CAC LIFE GROUPS Leader Handbook

Transcription

1 CAC LIFE GROUPS Leader Handbook Connect Grow Serve

2 CAC Life Groups Guidelines Table of Contents Mission/Vision...2 Why Life Groups...3 I Don t Know What to Say...6 Position Descriptions...8 GroupLink...10 Leadership Development...12 Small Group Dynamics...14 Group Growth and Multiplication...16 Life Group Agreement Contact Information Jim Ammerman Ext. 218 jima@butlercac.org Jennifer Ammerman jennifer.ammerman@gmail.com Melissa Stanton Ext. 229 melissas@butlercac.org

3 CAC Mission: The mission of CAC is to see people transformed by faith in Christ, growing in wisdom, and intentional in relationships and service. CAC Life Groups Vision: Connect, Grow, Serve At Community Alliance Church, our vision for Life Groups is to help people to connect, to grow, and to serve. Only then can we fulfill Christ s commission to go into all the world and make disciples. Connect- Intentional in relationships We believe that everything we do at CAC should lead us to a deeper, more authentic love for God and people around us. We also understand that people from all walks of life need to discover this love, and that love motivates us to engage in relationships where people can be authentic about their spiritual journey, whether they are an atheist or a committed believer. Our Life Groups to provide a safe, loving environment where people can connect, and feel welcomed and wanted. Grow- Growing in wisdom As people are exposed to the Word of God, they will grow in wisdom. We want to be sensitive to the fact that some people are exploring Christianity; others are growing in Christ, close to Christ, or Christcentered. At each of these maturity levels, we want to offer groups that will help members to engage with the Bible where they are at, but help them to move to the next level growing in wisdom. Serve- Intentional in service We recognize that serving others is Christ s command. In our groups, we want to provide members an opportunity to serve one another, serve together at CAC, and serve in the community. Why Life Groups? Life change (total devotion to Jesus Christ) happens best in Life Groups. What are Life Groups? Life Groups are groups that meet on a regular basis to help participants to connect with God and other CAC attenders, to grow in deeper relationships with Jesus Christ and caring Christians, and to discover and use their gifts to better serve the church and the community. Life groups can be small, medium or large groups. In smaller groups, 6-14 people grow in relationship with each other while exploring the most important relationship, with God the Father. These groups also identify needs in the church or community to serve together. In medium groups, there may be participants, for instance a men s or women s study, or a Sunday AM group. In this case, the group divides into smaller table groups to facilitate dialogue and relationships. These groups help participants to connect and to grow in deeper relationships with Jesus Christ and others. Large groups may be considered play groups or activity groups. These groups are usually larger, and are centered around an activity, like sports (golf, softball), working out (Run 4 God), social gatherings (Young at Heart, UnPinned), or something else (Moms n Tots). These groups provide participants an opportunity to connect with other CAC attenders and begin to form life-giving relationships. How do we do Life Groups? A Life Group is not a group of people with one member (a leader) who lectures or teaches the group. Rather, in order to best facilitate real learning and community, a leader will ask good questions that provide participants an opportunity to wrestle with truth and discover Biblical answers to questions. Circles are better than rows. 2 3

4 Moving People to be Christ-Centered, Fully Devoted Followers They are not actively exploring faith. The longer they ve attended church, the more likely they are to say they are content with their place of spiritual growth or to say they are stalled. 2. Even the most devoted Christians fall far short of living out the mandates of Christ. Even though almost 80% very strongly agree that they love God more than anything, 60% had fewer than six spiritual conversations with nonbelievers, 80% invited fewer than six people to church. 40% do not tithe. 3. Spiritually stalled or dissatisfied people account for 25% church congregants. On average, 13% of all congregants describe their pace of spiritual growth as stalled; 18% described themselves as dissatisfied in some churches the number was as high as 50%. The REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey was used with over a quarter million people in well over a thousand churches, diverse in size, denomination, and geography. Our CAC mission statement refers to people being transformed by faith in Christ Transformation means movement. REVEAL, Willow Creek s comprehensive Spiritual Life Survey, identifies a spiritual continuum with four segments of church attenders and three movements of spiritual growth. Four segments of church attenders 1. Exploring Christ: Have a basic belief in God, but are unsure about Christ and his role in their lives. These people are described in the Non-Believer and Beginner boxes above. 2. Growing in Christ: Have a personal relationship with Christ; have made a commitment to trust Christ with their souls salvation for eternity, but are just beginning to learn what it means to develop a relationship with Christ. 3. Close to Christ: Depend on Christ every day; see Christ as someone who assists them in life and turn to Him on a daily basis for help and guidance. 4. Christ-Centered: Identify their relationship with Christ as the most important relationship in their entire lives. Disturbing discoveries: 1. Many apathetic nonbelievers who attend church are unlikely to ever accept Christ. Although they have actively attended church for more than 5 years, they have not made a commitment to Christ. Hopeful clues: 1. Leadership matters. In the most healthy churches, churches that see consistent movement to Christ-centered disciples, leaders may have diverse personalities and styles. But they share one key attribute: an unrelenting, uncompromising focus and drive to help people grow into disciples of Christ. This matters big time because the strategies and programs they pursue are not radically different from those found in most churches. It s their hearts consumed with Christ that makes the difference. 2. Nothing has a greater impact on spiritual growth than reflection on scripture. If churches could do only one thing to help people at all levels of spiritual maturity grow in their relationship with Christ, their choice is clear. They would inspire, encourage, and equip their people to read the Bible specifically, to reflect on Scripture for meaning in their lives. Only one out of five congregants reflect on Scripture every day. Three movements of spiritual growth: Movement 1: From exploring Christ to Growing in Christ. M1 is all about Christians basics. Need: In this trust-building phase a firm foundation of spiritual beliefs and attitudes is critical. Church activities on spiritual growth is most significant in Movement 1. Movement 2: From Growing in Christ to Close to Christ. M2 people decide their relationship with Jesus is personal to them. Need: Developing a routine of personal spiritual practices that make space and time for a growing intimacy with Christ. Movement 3: From Close to Christ to Christ-Centered. M3 believers replace secular self-centeredness with Christ-like self-sacrifice. They pour out their increasing love for Jesus through spiritual outreach 4 activities, especially evangelism. 5

5 I Don t Know What to Say (adapted from KendraBroekhuis.com/posted June 23, 2015) Our culture is grief illiterate. It makes us uncomfortable when people are in pain. Sadness is awkward. We don t know what to say. But I hope that we as a culture can begin to recognize and be encouraged by a few things as we walk alongside those who are suffering: 1. It is not our job to fix people s pain. We have amazing intentions. We want people to feel all better, and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to help them do so. I think this is where our Christian clichés and unsolicited advice come from. But it is not our job to make people feel all better. Words, no matter how true or well-intended, aren t capable of healing our deepest wounds and our broken hearts. Only God, the Comforter, the Healer is. We don t grieve as those who have no hope, but we still grieve. Some well-meaning people will try to make excuses for God, even though God s ways are unknowable, and any good plan that involves children dying is unfathomable to our human minds anyway. But I also know for a fact that He has had His hand on you throughout this whole ordeal, and will continue to do so. Susan 2. Our job is to walk with people through their pain. The words that we use should demonstrate that. Our words should simply acknowledge people s pain, not try to fix it. The best things to say are simple, like I m sorry, or I m praying for you, or I m thinking of you, or I cried some ugly tears over you today, or This sucks. I know that there are truly no words to heal the pain that you feel at this time. It is so hard to understand how this could be a part of any plan, but I hope that both of you will draw closer to God and let His mercy and grace sustain you each new day. Laura 3. We don t always need to use words. Hugs, tears, prayers, gifts, flowers, and casseroles go an incredibly long way. It is difficult to find the right words when you are suffering so much. Sometimes words are not even necessary. Just knowing that fellow Christians love you, are thinking of you tenderly, and are praying for you, is enough. Marilyn S. 4. Processing pain takes time. We can t confine people s pain to a time line, or to stages, or to the day that last casserole is delivered. Some kinds of grief never arrive at closure. Processing pain takes a long time. Sometimes, a lifetime. I hear that the two of you have a strong faith, but that doesn t mean your hearts are not sorrowful I know that you have a lot of support and much kindness has been extended, but it is still a loss and you grieve. Marilyn L. 5. Faith and pain don t cancel each other out. People can have great faith and feel great pain at the same time. Pain is not a sign of weak faith. Many have testified that their faith and recognition of God s providing hand was strongest during their toughest trials. The day after we buried {our daughter}, my husband said to me, You know, I think we expected our faith to make this hurt less, but it doesn t. Our faith gave us an incredible amount of strength and encouragement while we had Hope, and we are comforted by the knowledge that she is in heaven. Our faith keeps us from being swallowed by despair. But I don t think it makes our loss hurt any less. Nancie Guthrie, Holding On To Hope 6. Saying the wrong thing is still better than saying nothing at all. Sadness is awkward. It makes us uncomfortable when other people are in pain. For that reason we might think that it s best to avoid that person and their pain altogether. But what s worse than saying the wrong thing, is saying nothing at all. A million times worse. Do something. Or say something. Even if the only thing we can think of is I don t know what to say. Do what it takes to acknowledge their pain, and remind them that we are there to walk with them through it. So many people are afraid to bring up my loss. They don t want to upset me. But my tears are the only way I have to release the deep sorrow I feel. I tell people, Don t worry about crying in front of me, and don t be afraid that you will make me cry! Your tears tell me you care, and my tears tell you that you ve touched me in a place that is meaningful to me and I will never forget your willingness to share my grief. Nancie Guthrie, Holding On To Hope 6 7

6 Job Description: Life Group Leader QUALIFICATIONS: Because life group leaders play a critical role in the life of CAC and have far-reaching influence in the lives of their group members, we expect our leaders to exhibit the following qualities: Faithful Pursuing Personal Spiritual Growth. A leader must strive for an active and vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. A leader should be devoted to the daily disciplines of personal study of the Word and prayer. Available and Committed. A leader must have the available time and energy to foster an environment that inspires group members to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Teachable. A leader must regularly attend CAC. A leader must embrace the doctrine and core values of CAC. A leader must humbly accept the authority of the leadership of CAC, including coaches, staff, and the elders. A leader must actively seek and engage in proper accountability with other believers. Honest and Authentic. A leader must be honest with himself or herself by courageously facing the truth about themselves, and, through the grace of God, intercept potential flaws or temptations that might destroy a leader s integrity and ministry. RESPONSIBILITY: Life Group leaders are one of the most important roles in the spiritual health and vitality of the CAC community. Therefore, the qualifications for becoming a life group leader are continuing in nature; a leader must continue to exhibit the qualifications during the course of his or her time in leadership. In addition, life group leaders: Connect: Through a weekly meeting (generally 2-3 hours) and connection one-on-one, a leader invests in eight to twelve individuals to inspire them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. A leader successfully integrates new members into the group. A leader maintains connection with, responsiveness to, and accountability with a coach or staff person. Grow: A leader cultivates group study, discussion, and prayer to increase understanding of and obedience to the Word. A leader consistently and creatively casts vision and instills in group members the core values of CAC. A leader commits himself or herself to continuous growth in leadership skills by attending leadership trainings and required leadership meetings. Serve: A leader aids group members in discovering, developing, and employing their spiritual gifts. A leader cultivates in group members a servant s heart by providing group serving opportunities. A leader equips one or more group members to step into life group leadership. Share: A leader equips group members to be able to share their testimony and the Gospel Message with others. A leader cultivates in group members a heart for unbelievers. Expand the Ministry: A leader is committed to expand the ministry by training future leaders and branching the group into more groups. A leader is committed to finishing well. PERFORMANCE MEASURES: Ability to provide an environment where group participants feel welcomed, involved and cared for. Ability to provide an environment where Apprentices are well trained, cared for and able to use their gifts and talents to serve effectively. Achieve quarterly attendance goals of 80% group participation. Encouraging group participants to be responsible for their own spiritual growth through daily Bible reading, prayer, worship, and fellowship. TIME COMMITMENT: 2 5 hours a week 8 9

7 GroupLink Why? The purpose of GroupLink is to encourage our Sunday attenders to grow deeper with Christ and others by joining a life group. This is an intentional event that gives people an overview of what CAC Life Groups are all about and why they are important. How? During rally week people will receive a CAC Life Groups brochure at the beginning of service. Then they will be able to browse tables for opportunities for the following: 1. Meet the leader of a group. 2. Ask someone more details about that group. 3. Possibly browse the curriculum that will be used. 4. Sign up to try a group. 5. Get direction from a life group leader on what group is best for them. What? Life group leaders will get to man their table after the Sunday services during GroupLink in order to meet potential new group members and answer questions. Leaders will also be given a deadline to submit information about their group in order to promote it in brochure. We put a lot of time, effort, and money into GroupLink because we believe that life change happens effectively in small groups. Life Group Leaders Pre/Post Rally Week Checklist Pre GroupLink Complete the form sent out by Life Group Administrator that provides information regarding the next session (i.e. Spring, Summer, Fall) 3 weeks ahead of the first GroupLink Sunday. The information needed will include what study you will be doing, dates and times of meetings, location of meetings, maximum number of participants, if the group is open to new members and if child care is needed. Be available in the lobby to answer questions and meet participants in as many services as possible over the two GroupLink Weekends. The church will remove previous participants from ongoing groups and enter in new participants for the signup at the beginning of the week following the second GroupLink. There are a few exceptions to this. Please notify Life Group Administrator if you do not want all previous names removed. Please remind your participants that they need to sign up again if they plan to continue in the group. Post GroupLink Call your new members to welcome them and answer any questions they might have. After your group has been updated, please everyone to provide information on your first meeting. For your first meeting, print contact information and have group members make any needed changes. This allows us to get s for everyone in your group that will help you to communicate more efficiently, as well as keeping our database up to date. Communicate at least once a week through about your next meeting. After two weeks of taking attendance, please remove any participants that have not attended, unless you have information that they will be coming later. At weekly meeting, touch base on how your members spiritual disciplines are going. Provide training on how to read the Bible, daily devotions, etc

8 Life Group Leadership Development One area that is crucial to the growth of our church is leadership development. At CAC, we expect disconnected people to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ and to serve Him. If we are to help every attender at CAC to connect, to grow, and to serve, it is vital that we consistently raise up leaders to help in this process of spiritual formation of disciples. The following is a simple 5-step process for a leader to develop an apprentice that will eventually lead a group themselves. 1. I do. You watch. We talk. As an experienced leader leads a group, an apprentice takes time to observe him or her. Within a few days the two should meet to discuss what the apprentice has observed. This debriefing time should include three simple questions: (1) What worked? (2) What didn t work? and (3) How can we improve? This time of debriefing needs to continue throughout the process. 4. You do. I watch. We talk. The apprentice process is almost complete as the new leader grows increasingly more confident in his or her role. Consider how this step might look in a Hitched Group. A Hitched Group leader, at this point, would give his or her apprentice the opportunity to fulfill all the functions of leadership, with the more experienced leader now looking on and watching the new leader in action. 5. You do. Someone else watches. This is where the process of reproducing comes full circle. The former apprentice is now leading and begins developing a new apprentice. Ideally, the leader who has developed and released several apprentices will continue to work with those leaders in a coaching capacity. 2. I do. You help. We talk. In this phase of development, the leader gives the apprentice an opportunity to help lead in a particular area. For example, if someone is being developed to lead a men s table group, the leader might ask that person to lead the prayer time while the experienced leader leads the remainder of the time together. Again, this experience should be followed up with a one-on-one to talk. 3. You do. I help. We talk. Now the apprentice transitions from supporting or helping the leader to taking on most of the leadership responsibilities of the group. If a person is being apprenticed to lead a Sunday AM table group, he will plan and lead the discussion for his group. The more experienced leader now begins releasing responsibilities to the new, developing leader. As in the previous steps, the leader and apprentice leader should meet regularly to debrief the ministry experience

9 Small Group Dynamics There are multiple insights into this subject matter but here s an article that will help you set a foundation for a great group experience: Three Ways to Kill a Small Group Avoid these sure-thing saboteurs. Nicole Unice posted September 10, 2012 You ve worked hard to prepare for your first small group: the invitations have been sent, the curriculum selected, the brownies baked. Everything you need for an amazing small-group experience! Except it s not that easy. It takes much more than good marketing to make a small group actually thrive. And if you aren t careful, you can kill yours in three easy steps: Step #1: Misread Purpose Kill your group fast by misreading its purpose. Take a bunch of people who ve never met and expect them to be really vulnerable in the first meeting. Or take a group of men who ve never studied the Bible and ask them questions using words like atonement, predestination, or lexicons. Or you can take a group of thoughtful, educated businesswomen and tell them you ll be making a magnet craft with puffy paint every week. Step #2: Don t Prepare Another easy killer is to spend more time preparing the brownies than your content. Use poorly written curriculum on topics that don t interest or challenge anyone. Better yet, don t prepare at all just read the questions out of the book as you go along. Nothing says, I care about you being here like a leader who clearly hasn t done any work in advance. Step #3: Become a Gossip Column Proverbs 18:8 says, Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one s heart. There is a part of us that responds to juicy information. But there is a part of us that knows this kind of talk doesn t bring life at all. If you want to kill your small group, allow a gossip to dominate the conversation. Let people disguise their complaints about others in the guise of prayer requests, and even when you don t like it, allow it to continue. If you don t have the gossip problem, you can still kill the group. Just allow anyone to dominate the conversation. Whether it s a prayer request or a continual problem relationship, allowing a small-group member to become the focal point of your time doesn t just distract others it actually detracts from the group by taking your focus off Christ. Good News Before this article makes you give up on small groups forever, take heart! The good news about these killers is that doing the opposite can make your small group great. The first small-group killer is to misread its purpose the first secret to thriving is casting vision. What is the purpose of your group? Is it for growing relationships? Learning more about God through Scripture? A support group? Small groups can be tricky because they can be any number of things. The secret to making yours thrive is to be clear with the expectations of the group. The second small-group killer is lack of preparation the second secret to thriving is deciding to lead. In my experience leading in ministry, I often find that leaders underestimate their importance, which undermines their confidence. Yet when you decide to lead a group, in some ways you become a pastor. You shepherd, teach, counsel, and encourage. Do not make light of this call! Instead, you should lead a life worthy of your calling (Ephesians 4:1). If you take this call to lead seriously, you will pray for your group. You will plan for them by being at least a week ahead of the group in content. You will spend time thinking of ways to apply your lesson. You will think through the flow of each meeting and make sure you are facilitating each lesson well. You will ask for feedback. And you will grow. This is the blessing of leadership, and it s worth the work. The final small-group killer is allowing gossip or one dominant individual to run the show. But you can encourage your group to thrive by making time for everyone. This might mean gently redirecting the group by saying, Thanks, Mary, for sharing. Let s get back to it in a minute after we ve heard from everyone. This may mean going directly to prayer and not stopping at prayer requests at all (which can often derail the group). It might even mean talking with Mary individually. But it does mean dealing with the situation as creatively as necessary to allow others to be active members of the group

10 Leading a small group is hard work but it can also be one of the most rewarding leadership opportunities of your life. Don t let one of these killers detract from the life-giving experience that small groups can offer! Nicole Unice is a ministry leader at Hope Church in Richmond, VA, and the author of She s Got Issues. This article originally appeared on our sister site, GiftedForLeadership.com; copyright 2012 by Christianity Today. Life Group Growth and Multiplication A healthy church will grow. Healthy Life Groups will also grow. As your group leads to life change through a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and other people, it will attract more people. We must ask the question, what do we do with that growth? We know from small group dynamics that a meaningful group is just that: SMALL! The question then becomes how dowe replicate great, life-giving small groups. First pray about your group s next step. 1. Peel off a leader and 2-3 members to begin a new group. 2. Launch a leader of a new group. 3. Use a closed group model, where for 1-2 semesters, no new members are added. Understand there is value in all of these options. It is vital that Adult Ministry Pastor and leaders are in discussion about future growth of your group. Concluding thought: The growth of Life Groups at CAC is the potential to change our community and the world for Jesus Christ! Life Group Agreement: Purpose: Our purpose is to grow, & help each other grow, spiritually, relationally, & emotionally through this Small Group. Priority: I commit to attend regularly & faithfully over the specified group time period. Participation: Everyone participates and no one dominates. Confidentiality: I pledge to keep strictly confidential what is shared in the group & refrain from harsh, condemning & snap judgments so that the group is a safe place to open up about our lives. Being Real: I will strive to participate fully in the group & become a more open, transparent person by honestly sharing my opinions, feelings, & struggles. Relational: I will seek to get to know the other members of the group and genuinely listen to, encourage, & pray for them. Respect: I give permission for others in the group to speak openly & honestly with me to help me grow spiritually & emotionally. Advice Giving: Unsolicited advice is not allowed. Support: Permission is given to call upon each other in time of need even in the middle of the night. Mission: We agree to do everything in our power to work towards helping each other grow and equipping each other to serve. Signature Date 16 17

11 connect Life groups serve grow