Lexi Shipp is a passionate writer, speaker, and Bible teacher. With a Bachelors in Religion and Masters in Human Services Counseling, both specified in Christian Ministry, Lexi is currently serving alongside her husband as Girls Student Ministry Director at London Bridge Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Working with middle and high school girls for years, she has a heart for connecting all generations of women and championing the next generation for the cause of Christ – starting within her own home as a mom. Lexi serves as a regular LifeWay Girls blogger, the Blog Team Lead for the SBC of Virginia’s Women’s Ministry Blog, and as a part of the SBCV Ministry Wives and Women’s Ministry Strategy teams. To read more of Lexi’s writings or to book her as a speaker, connect with her on Instagram @alexisleeshipp.
When it comes to leading small groups, each group dynamic can vary drastically. However, there are a few skills that are important to develop within every small group leader. Over the years, between personal experience and working with incredible group leaders, here are a few tips and tricks we’ve implemented in small group settings that have been helpful for overall small group health, especially within student ministry.
Kindly Cutting Off
Everyone probably has a name that pops into their mind when you mention, “the talker” of the group. The individual(s) who tend to dominate the conversation without much awareness. Regardless of age, this is a common occurrence. One way to kindly redirect conversation is to say, “_____, you’ve poured out a lot of wisdom today. Thank you for everything you’ve shared. But now, I want to hear from someone I haven’t heard from whose wheels are turning…” This helps give others an opportunity to share while still encouraging those who have spoken.
Set a Timer
It is natural for members of a small group to want to connect with each other. This is a great thing! It’s also something you want to encourage within the right context. What can be challenging is when you need to get through a lesson but only have an hour together every week and limited time to connect about everyday life. It is easy for conversation to derail, especially if you’re leading middle schoolers! One practical idea that may help is setting a timer on the front end. For example, go around in a circle and give each person 2 minutes to share anything they want to from the previous week. (If you want to give specific structure, try “high, low, buffalo” or “rose, bud, thorn”. “High, low, buffalo” is sharing something good, something bad, and something random that happened during the week. “Rose, bud, thorn” is sharing something good and something bad from the previous week, and something that you’re looking forward to in the upcoming week.) When the timer goes off, they’re done! This provides a time limit and takes the pressure off of you in feeling like you’re cutting them off from sharing. Once everyone is finished, it’s time to give their full attention to the lesson. You can also use this time to incorporate physical movement to help them do a better job of sitting while listening and discussing.
Print Scriptures in Advance
It is always nice to encourage the habit of studying in paper Bibles, and we should. But if we’re being honest, when Scripture verses are “assigned” at the beginning of group, it’s hard to really process what others are reading because you can’t follow along when you are focused on your verse and waiting to be called on to read out loud. This can be a lot of pressure! To alleviate this, in addition to using paper Bibles, have all of the Scripture passages for the lesson printed out on a sheet of paper ahead of time so that group members can be assigned a verse to read while also following along with other’s verses. To take it a step further, you can take 5 minutes at the beginning of group time and allow students to circle, underline, highlight, etc. anything that stands out to them. Then, discuss. Prayerfully, this will help them to really engage with Scripture!
Hopefully, some piece of this is helpful to your ministry. Praise God for faithful small group leaders in the church! They help us engage in scriptural conversations that foster spiritual growth.
