Nobody you want in your small group is looking for another meeting to attend. Trying to recruit business people into an aimless small group is, as they say, a fool’s errand.
That said, you probably know several people whose lives aren’t working the way they wish; people who feel fragmented, torn by competing demands, afraid they’ll never become the people they always hoped they’d be.
You already know them—or you’re a friend of a friend (so with any luck they don’t distrust your motives). If they thought you could help them get where they want to be, they’d probably rearrange their schedules to meet with you.
So that’s the offer. “I’m getting together a group of friends to consider what the Bible says about commerce and how we do our work. I’ve discovered a resource that claims it’s possible to serve the customer, add value to the company and make God happy.”
If that sounds like something they’d be interested in, you’re halfway there. The other half is where the devil allegedly resides.
Details
- As you narrow the details, you’ll narrow the field of prospects.
- Decide what day and hour. Offer a couple of options if possible and see what flies. There’s no magic hour. Go with the rhythm of life where you live and work.
- Decide frequency. Once a week? Twice a month? Again…whatever works.
- Pick a location. Home, workplace, restaurant, church…there are pluses and minuses for every location. Pick one that makes sense to you.
- Agree on a stopping point. Don’t ask for a lifetime investment. Invite people to go through one module; if it goes well, you can re-up for another.
- Make the call. There’s no way to accommodate everyone. Pick a time and place that works for as many as possible and go with it.
- Don’t get hung up in minor details. Location; time; food or no food; open or closed membership; mixed gender? They’re just choices. If you guess wrong, nobody dies. If you get three weeks in and see you guessed wrong, see if you can get do-overs.
- Gathering a small group is all about relationships.
How Small Is A Small Group?
There’s no perfect size for a Learning Group. Three is a tad to the light side; ten starts to feel a little unruly. But small groups are fluid and just about refuse to be contained. Somebody says yes, then has to back out. Someone else wants to bring a friend. People travel or go to their kids’ play, so they have to miss a session. It happens.
If you think you’d like to have a group of six or eight, invite 10 or 12 people to form the group. Set a place and a time, order the guidebooks and see what happens.
If what happens varies from what you hoped, see Troubleshooting Your Learning Group.
The First Meeting
Before you jump into the module, consider taking an hour to get acquainted.
Here are some warm-up questions:
- Take about a minute to tell us about the members of your household.
- Talk for a minute about the high points of the last year.
- Give us 60 seconds on your business challenges in the last year.
- Take about a minute to describe something you lacked as a child (something good that you didn’t have).
- Describe the first time you recall feeling guilty (it doesn’t have to literally be the first time, just the first time you can remember right now).
- Looking back, why do you think you felt guilty?
- How did that turn out?
- Tell us what success meant in your family of origin.
- What about failure: talk about what that meant in your family.
- Tell us about your childhood understanding of God.
- Describe how that understanding is different today—and how it’s the same.
- Take about a minute to describe something that keeps tripping you up (an attitude, a behavior, a habit, a weakness, a craving).
- Why do you think that has been an issue for you?
- Why do you think that problem hasn’t gone away?
- Tell us about something you did recently that hurt you or someone else.
- How is that working out?
- If we asked you to tell us why you need grace from God right now (not two years or two months ago, but today), without going into gory details, what would you talk about?
- Assuming on your best days you take your pain to God for healing, talk about what you do with your pain on your not-so-good days.
- Tell us how you learned that could bring you at least temporary relief.
- Are you familiar with the idea of Do-Overs (second chances, making amends)? Tell us how you think Do-Overs work.
- Tell us what you’ve learned about being forgiven.
- Tell us what you’ve learned about forgiving.
