Leaders and Coaches

Spiritual Disciplines: Growing Together in Community

When we think of the spiritual disciplines, we think about practicing them ourselves. Maybe its reading your bible more, or having a more consistent prayer life – whatever the discipline – our thoughts go to the individual. But, what if the spiritual disciplines were not meany to be practiced solely individually but in community? As Small Group Leaders and Coaches, this is the key question we need to challenge ourselves with.

Blog Articles

Leaders & Coaches

Secret Sin May be Killing Your Small Group

Christian community is the means by which the strength of Christ is realized in one’s own heart. In other words, sin is crushed by Christ when believers practice teaching and admonishing one another with the word of Christ

How to Relaunch Your Group After COVID

We are reemerging from a pandemic. And we need community. Some or all of your small group has been meeting virtually. So now that your group is meeting in person again, how do you relaunch your group after COVID?

Borrowing Other People’s Words to Pray

I often struggle with prayer. I feel empty-headed, and I revert back to simple words and phrases that I’ve used again-and-again to speak to God. Fortunately, I have found three places where I can borrow others’ words to help me pray.

How Can I Elevate Prayer Needs to the Elders?

What do you do when people in your group have significant prayer needs, like an upcoming surgery, a close family member passing away, or a cancer diagnosis? Pastor Don Bartemus answers how your group can elevate important prayer needs to the pastors and elders.

How Do I Help Someone Who Is Depressed?

Jeff Ballard opens up the topic of depression so that we can see that it’s encouraging that a person would share this with us, that even the famous pastor Charles Spurgeon struggled in this way, and there are practical takeaways for us to help.

Do We Really Need Accountability in Our Group?

Sometimes the word “accountability” can instill fear—and for good reason. When misused, it becomes nothing more than legalistic, performance-based righteousness. Biblical accountability can be a beautiful tool within the context of a group and can draw members into deeper fellowship. But what exactly is biblical accountability?

Leaders Are Learners: Past Leader Equip Nights Topics

At College Park, we believe in equipping our ministry leaders to better serve those in our congregation. One of the ways we do this is through Small Group Leader Equip Nights. Check out all the past training content including power points slideshows and downloadable PDF guides to better equip you as you lead your group.

How to Deal with Uncertainty Through Prayer

If there has been one constant this year it is this: uncertainty. Crisis causes change. And change leaves us figuring out how to respond. If uncertainty is our constant companion, what do we do about that? It’s never easy to feel out of control. We cherish finding a sense of stability. So, here are four actions we can take to continue moving forward even in the midst of uncertainty.

4 Tips for Cultivating a Healthy Small Group

As Small Group leaders we have answered a call to steward those entrusted in our group. Much like a gardener, we are tasked with nurturing, but the Lord is the one that causes the growth. We can’t take credit when our group is doing well, but we can take steps to ensure against neglect. 

How Do I Avoid Burnout?

I don’t want to burn out. But there are so many threats in life that push me toward spending all my energy and having nothing left. Especially after a season of heightened crisis, we need some recovery. So, what can we do to avoid burnout? Let’s try these six practices

Becoming a Leader Is How I Found Community

I can say leading a Small Group has become one of the greatest joys and experiences I have had in my faith journey so far. I am able to encourage, be encouraged, and bring people together so that they can continue to love one another well and I can also be loved. Every member of the Small Group community plays a special part in that.

Leading Your Group by Sharing Your Struggles

In the age of Photoshop and curated feeds it has become normal to only publish what we want people to see. I longed to feel like I could be myself without the need to hide behind a mask or stand protected behind a wall. These precious relationships can only flourish by being vulnerable and sharing real struggles with others.

How Do I Know If Someone In My Group Is Ready To Lead?

Although it can be scary to think about “losing” a really great group member, we’re called to encourage one another to maximize using our spiritual gifts (see Heb. 10:24-25). And one of the best days in a Small Group is that bittersweet day when a member is released to start leading a group on their own. Here are five clues that will help you know if someone in your group is ready to lead

4 Easy Steps to Mentoring Others

You understand that to be a Christian is to be a disciple-maker, but you aren’t sure how to go about it. You want God to use you to make a difference in the lives of people around you through mentoring, but actually getting started has you at a standstill. Thankfully, God by his grace has given us help in his all-sufficient Word to know how to get started in the kingdom-advancing work of discipling.

Fight Fear with Faith…And Friends

Living in the middle of a worldwide pandemic is surfacing my fears and worries in ways that I have to address. Can you relate? What does help? Having others walk with us, pointing us toward God.

Why I Love My Coach

Having been a leader in different contexts over the years, I was pleasantly surprised that this coaching relationship was a core dynamic to Small Groups. If I was going to keep growing as a spiritual leader, I felt that this coaching relationship was a must!

Running a Zoom Gathering FAQs

When your Small Group can’t meet in person, you can still gather digitally by using a video conferencing app like Zoom. This article will only cover some top questions about how to use Zoom.

Is My Group Helping Me Grow In Godliness?

When we connect into God’s church, we are supposed to “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ”. But is that actually happening in your group? Here are three questions you can ask to find out.

9 Check-Up Questions for a Small Group

We’ve all been to the doctor to get a check-up on how our body is doing. But how do you run a check-up on a Small Group? Whether you are a Coach or a leader, the following nine questions should help:

6 Bad Reasons to Join a Small Group

We could think that involvement in a Small Group absolves us of our responsibility to fully engage on Sunday mornings. That won’t work. Sunday mornings are the primary place where God’s people gather and worship, and Small Groups allow us to dig deeper into how to apply those truths into our real lives.

How Do I Make Plans for My Small Group in the New Year?

While plans are good and necessary, it is God who ultimately directs your steps. Whatever your hesitations are associated with the new year, have you asked what God’s plans are for your Small Group? Here are a few suggestions to help frame your mind as you enter a new decade.

4 Ways to Pray for your Small Group When You’re Busy

How many times have we heard a fellow member share a prayer request update and realized that we completely neglected to pray for them during the intervening week between Small Group gatherings? These four methods can help with upping our prayer priority for those in our group—even in the midst of our full schedules.

How I Learned to Pray for the Leaders I Coach…Through Texting

Texts and emails have become the main method of communication and prayerful encouragement with my leaders. Whenever I am thinking about the leaders that God has given me to serve, I can quickly send an encouraging text or verse them. This has been a key way to stay intentional and connected.

How to Reset Your Small Group

When my Small Group is experiencing lethargy because of non-committal members, what do I do? Do I ignore them, confront them, or just shut down the entire group? Here is one proposal for how to reset your group.

4 Tools for Real Fellowship

In a previous post, we uncovered what real fellowship looks like. But what are a few easy tools that we can use in the group to bring about this real fellowship?

Helping Others Through Discouragement

Every one of us gets discouraged from time to time. Some of us get discouraged often… How can we help each other fight discouragement as brothers and sisters in Christ?

How Do I Help My Group Grow In Evangelism?

I’m better at evangelism than I was in college. But it’s still really hard. And I’d guess it’s hard for you and the members of your Small Group as well. So, how can we help our groups—and ourselves—grow in giving the gospel to our dying world?

Member Covenant

Our Member Covenant explains what we live together at College Park Church, and every member agrees to live it out as a part of our church family.