Since it’s Monday, this would normally be a post that Steven and I would write together. Steven has finals this week so he’s taking some time to study. We’ll be back to our regular schedule next week.
This past week our junior high and high school ministries at Saddleback Church spent some time planning out the fall calendar. That might sound 
strange since it’s not even summer yet, but if you want to be effective and make sure that things don’t fall through the cracks you really need to plan for the future with enough time to fix any issues that might come up along the way. It made me start thinking about my new small group and what I want to do this fall. I’m going to have a new group and also a new co-leader, so here’s what I need to do before fall:
- Spend some time with my new co-leader and establish with him what we want to accomplish with our new group and how we’re going to get there
- I also am “mentoring” my new co-leader at the same time so I need to make sure I’m growing and stretching him at the same time
- I want to spend some time with the former leaders of my new group so I can get to know some background on each of the new guys. And while this isn’t necessary, it sure gives you a head start with helping to grow students in their faith if you have a heads up on what life application lessons we need to go over.
- I want to see where our High School Ministry is going this fall, what will be the weekend lessons, what do they want us to teach on.
- I want to plan out some serve opportunities. That’s a huge way to help students grow their faith when you get them serving others.
- I want to plan out some fun events with the new group. Those events help them bond with each other, and help bond you to them as well. It also lets them see you as a person, not just a leader. Nothing brings you down to their level faster than getting smacked in the side of the head with a dodgeball!
Question: Have you begun planning out your fall schedule for your student small group? Any good plans you want to share we’d love to hear them!
