How Do You Minister to Youth through Your Small Groups?

This is Kerrick Thomas – Executive Pastor at The Journey Church and co-author of “Activate” with Nelson.  Nelson asked me to address a common small group question today on the blog. The question is “How can we minister to youth through the Small Groups System?” When it comes to youth and semester-based Activate small groups I’ve seen it work effectively in two ways: 1 … Read More


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Do Ministry Teams Compete with Small Groups?

This is Kerrick Thomas – Executive Pastor at The Journey Church and co-author of “Activate” with Nelson. Nelson asked if I would take a moment today to address a common small groups question – the apparent “competition” between Small Groups and Ministry Teams. Recently, I’ve received two questions about this same issue and I wanted to answer each of them: … Read More


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Small Groups Pastor Wanted @ The Journey Church in NYC

I’m looking for just the right “A” player to fill a key pastoral position here at The Journey Church! We’re looking for a Groups/Teaching Pastor to join our team – Don’t apply unless you love semester-based groups & my book Activate! However, if you’re passionate about groups and willing to devote yourself to “giving the people of New York City the … Read More


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How to Use Small Groups to Raise the Evangelistic Temperature of Your Church

One of the best aspects of offering semester-based small groups like I teach in my book  Activate is that you have the opportunity to lead your people through a wide range of topics. We have groups that study everything from prayer and spiritual leadership to honoring God with your finances. And one of the most helpful topics for small groups … Read More


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Top Tips for Transitioning to Semester Based Small Groups

Some of most commonly asked small group Questions come from those who are interested in (sometimes in the middle of) transitioning their existing traditional small groups to the Activate, semester-based groups system. We’ve asked Roy Mansfield – Pastor of Spiritual Development at Northstar Church in Panama City, Florida – to share what he has learned through the process of transitioning … Read More


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Should You Identify Small Groups by Age?

This is Kerrick Thomas here, Executive Pastor at The Journey and co-author of Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups. Nelson asked me share today about another one of the questions that people ask regularly when setting up their Small Groups System – the question of whether or not to identify small groups by age, or to ask it … Read More


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How to “Activate” Small Groups in a New Church Start

This is Kerrick Thomas – I’m the Executive Pastor at The Journey Church and co-author of “Activate” with Nelson. He asked me to address a question today that we receive regularly about when and how to start Small Groups in a new church plant. We’re often asked if the Activate small groups system will work in a small church plant, … Read More


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How to Involve Your Full Staff in Groups

Adam Bishop here, Small Groups Pastor at The Journey.  Nelson asked me to post today about how to get your full staff involved in Small Groups. In Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups, Nelson and Kerrick mention that The Journey has a scalable structure for our small group system, including “Coaches.” Sometimes we’re asked who makes up that … Read More


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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


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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


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