We gathered this weekend with small group leaders to celebrate the middle of the year and build excitement for the rest of our school year.
What you do matters, and it’s important to celebrate and remember. Remember what you trained about at the beginning of the year. Remember why you do what you do. Remember why it’s important to lead small.
Here’s what we covered with our leaders:
Safety/security updates
The Sutherland Springs shootings reminded us all about the importance of church safety. While this sacred gathering time cannot always be protected, but we can be smart.
It can also be overwhelming to create a safety plan for every situation (disaster ministry). But you need some safeguards.
Solidify your checkin process. Whether at pickup or during a fire drill, you will need an accurate list of who is in your care.
Walk through your facility with local law enforcement staff to help identify quick fixes you can make to increase security in your space.
You can’t prepare for everything (how to prepare for everything), but
Count Your Wins
Why is what you do successful? How do you measure success? Not by attendance but other tangible measures.
Before you launch, identify what will be “winning.” Certain behaviors or habits. Stories you hear from parents or kids.
Prime the pump and ask leaders to bring these wins with them, and give them time to think about it before you meet. Once you are expecting these wins to occur, your leaders will watch for these specific items.
Give Voice to Challenges
Things can always improve. Talk about what your leaders are feeling and experiencing, and work to respond to their needs.
Challenges can bring anxiety, but these conversations can also help generate constructive conversation to understand life in the small group leaders’ shoes.
This mid-year checkup could help you self-correct some issues you haven’t identified before they become bigger challenges. Or it could help the second half of the year light up more significant ministry through your leaders.
Re-Direct Toward New Goals
A year can be a long time, and you might identify new goals part way through the year. Don’t get too eager and create a new goal every month, but use this time to identify new markers.
What is our vision? Is that changing? How can we better emphasize this in what we do every week?
Take a few minutes to refocus your leaders’ attention on how they will carry out the mission in the next few months.
The mid-year checkup can help clarify, motivate, and inspire leaders heading into the second half.
What you do matters. What they do matters. Don’t let the mid-year fly by without celebrating and remembering before summer comes.
If you can’t meet for an hour, start the conversation by email or have a 5 minute check-in with each leader in the hallway or over coffee.
