System Owner: Rebecca Allen & Gisela Rivera
The system owner will be responsible for establishing leaders guidelines and expectations including training.

Purpose/Scope:
Small groups are about doing life together and meeting weekly for prayer, discussion, and encouragement. Our main goal will be to apply what we are learning from God's word to our daily lives. We want to be able to experience real community with fellow believers and reach the lost. We want to ensure that our groups have great leaders!

Procedure:
Ensure each leader has read and agreed to the following requirements:

• Be an active, committed member of theCrossroads, including faithfulness in tithes/offerings 
• Complete a 12 Lesson Bible study and attend LifeGroups/Discipleship as a member.
• Be baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Spirit 
• Make a daily, living connection with Jesus Christ a priority (prayer, fasting, Bible reading) 
• Be an encourager and listener for all members of the life group & refrain from and redirect any negative or disparaging remarks toward others or the church 
• Model a Christian lifestyle and clean living (abstaining from recreational drugs, alcohol and smoking) so others may see the benefits a of Christ filled life. 
• Meet with Small Group regularly (keep established schedule) 
• Participate with other Small Group leaders for training and encouragement - Hebrews 10:24-25 
• Fill out a brief Small Group Report (electronically) when requested.
• If any conflict arises, resolve in preferred manner - Matthew 18
• Interview and be endorsed by the Small Groups Team Leaders.
• Be Characterized by “love” and warmth by others as well as demonstrating continued growth, being “spiritual-minded”, being used by God to “restore others in a spirit of gentleness” in relational, transformational ways - John13:35; Gal 6:1-2 
• Present a topic, theme, or Small Group plan for the semester for your small group and have it approved by the Small Groups Team Leaders.

Small Group Guidelines:

• Ensure each small group leader has read and agreed to the following guidelines and tips. Providing necessary training and counseling as necessary to leaders.

Three Main Purposes of Small Groups:
Purposeful: Intentional (organized meeting time and discussion oriented): select specific date and time to meet each week and stick with the end goal.
Social: Goal is to build communications: select a specific time during the term for social interaction and fun. During the life group meetings foster a community and family feel.
Missional: Part of the mission is to reach outside of our group. During the term select a specific time to outreach into our community.


General Guidelines:

• Our job as leaders is to show God while enjoying ourselves. It should not be difficult to have fun with God involved, but unfortunately, for too many of us it is. That does not mean you have to have a party every week, nor does it mean that you force fun to happen. Just show your group what you enjoy about Jesus, and show them that we serve a God that is approachable. One of the worst things we can do as leaders is to try to be something we are not. Every person will be able to see through our facade immediately. Your relationship with the people in your group will be the key to their spiritual growth, and the quickest way to establish a relationship with them is to be yourself. Once your group sees that you are for real and you are committed to them, that relationship will grow. 
• Finally show commitment. In today’s world, nothing ever lasts (celebrity relationships, athlete’s relationship with their team, and all too often parent’s relationship with each other), and your group will expect the same future abandonment from you that they have seen everywhere else. Until they see that you are not going anywhere, their skepticism will keep them from completely opening up. Once they do trust your commitment to the group and to them personally, your responsibility not to let them down will grow exponentially. 

Engagement and Leading Tips:

• Start each meeting with prayer.
• Be topic ready, make sure everyone is prepared with materials and topic.
• Provide opportunities for others to take ownership. This is THEIR group: ask for volunteers for the following-(bring snacks, lead topic, plan social, plan missional event.)
• You are a facilitator not a teacher. Empower others to discover the scripture for themselves.  Do not lecture.
• Allow the Holy Ghost to speak to each member of the group through the study materials (the bible), helping them to understand and apply the text. Be careful in oversharing opinion and stories.
• Small groups are about building spiritual growth and community. Do not become drawn into theological debates. Remember the purpose is to change life, not just gaining knowledge.
• Create a safe environment for group members. Never put down any comments or questions. Make sure people feel affirmed when they share with the group.
• Ask open-ended questions that can not be answered with a simple yes or no.
• Encourage everyone to participate, even the non talkers. Call them by name but never force participation.
• Stimulate further discussion by responding to members' contributions (ie. Thanks for sharing, Salina). A good way to facilitate is to ask guiding questions to clarify vague responses. (ie. What do you mean by… Can you explain your thoughts…)
• Never tell group members they are incorrect. Respond carefully by turning it over the group and be gentle in your response.  For example ( What do others think? Does everyone agree? Did you find that in scripture?
• When the discussion goes off on a bunny trail, acknowledge the topic's importance and suggest you table the topic until later and continue guiding to the main idea of question or discussion. Use discernment to determine if the off-topic conversation is something that will lead to an excellent discussion that the group may need.
• Always remember to ask group members to apply what they have learned. For example, How will you live differently because of the discussion or identify next steps that they need to take.
• When asking questions make sure to not jump in after only a few seconds of silence and answer the question. This is not facilitating and your group members will not learn and grow and discover God’s word for themselves. They members will learn that you will answer so it discourages group participation. Wait 30 seconds after asking the question. This may seem like a long time but either someone else will speak up with an answer or someone may ask, “What was the question?” This is the opportunity to reword the question and make it clear and concise. 
• Never underestimate your role in the privilege of working alongside the Holy Spirit to help people grow. As you lead a group it will be more natural to facilitate a group. You will make mistakes but God is the one that will use you if you don’t give up. Enjoy the journey of being developed into the facilitator that God wants you to be.

Online Small Group Guidelines:
 
Online Meeting Best Practices: Practices below should be shared to members at the beginning of the online meeting.

• Turn on your camera- Seeing each other will increase connection and engagement.
• Turn on Gallery View- to encourage everyone to see each other, not just the speaker.
• Mute call when not speaking- if it is a larger group to decrease background noise. If they would like to speak unmute, or come up with something, for example raising their hand or writing in the chat.

Online Methods of Engagement and Facilitation Tips:
 

• Greet people by name as they join, and invite them to their online group.
• Share the agenda for the session so that everyone knows what will happen and they feel comfortable and are ready. 
• Conduct a check in to allow everyone to have their voice heard at the start of the meetings. Some examples include: 
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  • Posing a question/ice breaker. For example: On a scale of 1-10 how much energy do you have right now?
  • You can call their name as they appear on the screen to share or ask the person sharing to ask the question to the next person.
  • Make sure that you share as well so people can feel comfortable with sharing via an online platform. It can be hard for people online because it is a new forum for communication for them.
• Write down the question you are asking in the chat, and give the members a chance to understand the question being asked of them.
• When asking questions, be creative and encourage everyone to participate. You can have the first person answering ask one other person to share their takeaways. Or you could simply do a popcorn method where whoever wants to talk does so after each person is done sharing.
• When dealing with silence during a meeting try to rephrase the question. Ask a specific person to share. Do not try to fill every gap. It is ok to let people gather their thoughts (think time). Being transparent that it is ok for some silence to think and process will make everyone feel less nervous and they can give greater insights by slowing down the pace of the conversation.
• If the topic goes long or gets off topic you should just simply ask the group to come back to the specific topic being discussed.
• Conduct a check out to allow members to share their reflections and impact the meeting had on them. You can utilize a wrap up question to end the meeting. Some examples include: How do you feel now? How much energy do you have on a scale from 1-10? What was the takeaway? Share one thing you appreciate in the meeting.