Seven Guidelines for starting small groups
© 2005 by Top Gun Men's Ministries. This content may not be reproduced for profit.

1. Find a coordinator for small groups
A Coordinator may be one of the men on your leadership team. This man needs to be strong in the area of administration. He will be responsible for recruiting and training leaders, conducting in-service meetings for the leaders, and helping the leaders to enlist men for their group. Do not start until you find the coordinator. Remember the principle that nothing gets done without leadership.

2. Determine Your Strategy and Philosophy of Men’s Small Groups
As a leadership team, you have a lot of decisions to make regarding what types of groups you will have. There are three levels of small groups.

• Entry Level – low commitment, show up for a couple of weeks. This groups could lead into a medium level group.
• Medium Level – This is your normal Christian men’s small group. They would meet one to one and a half-hour per week to study the Bible together, pray and support one another.
• High Level – These high commitment groups would serve the purpose of training and equipping men. There would be a possible two hours of preparation and two hours of meeting per week. An example of this high level commitment would be a Basic Training Group

Other decisions that your leadership team will need to make:

• Who is going to care for the small group leaders?
• What type of groups will we have?
• How are we going to train the leaders?
• What will out criteria be for recruiting leaders?
• Will out groups be open, closed, or both?

Successful small groups begin with leaders who model genuine Christlike relationships.
-Geoff Gorsuch
Brothers

3. Recruit Small Group Leaders
The leadership team or the coordinator will be responsible for recruiting the small group leaders. Look for men with godly character, Christ-likeness, competency, compassions, and a commitment to making disciples-men who see their role as facilitator rather than teacher. The best leaders are those that have experiences a healthy small group. Look in your existing small groups for recommendations from existing leaders. Provide a complete job description for the potential leader: What he will be doing; how much time is requires; what type of support he will receive; and to whom he is responsible. Don’t worry about numbers. Prefer fewer groups that will go well over many groups led by men not prepared or able to lead.

4. Train the Small Groups Leaders
The best way to train new leaders is to give them a healthy small group experience. If you have never had small groups before, you may want to lead a group for a year to give a small group of men a good experience. Then, let them start their own groups. If you already have groups, ask the leaders of the existing groups who they think would be good leaders and pull them out. We do our training on three consecutive Monday evenings. We have them read through the book, Brothers, by Geoff Gorsuch, and discuss a part each week. We provide training in the areas of Small Group Dynamics:

• How to start a small group
• How to lead discussion
• How to lead a sharing time
• How to handle difficult questions
• How to study the Word and develop good questions

5. Begin to Publicize the Small Groups
Often times small groups can be the best kept secret in the church. Be creative in how you get the word out. Here are a few possibilities

• Ask the pastor to promote the groups from the pulpit
• Ask the pastor if there can be a testimony from up front
• A mailing to all the men in the church with a list of potential groups starting up.
• The church bulletin
• Personal invite from the leaders – have them make a list and begin to pray for men to invite to their groups. This will be the best way
• Informational meeting between services.

Never ask a man to do anything unless you are willing to train him.
Each man needs a brother to support, encourage, and hold him accountable to a Christian model of manhood. Brothers is a small group discussion guide that will help you develop the relationships so vital to becoming an effective brother in Christ

6. Create Windows for Group Start Ups
As mentioned early in the series; you always want to use an activity or event as a bridge to the next level. After a retreat, kick –off event, or seminar, offer sign-ups for one or more small group options. They should be short, for to six weeks in length, using a book or material that follows up on what was talked about. Strike when the iron is hot!

7. Provide Shepherding for the Small Group Leaders
Never ask a man to do something without providing the support that he needs. It may start with the coordinator shepherding the groups, if there are less than five groups. After that, he will need to get the other men to help. Have in-service meetings a few times a year for the men to share how things are going in the groups, and for continued training and prayer.

1. Who might be some potential small group leaders
2. When and how are we going to train these leaders
3. What are some ways we can publicize the group
4. How are we going to care for our small group leaders