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 operate on the semester system, but many of our recovery groups have a look and feel of their own due to the nature of the group.

Your thoughts?

A: Thanks for your question. I’m glad that our small groups system has been beneficial to you. That’s the entire reason we wrote Activate in the first place.

To answer your question we do and have had support/recovery groups at The Journey in our semester-based small groups system. However – we run these groups through our semester based small groups system and not separately (not outside the system on an on-going basis as many other churches do).

This can work in two ways:

1) You have a group that meets for 10-12 weeks to support those dealing with a difficult topic that just ends after that semester. An example that we have seen in the past is a group that met for women with eating disorders. We had a couple of leaders who wanted to lead a group on that topic and found a great study. So, they led the group. It filled up. And though they didn’t lead on that topic every semester – those who attended that group were helped and some great life-long friendships and accountability relationships were formed out of the group.

2) You could also have leaders who really feel called to lead groups on specific support/recovery issues. And they lead on that topic semester after semester (with different studies/books). Some people might sign up for that group for muliple semesters. Some might just attend once and not again. But the mix in the group is different from semester to semester. An example of that might be a men’s group meeting on purity/lust issues or a group for those who have struggled with alcohol.

Again – we do have these kinds of groups – but we haven’t formed a separate ministry out of them – but instead operate them within the context of our semester-based small group ministry.

I hope that helps!

God bless…

Kerrick

P.S. For answers to all of your small groups questions, check out The Small Groups Intensive:
https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p285&navicat=39

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About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.