This is Kerrick Thomas, Executive & Teaching Pastor at The Journey and co-author of Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups. One of many contrarian ideas behind the Activate small groups system has to do with the number of people you allow to sign up for any one “small” group. Nelson asked me to share some of the thinking … Read More
Where Should Our Small Groups Meet?
We often get asked questions about where Small Groups should meet, what’s most effective and how important location is in planning for groups. I’ve asked Adam Bishop, our Small Groups Pastor at The Journey, to share some thoughts on where groups meet: Thanks Nelson — This is actually one of the most important topics that Kerrick and I address in … Read More
Q & A – How many Small Groups?
Here’s a recent small groups question that I received. I asked Adam Bishop, Small Groups Pastor at The Journey, to share his answer here: Q: Hey, our church has decided to move to the semester-based small groups system that you guys use. It really has us excited about small groups again and we’re trying to get ahead on our planning … Read More
Q & A – Pastor’s Newcomer Small Group?
This is Kerrick Thomas – I’m the Executive Pastor at The Journey Church and the co-author of “Activate” with Nelson. Just a while back, Nelson asked me to answer the following question and then to share my answer with you: Q: Our leadership team has asked me to have a “pastor’s small group” with new people. We are seeing new … Read More
Q & A – Transitioning Small Groups
This is Kerrick Thomas (Executive Pastor at The Journey and co-author of Activate). I recently received these questions and Nelson asked me to share my responses with all of you. Q: We’re in the process of creating and launching a new small groups system at our church and I’ve found the Activate system to have great potential for us. Our … Read More
Q & A: CLASS Compatible with Activate Groups?
Q: I read in Activate how you should be a church OF small groups, not a church WITH small groups. And I agree. Here’s my question. Don’t classes 101-401 create drag on your small groups system? Or are your classes offered AS small groups? A: Great question! We do, indeed, use the Purpose Driven C.L.A.S.S. series (101, 201, 301 & … Read More
Q & A – Support/Recovery Groups in SG System
It’s Kerrick Thomas here again, Executive Pastor at The Journey and co-author of Activate with Nelson. He asked me to share my answer to this Small Groups question for you today: Q:Thanks for taking the time to put your process on paper. Much appreciated. Quick question: How do your support and recovery groups look within the semester system. We too … Read More
Q & A – Small Group Curriculum
Q: I had a question regarding small group stuff. We observed that most of the subject matter of your small groups were book studies. There were a few actual studies on books of the Bible. What was it that guided your decision to lean in this direction? A: We always use a book for our growth groups – you can … Read More
Q & A: How Big is Too Big for Small Group System?
This is Kerrick Thomas once again – Executive Pastor at The Journey and co-author of Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups with Nelson. Nelson asked me to follow-up on the following question regarding the semester-based small groups that we use and recommend: We have been using one type of model for small groups (ongoing) and one type for … Read More
Small Groups Q & A – Transitioning
This is Kerrick Thomas – I co-wrote “Activate” with Nelson and he asked me to share this recent question and answer about transitioning small groups in a church with a more traditional structure: Q: Hello! I am currently reading your book Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups. I am the associate pastor at a Christian Church. We average … Read More