Keeping these principles in mind will guarantee your success as a small group leader!
It’s a Journey
It’s a journey is the essential that describes the pace at which we encourage our leaders to travel alongside their students. Building relationships requires not only an investment of care, but of time. As a leader, it is vital to view your role in the lives of your group as a marathon, not a sprint. Once you have won the heart of a student, you can leverage that relationship into invaluable influence. This takes time.
Time on their Turf
Time on their turf encourages leaders to meet students where they’re at. If we were to put this essential into an equation format, it’d look like this: 1 day on “their turf” = 10 Sundays in small group. “Their turf” is any environment that is personal to a student. For example, their basketball game, their piano recital, their favorite mall or movie theater. Actions speak louder than words. It makes sense that simply showing up speaks volumes to your students of your commitment to do life with them. Doing so creates trust, accelerates community, and builds common ground between you and them.
Fill-Up First
Fill-up first, the most vital of our five essentials, instructs leaders to prioritize their own personal relationship with Jesus over anything and everything. If you aren’t growing in your faith relationship, it isn’t likely you’ll be proficient or equipped to lead others in this way. Effective small group leading means you do so out of an overflow of your own love, faith, and discipline.
Keep it Real
Keeping it real highlights the importance of a leader staying true to themself. Just be you! Being honest and real can be difficult in any environment, and student ministry is no different. It’s going to be intimidating at times, but simply being who you are is vital to your group’s success. Saying “I don’t know” is not a sign of failure, but of honesty and vulnerability. When your students see you being open in this way, they’re more likely to do the same. Remember, being who you are gives your students permission to be who they are. And that’s the heart of small groups, isn’t it?
Partner with Parents
Partnering with parents is the essential that demonstrates to leaders the value of connecting with the adults in your students’ lives, and in keeping them involved and informed. Regardless of what we think of a student’s parents, they are the Biblical authority in their life. As a small group leader, it is your job to encourage this relationship by whatever means possible. Just as you are not parentally responsible for a student, you are also not responsible for the student’s spiritual development. That’s a job for Mom or Dad; however, while the weight of their faith is not on your shoulders, God has chosen you as a person who can encourage, guide, and model his love and will in their lives.