Student Group Training

Use this series to launch pursueGOD student groups in your church or ministry.

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How to Start a Student Group

Posted: November 24, 2018
Starting and running a mentoring group with students younger than you is easier than you think.

Key Steps:

  1. Get trained. Find a co-leader for your group and go through the rest of the Student Group Training Series.
  2. Invite a few students to your group. Groups with co-leaders can have 4-12 group members.
  3. Schedule your meetings. Hold your group every week or twice a month.
  4. Make it fun. Plan activities for your group so they’ll want to come back.
  5. FLEX. Find a topic from pursueGOD.org, learn about it through the video, and explore it together in conversation.
Talk About It
  1. Has anyone ever mentored you before? Explain what it was like.
  2. Do you believe students can disciple other students? Why or why not?
  3. What is a parent’s role in a student group, and why is it important?
  4. Start making a list of students who might be interested in joining your group. What activities would be fun for them? Which topics would they be interested in discussing? When do you think everyone could meet, and how often?
  5. Describe the FLEX method. How can this method take pressure off of you as a mentor?
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Small Group Leader Essentials

Posted: September 11, 2021
Want to lead a small group that makes a difference? Pay attention to these five leader essentials.

Leader Essentials:

  • Invite personally. Don’t rely on announcements at church to build your group. The best way to grow your group is through personal invitations.
  • Involve everyone. Encourage others to participate by facilitating the conversation, hosting a night, leading prayer, bringing snacks, or planning serving opportunities.
  • Influence spiritual growth. Challenge others to create and keep personal spiritual disciplines such as time in God’s word, prayer, serving and disciple making. 
  • Invest outside of group time. Pray for them, connect with them socially, check in when they’re unable to attend, and serve them when the need arises.
  • Inspire multiplication. All groups have a life cycle, and leaders must develop expectations of what healthy growth looks like for the group. Ultimately, it means you will reproduce.
Discussion:
  1. Initial reactions to this topic? What jumped out at you?
  2. Who are the people God has put in your path (spheres of influence) and on your heart through prayer to invite into your small group? How will you invite them?
  3. What are some “jobs” you can create and give to others to make your small group great?
  4. Rate yourself. On a scale from 1-10, how much do you tend to dominate the conversation in a group setting? How will you make sure to involve others in the conversation?
  5. What are some ways you can encourage your group members to create and keep personal spiritual disciplines?
  6. How will you encourage connection outside of the group? What are some things you can do as a group to serve each other and in the community?
  7. How will you communicate to your group that the goal isn’t to stay together for years but rather to grow and multiply? What tends to happen to groups that become “holy huddles”?
  8. Is there a step you need to take based on today’s topic?
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Driving Toward Disciple-making in Your Small Group

Posted: January 15, 2020
Without mentoring, groups can be a small version of the big problem: ministry that doesn't personally help the ones in need.

Talking Points:

  • The small group is the simplest place to model disciple-making. Every time you cover a topic, you’re training group members on the pursueGOD method. 
  • Identify a few people who are ready to become disciple-makers. You’re already engaging them during small group; now establish them by taking them through The Pursuit outside of group time. Matthew 9:36-37
  • The small group is an ideal environment for handoffs. Start connecting the few with others in the group, empowering one-on-one discipling relationships outside of the group. Ephesians 4:11-12
Discussion:
  1. Initial reactions to this topic? What jumped out at you?
  2. Read Matthew 9:36-37. What’s the “big problem” that Jesus exposes? Have you seen a smaller version of that problem in your small group? Explain.
  3. Make a list of life and faith topics that people need to talk about. Which topics are appropriate for small group? Which ones would be better tackled in a mentoring relationship?
  4. Make a list of 2-3 people in your small group who are available and teachable. Do you think that they would be willing to mentor someone from your group if the need arose?
  5. Is there a step you need to take based on today’s topic?
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