In my early years of serving as a small groups pastor I often would talk to a person interested in joining a small group, refer him to the small group facilitator, then would find out that no one showed up for the group. Thus, I developed these ten tips because several of our groups had ten people sign up to be part of a group, then when the group was ready to start only two people showed up the first night.

START A SNACK SIGN UP LIST

A Healthy Small Group Has Everyone Involved

One of the signs of a healthy small group is when everyone is involved in the group. For example, your group should have a facilitator, a co-facilitator or assistant/apprentice, a host, someone that does the prayer time, another person that communicates with the group, and another person that coordinates the snack list. Get as many people involved in organizing and leading your group as possible. The best way to do that is to start a snack sign up list.

As Your Group Starts, Start a Snack Sign Up List

Early on in your group start a snack sign up list. Put dates on a piece of paper and pass it around and ask people if they would be willing to bring snacks for a week or two in the future. Then, put someone in the group in charge of sending a weekly reminder to the person who is signed up to bring snacks for the week. This gives people ownership of their group and encourages them to attend the group because they are supposed to bring snacks.