We have targeted a few areas that we want those who call Southside home to grow in: Worship, Small Groups and Using their spiritual gifts in one ministry.
This Sunday we had our new small groups launch. I say new because we've tweaked how we do our groups. We now have lessons on DVD. All you need to be a new small group leader is a DVD player. All the "leader" does is press play until the person says "pause and discuss this". (We are in the process of making our own DVD's, but until we do we are using ones by Zondervan).
The response has been incredible! We have doubled the number of groups in one day! Amazing! We have more groups that are ready to birth off when the groups grow to a size that is now longer fits the critera that we've set for our groups. (We had one group that was having between 40-50!)
We are also reducing the size of the groups - putting small back into the equation! 6-12 is the ideal. 20 is the max number that we would like to see in any one group. When it reaches that point - it's time to begin a new group!
Now, we have all kinds of small groups. We have a group of parents that meet McDonald's for lunch. The kids play while the adults visit. (this has been great for new members!) Prayer groups. Study groups. Fellowship groups. Praise team practice is considered a small group. We have women's groups, men's groups, young adults, empty nesters, etc.
We have a good percentage of our members engaged in a small group. Our new members have joined in! Even some second time guests are being drawn into a group!
This is huge for us! We've struggled for years in our small group ministry. Finally, we are seeing excitment for our small groups. Praise God!
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