Hi Group Leaders,

Our Community Group season is winding down. 4 more weeks of group.

With the end in sight, here are 4 things we can do to finish our group well.

1. Decide Summer Plans

Summer is an amazing opportunity to get outside with your group, do a BBQ, go to a park, grab ice cream, watch an outdoor movie, etc.

If you don't get dates on your calendar before the trimester ends, you are less likely to connect over the summer.

Try to set 1 monthly gathering on the calendar for June, July, and August.

One of the best ways to do this is to just schedule a meeting on the same week of every month, on the night you normally meet for group.

For example, the 3rd Tuesday of every month (6/20, 7/18, 8/15).

Even if you don't have the social activity decided yet, you at least have the date reserved on your calendar.

2. Talk with Future Leaders

One of the best ways to ensure group health and prevent leader burn-out, is to share the load. The more the merrier. Who in your group has leadership potential?

If you haven't broached the conversation with them yet, now is the time. Invite them over for dinner or chat with them on Sunday and drop the idea in their mind.

If you have already talked with them about the role, invite them to help you plan or host a summer social.

If they are not yet members of Northridge, invite them to attend the next Membership Class on May 21st.

3. Invite Feedback

What we don't know, CAN hurt us. We may assume everyone is loving group, or that someone is struggling with group, but we won't know for sure until we ask.

Send out an email or hand out 3x5 cards in one of your upcoming meetings and ask 2 questions:

What do you love most about our group?
What is one idea you have to improve our group?

Ask them now before the group season is over, that will give you time to discuss their feedback together, and make adjustments for the fall.

4. Discuss The Future

What is next for your group?
Do you need new leaders?
Do you need to change up your group night?
Do you need to figure out different childcare plans?
Do you need to create room for new people?
Is the group too large to effectively care for each other?
Is now the time to make plans for multiplication?

These can be difficult decisions to make. Don't just wait until August to decide, begin the conversation now.

Not sure what's next, or how to make these changes?

Include your group coach in the conversation. We'd love to help you figure out what is best for you and your group.

4 more weeks until Summer. Let's finish strong!

Upcoming Dates

April 16th - May 27th Spring Community Group Trimester (6 weeks)
Friday, June 2nd, 7:05pm Group Leader Red Wings Game

Questions?

If you have any questions about groups or anything else at Northridge, please reply to the email or reach out to your coach.

We'd love to support you in anyway that we can.

Additional Resources That May Be Helpful

When & How Should Your Group Multiply?

10 Simple Ideas To Connect With Your Group This Summer

The Top 2 Things Group Members Wish Were Different About Your Group

4 Sure Ways To Burn Out As A Group Leader

How To Find and Keep New People

Only Half Of My Group Showed Up Last Night

Northridge Group Leader Podcast

Are you ready for this?

Our last trimester of the Community Group year is about to begin (April 12 - May 23). At the beginning of the groups year, none of us could have predicted it would end like this.

While Community Group members often begin to check-out near the end of the group year, this season feels different. Actually, it doesn't just feel different, this season of social distancing restrictions is different. It is hard to predict the future, so as we look for the best ways to care for and connect with our groups under COVID-19 restrictions, we are taking it one week at a time, one day at a time.

As we prepare for the next 6 weeks of group, here are:

6 Ideas To Make The Most of The Spring Group Trimester

1. Continue to meet...online.

Many of you have already been connecting with your group online with a variety of video platforms and have worked through some of the kinks. If you still have questions about how meet with your group online, contact your coach, or check out our "How To Lead An Online Group" page. We want to help every group figure this out!

2. Meet for a shorter amount of time.

A typical in-person community group meeting usually lasts for 90 minutes to 2 hours. That is long for an online group meeting. The sweet spot for an online group is somewhere between 45-60 minutes.

3. Continue to discuss the sermon.

You may be wondering, what should my group meeting look like online? We would suggest your group continues to use the same format of an in-person meeting. Spend 10-15 minutes catching up, spend about 30 minutes discussing the sermon, and then wrap up by sharing prayer requests and having someone pray.

Some of you have asked, "Where are the sermon discussion questions?"

Our Northridge website has been updated with pertinent info in this COVID season, so the way you may normally navigate to find the questions has changed a bit. You can always find the sermon discussion questions in the same place right here on our Group Leaders website. They are posted each Sunday morning at 8:00am.

4. Update Your Group Description.

As people look for a group on the online Group Finder, please make sure to update your Group description on Group Vitals to let people know you are meeting online instead of in-person.

How do you update your description? Watch THIS short video.

5. Include your kids.

Say what? How is that supposed to work?

While Community Group meetings are designed for adults to experience Biblical Community, those with kids at home also develop relationships with the other kids in group.

With groups unable to meet together in-person, your kids may actually be missing group more than you!

Here is one way some groups have helped their kids connect with each other during this season:

Instead of having the men and women meet all-together in one online meeting, they have separate men's and women's nights. At the beginning of those meetings, you can take the first 5-15 minutes for the kids to connect, be silly, see each other's faces, and talk, and then have either the man or the woman in the house watch the kids while the other connects in their meeting.

6. Change it up.

While we are encouraging groups to function as normal with a typical community group schedule of connecting, sermon discussion, and prayer; taking a week or two to change it up will keep your group from growing weary or stale.

This may be especially true if you met for all 3 weeks of the trimester break.

Here are several ways we have seen groups try something new to connect during this season:

Playing games together online with the website: https://jackbox.tv/.
Doing a Netflix Watch Party: www.netflixparty.com/.
Delivering/Hiding Easter eggs in different family's yards (w/ their approval).
Doing separate video chats with the men and women to dive a little deeper.
Sharing short video messages together with apps like the Marco Polo app.

What would you add to the list? What has your group tried? Email me and share your ideas. I'd love to pass them along to other groups!

We are praying for you as we begin a new group trimester! Please let us know if you have any questions or there is anything you need!

Thanks for helping people still experience Biblical Community in these unique times!