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.

ATTEND CHURCH TOGETHER

A Great Way to Bond Your Group Together
Is to Attend Church Together

Getting Your Group to Go Together

As you talk to the people in your small group ask everyone which church service they normally attend. Then, pick the service that most of the people already attend, and tell everyone to try to attend church together. Don’t “require” it, but say, “Hey, I think it would be great to have us all attend church together.” Or you can say, “Our Small Groups Pastor recommends that we attend church together, so let’s do it.”

Going Together

When your group attends church together be sure to find a big open area and sit together. Don’t pick seats in the back. Seats in the back of the church fill up faster. Pick some seats up front and you will have plenty of room for the people in your group to join you if they come slightly late. Another helpful resource might be to ask an usher at church to help you find an open area. They might be able to section off an area for your group.

Some of the Benefits of Attending Church Together

There are several benefits of attending church together as a small group.

The first benefit of attending church together as a small group is that it makes your “Unifying Question” more “unified.” There is something special about sitting and hearing a message together and then talking about what you all listened to together. When you attend church together you also get to sing and worship God together.

The second benefit of attending church together is that while someone might have wanted to join your group for a couple of weeks but was unable to do so, attending church with the group might be a casual way to get introduced to everyone.

The third benefit of attending church together is that when your group attends church together, it is a chance for you all to recruit new members to your small group. Other people at church will see you all sitting together and might be interested in why there are a bunch of people all together as a group. And that is your chance to recruit some new people for your group.