Gathering training

We had our monthly Vineyard Leadership Team meeting on Monday night. We shared with our small group leaders about "gathering."  Our small group leaders are AWESOME, they care and love for the people in their small groups, they value holy spirit ministry, and they prepare and plan for their groups each week.  For 2013, we feel like God want us to work on learning to "gather".  A sign of a leader if their ability to gather other people.  You can't lead with out people behind you right? :)
Gathering is the ability to invite and include others in to your small group. And gathering can be taught! It can be learned! So we put together a few tips and hints to help our leaders in gathering this spring.

Here is a link to our handout:

Drawing a prayer

We like to offer our small group leaders different options for leading prayer in small groups.  This past month we shared a drawing activity.  We took 5 minutes and had people pray and draw whatever came to mind.  After the 5 minutes people shared what they drew and why.  Everytime we do this activity it has been really powerful.
Here are a few examples of the artwork:

A tip for Small Group Leaders

Here is our latest tip to small group leaders.Check it out!

Building Connection in Small Groups

With the start of our fall small groups right around the corner, now is a great time to be thinking about how to create connection in your small group. We thought we would take a moment today to offer some suggestions as to how a leader can help make this happen. One thing is sure, if we aren’t welcoming and warm, many people will never return. So here are some tips: · Play music to set tone · Bring food! Food always gets conversation started. As the leader, you will probably have to provide food for the first meeting. You can have small group members sign up to bring snacks for subsequent meetings. · Burn a great smelling candle. · Have a greeter at the door to welcome people in. This is a great practice to get into. · Assign responsibilities to different people who attend. That gives them “purpose” in being a part of the group and helps them feel needed and accountable. · Ask about their week and share about yours. · Keep confidences shared in the group. We love that in our small group we pray for others. Keep a high value for keeping in confidence what is shared. · Share personal stories that relate to the study that week. - Send a follow up email or facebook message to new visitors sharing your information and thanking them for coming. · Email, text, Facebook or Twitter your small group during the week to let them know you are praying for them. If they requested a specific prayer, follow up with them. · Pair two participants up to pray for each other for a week, month, or for the entire length of the small group. What other ideas do you have for building a warm and connecting atmosphere in your small group?