{"id":31718,"date":"2022-09-10T15:41:19","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-reasons-people-dont-come-back-to-a-small-group\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:41:19","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:41:19","slug":"5-reasons-people-dont-come-back-to-a-small-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-reasons-people-dont-come-back-to-a-small-group\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons People Don\u2019t Come Back to a Small Group"},"content":{"rendered":"
Xin photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Tess Schoonhoven<\/em><\/p>\n

What happens when church leaders launch a group but no one comes back after the first meeting? Or when a new person visits a group but doesn’t return?<\/p>\n

Host Chris Surratt and Dr. Eddie Mosley, Adult Minister of Groups at Brentwood Baptist Church, answered this question on a recent episode of the Lifeway Leadership “Group Answers” podcast.<\/p>\n

The episode, as part of a series tackling common things that can kill small groups, reviewed five main reasons people may not return to a small group.<\/p>\n

1. The group has been together for a while and it\u2019s hard to see a place to fit in. <\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n

When previously existing groups try to start fresh and bring new people into the community the new members often feel like they don\u2019t belong because relationships have already been formed.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s been in the group for a while, there\u2019s common language, there\u2019s history and it\u2019s just hard,\u201d Surratt says.<\/p>\n

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Surratt says the feeling of entering a new group is comparable to being on a stage, with the spotlight on you.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re getting all the questions,\u201d Surratt says.<\/p>\n

Mosley suggests current group members do something with a new member that bonds them even before they visit the group, such as getting coffee beforehand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat way when you walk into that room there\u2019s somebody you know, you have that relationship,\u201d Mosley says.<\/p>\n

Surratt agrees that comfortability within small groups starts with relationships.<\/p>\n

Making the extra effort to get to know people and the inviting them into the group creates a stronger possibility of them sticking it out.<\/p>\n

2. There\u2019s no investment in building community<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n

\u201cMost people, when they join a group or join a church are looking for that community,\u201d Surratt says. \u201cThe first feeling of belonging is what people are looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bible studies will change throughout the year, but the people won\u2019t, Mosley says.<\/p>\n

Group leaders should start with building a deeply rooted community.<\/p>\n

Social and serving events were the main two ways Surratt and Mosley suggested to build strong community outside of the small group meetings themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake those opportunities to build in community,\u201d Surratt says. \u201cEvery group can do it whether you meet on campus or of campus, you need to build in community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mosley also noted that the move to intentional discipleship should be taken slowly.<\/p>\n

If group leaders, in efforts to build community, move straight from introduction to discipleship, it won\u2019t stick.<\/p>\n

Instead, Mosley says, leaders and individuals should start with a conversation that leads to a relationship which brings transparency and eventually leads to discipleship.<\/p>\n

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See also  Is It \u2018Ministry Failure\u2019 To See a Counselor?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cIf you jump that bridge, they may not come back,\u201d Mosley says.<\/p>\n

3. There\u2019s no intentionality behind the studies chosen. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Surratt says that every leader should have an idea of where the group is going. Having a plan is essential to success.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can I take them on a spiritual pathway?\u201d Mosley asks.<\/p>\n

Mosley suggests to plan the studies by coming up with a few topics or areas of discussion and then gauging what the group is most interested in.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t just go into it [the study] with whatever you read this week in your devotional,\u201d Mosley says.<\/p>\n

4. The leader dominates the discussion. <\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Leader\u2019s don\u2019t need to feel the pressure to talk the entire time and fill all the silence.<\/p>\n

Mosley encourages leaders, when first starting out, to follow a 60\/40 percent rule. Sixty percent of the time they may talk while 40 percent of the time they should leave open for discussion.<\/p>\n

As the leader grows and the group matures, that percentage should flip. \u201cBalance the teaching gift with the hospitality gift,\u201d Mosley says.<\/p>\n

The group needs the leader to talk and guide, but also needs the members themselves to talk and encourage discussion.<\/p>\n

5. The leader is unprepared for the group meeting<\/strong>.<\/h3>\n

\u201cNobody likes to go to a group setting where it\u2019s just left up in the air,\u201d Surratt says. \u201cPeople don\u2019t like that. They want it to be organized, especially if it\u2019s a new group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leaders should seek to be one step ahead in the preparation process.<\/p>\n

\u201cA group discussion is going to go better if you know what\u2019s coming,\u201d Mosley says.<\/p>\n

The topics of discussion should be taken seriously, Mosley says, primarily because it\u2019s God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n

If members want to help leaders be prepared for the group meetings a good option could be getting together before the group and running through the discussion questions, Mosley says.<\/p>\n

By recognizing these group killers and the ways to head them off, group leaders can seek to better steward their call to small groups ministry.<\/p>\n

More podcasts in this series can be found here.<\/p>\n

TESS SCHOONHOVEN (@TessSchoonhoven)<\/strong> is a former intern with <\/em>Facts & Trends and a recent graduate of California Baptist University.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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Leading Small Groups: How to Gather, Launch, Lead, and Multiply Your Small Group<\/h2>\n

Chris Surratt<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Related posts:<\/h3>\n
10 Goals for Your Small Groups This Year 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community 2 Habits That Will Destroy Your Small Group <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Xin photo – Unsplash By Tess Schoonhoven What happens when church leaders launch a group but no one comes back after the first meeting? Or when a new person visits a group but doesn’t return? Host Chris Surratt and Dr. Eddie Mosley, Adult Minister of Groups at Brentwood Baptist Church, answered this question on a … Continue reading “5 Reasons People Don\u2019t Come Back to a Small Group”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}