Click on the picture above to see the finalized schedule for this year’s Ministry Summit.
How do you know if you should come to the Ministry Summit this Saturday? Since you cannot foresee how significant this half day of training will be to you, let me do my best to foretell it to you. Here are five reasons you should be at the Ministry Summit this Saturday:
1. The vast majority of 90 year old churches are plateaued or declining (or long dead and gone). By God’s grace, Lake City is none of those, and this year’s summit represents why (Hint: We are committed to the mission!)
2. The LCCC Family is growing in every spiritual way, and you are a part of the family.
3. The summit title even has the word “Everybody” in it, so, therefore, you KNOW it is for you. (“Everybody Has a Mission and a Ministry.”)
4. The speakers are THAT good, and they love God and you, a LOT.
5. Besides great equipping, inspiring, unifying, fellowship and food, you will get to hear all about the Why Am I Here? series, and be the first to purchase your study guides.
I posted this “small group leader job description” last year, but have updated for 2013!
Are you considering using your God-given gifts to lead in the LCCC Family? If so, praise God! Now that raises the questions…What does it take to be a Lake City Small Groups Leader? What does small group leadership include?
Here is the official position description for this significant role:
Lake City Small Group Leader Description
Small Group Leader’s Qualifications:
Be a member of the church, or be in membership process.
Attend the leader trainings, in fall and January.
Small Group Leader Fall Series Material Meeting is Sunday, Sept. 1, 10:50AM (during 2nd service) in the Gym. It is primarily for small group leaders, but open to everyone.
Ministry Summit is Saturday, Sept. 15, 9am-1pm. It is for ALL leaders of LCCC, including small group leaders.
Be approved and blessed by small groups pastor and an elder.
Small Group Leader’s Job Description:
(Trying to do less than this will fail almost every time. Co-leaders or “Inner Circles” will share this load.)
Time Commitment: Prayer and preparation before the group; the group meeting time; relationship-building and discipleship time outside the group.
Length of Commitment: Semester and/or entire 9 month ministry year.
Primary Roles:
Be a model of someone who desires to become like Jesus.
Delegate leading and caring responsibilities to group members so they can use their gifts for the benefit of the group.
Regularly contact group members between meetings (through phone calls, emails, cards, coffee, invite for dinner, notes on Facebook, etc.) Follow up with absent members to let them know they were missed.
Disciple and raise up new generations of leaders, as you are able.
Complete the simple evaluation reports requested by small groups pastor from time to time.
Tools Provided for Leaders
1. As the small groups pastor, I sit down personally with everyone who expresses interest in leading or co-leading our small groups. I always come prepared with our Lake City Small Groups Toolkit(a collection of our best training materials over the past sevenyears), and an enthusiasm to answer the frequently asked questions and the intriguing questions that are new to me.
2. Because of the importance of this role, all leaders are designated a pastor (that’s me), an elder who prays for and is available to them, and a coach (if desired), for assistance, encouragement and accountability of their own growth as a follower of Jesus.
3. This blog is also an ever-increasingly more comprehensive quick-reference for many areas of small group leadership.
With 615 views this year, this post has reached a bigger audience than our church alone. I praise God for what it may contribute to the worshipful experience of small groups around the world. Making communion common has been a tremendous growth area in the worship and relationships of Lake City Small Groups. Praise God.
And, praise God for a memorable 2012 and all He has waiting for us to experience together in…
Blessings on our homes!
Pastor Reg
P.S. Here is what’s in store for the upcoming Semester, kicking off on January 20!
Winter/Spring Semester, 2013
Here are a few important dates to put on your calendar right now:
1. The 2nd annual Lake City Family Summithappens Saturday, January 12, 9:00AM-1:00PM. NFL quaterback Jon Kitna and his wife Jen will be our primary speakers, along with several breakout sessions. As usual, the small group leaders training will be contained in one of those 50 minute workshops. How small groups fit into the BIG picture of the church as God’s Family is an exciting major theme for this year’s summit. Don’t miss it!
2. If you miss the Summit, a small group leader trainingmake-up session happens Sunday, January 20, during 2nd service (10:50AM-12:10PM), in the Gym.
3. The Official Kickoff Week of Winter/Spring Semester is the week of January 20. Of course, groups have autonomy to start earlier or later, based on their semester plan.
4. Pastor Jim resumes the Luke Sermon Series on Feb. 2/3, a good option for any group who would like to study Luke’s gospel along with the weekend sermons. We will have resources.
Leaders, I have laid out all our studies on a table in my office (pictured above), for you to come by and took a look, or borrow a couple to check out!
Also, don’t forget the “Lake City Offer”…
“The Lake City Offer”
If you are interested in a curriculum we do not have, I will buy the leader book and DVD (if there is one) for you, if you’ll return when finished, to add to our library. Just last week we added Tim Keller’s The Reason For God, and Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing About Grace?, per two leaders’ requests. Both will be great additions.
Also, my favorite place to search for small group curriculum reviews is the search feature on Mark Howell’s comprehensive small groups website – www.markhowelllive.com
Winter/Spring Semester, 2013
Here are a few important dates to put on your calendar right now:
The 2nd annual Lake City Family Summitis scheduled for Saturday, January 12, 9:00AM-1:00PM. NFL quaterback Jon Kitna and his wife Jen will be our primary speakers, along with several breakout sessions. As usual, the small group leaders training will be contained in one of those 50 minute workshops. How small groups fit into the BIG picture of the church as God’s Family is an exciting major theme for this year’s summit. Don’t miss it!
If you miss the summit, a small group leader trainingmake-up session is scheduled for Sunday, January 20, during 2nd service (10:50AM-12:10PM)
The official Kickoff week of Winter/Spring Semester is the week of January 20. Of course, groups have autonomy to start earlier or later, based on their semester plan.
Pastor Jim resumes the Luke Sermon Series on Feb. 2/3, a good option for any group who would like to study Luke’s gospel along with the weekend sermons. We have resources.
How NOT to Start Your Semester
Finally, this is one of my favorite words of wisdom for leading a successfully Christ-honoring small group; wisdom that I will implement in our group this coming semester.
Remember, small groups are not merely Bible studies alone. They are our glorious opportunity to live out ALL the New Testament’s design for the church (cf. Acts 2:42-47, for example) witheach other.
HOWEVER, wisdom and experience shows that if you start your group’s experience with a Bible study, you will be locked into the “Bible study” mold and mentality, no matter what you try to do later. So, wisdom suggests to start your semester with the other things that get crowded out: Start with a worship/prayer night, seeking God’s guidance and setting a worshipful pattern for your year. Start with a service/outreach project, or series of them, saying “We are going to be the hands and feet of Jesus!” Start with sharing a few personal salvation testimonies, to celebrate God’s grace in our lives. Start with having the kids involved in worship, seeing Jesus Christ proclaimed as the purpose for your existence. Then,start your study. We have 16-20 weeks in the Winter/Spring Semester. Plenty of time to do it all!
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