The one thing I remember very clearly about small group
ministry class was when our teacher Bro Casey during the first lesson talked
about how many people today go to church together but go home alone. How often
do the people in my church and small group feel alone in their worries and
struggles? When people do not feel that the church cares, then they will turn
to other sources of help. It reminded me then that a small group must be a
place where authentic Christianity is lived out, where people can be part of a
true Christian community that cares. While the small group community strives to
reach communities beyond itself, it must at the same time look to form a true
community within where each person prioritizes the group above themselves – a
community that feels like and acts like a real family. Only then, can we be
attractive as a community to the outside world.
Very often, when we think of the small group where life
transformation occurs, we think of the small group’s role to disciple those
within through serious discussions or teachings. While that is true, caring for
one another in the small group is also an essential ingredient for life
transformation. In a community that cares, people can get encouragement to be
faithful to their calling and to resist sin.
And no doubt, the idea of a true community where one can
find support sounds attractive. But it takes a lot of effort from everyone, the
willingness to take the risk of giving without receiving, of being vulnerable
to share one’s life. But if the Holy Spirit is the one who binds us in unity,
then it is possible through His transformative work in all our Christian
communities.
Another thing that I learnt through my readings and lessons
was that a leader has to take on different roles during different stages of the
group, the four stages being forming, storming, performing and termination. During
the forming stage, the leader should give clear directions for the group, to
allow people to have a sense in security in the leader and the group. However,
in the storming stage, where people may have conflicts with one another or with
the leader, it is unwise for the leader to exert his authority forcefully on the
group to resolve the conflicts. Instead the conflicts need to be resolved
amiably. In general, the leader should explain clearly why he feels a certain
decision is preferable. In the performing stage, where the group is doing well,
it is all the more important for the leader to not be the sole person making
decisions, but rather empower the group members to make decisions for the group
as well, allowing them to take ownership of the group. Though I have learnt
about the four stages of a group before, I only learnt it from the perspective
of how the group will behave in each season, but not how the leader should lead
accordingly. As such, when my group went into the storming stage, I was taken
aback that I felt forced to take on a different style of leadership to
facilitate people through the conflicts, rather than just merely providing
directions for the group.
A third thing that I learnt during class was the
facilitation techniques that can be used during small group sharing and bible
studies. The ACTS model is a rule of thumb that is easy to remember and is very
useful for small group sharing. The acronym stands for Acknowledge everyone who
speaks, clarify what is said and felt, turning it back to the group to generate
discussions and summarize what has been said. At the first stage of
acknowledging people who speak, it is important to encourage people to speak by
starting the discussions with questions that are easy to answer. This allows
people to feel involved as they are able to easily contribute ideas. It is also
important to know the composition of your group as introverts may prefer to pen
down their thoughts before sharing them. When people are sharing, they should
do so one at a time and ask everyone to pay attention if necessary, so that
everyone feels valued at the discussion. At the second stage, it is important
to clarify what has been said so that there no misunderstandings among the
group. This can be done either by paraphrasing what has been said or by
expanding on what has been said. Subsequently, the third step is where the facilitation
leader can either redirect the group back on topic by asking limiting questions
or to lead the group into deeper areas of concern by asking leading questions.
Finally, the leader should summarize the discussion at the end to encapsulate
what has been shared and what the group can take away from it.
Apart from the above, I have been blessed by the small group
discussions that we had within class, where people were very willing to share
openly about their lives and always ready to encourage each other. It has been
a great 10 weeks!
