
  • What do you do when you can't sleep at night?  Do you count sheep, toss & turn, get up & do something productive?
  •  How many days do you think you could last in solitary confinement?  How would you do it?
  • What's something you should throw away, but can't.  Explain why.
  • If you had to get a tattoo right this minute what would you get and why?



my.northway
Click the link above to manage your group's calendar, send emails, and update members.