The life of a church is enhanced by positive interpersonal relationships among its members. When church members are willing to interact for the sake of building body life among themselves and others, God will certainly pour out His blessings.
Small groups are the most effective means to build a sense of commnity in a church (regardless of its size). Unfortunately, not every small group is destined to survive. Some faily miserably.
If lead out in a small group, here are some suggestions to help you kill it!
- Assemble the group and don't appoint a facilitator.
- Establish a meeting time that fluctuates each week.
- Change meeting locations frequently.
- Encourage people to attend only when it's convenient.
- Recruit group members that share no common interest.
- Make a full-course meal the focus of your meeting.
- Overwhelm the group with multiple study topics.
- Require everyone to pray at the close of each meeting.
- Forget about your topic and chase theological rabbits.
- Permit phone calls to be made and received during group meetings.
- Require everyone in the group to hug each other when entering the room.
Sometimes learning what not to do is as helpful as learning what to do! Try changing the negatives into positives and see what happens!
