Josh Griffin | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts Small Group Sorority

Dennis stole a post from me when he interviewed HSM intern Haley about turning her small group this year into something like a sorority. Fun idea, and it has definitely given her girls a great sense of community. Here’s some, head there for the whole article:

As a fellow small group leader, one of the significant struggles we tend to face is finding a common ground within a group that will bring unity. Small group leaders know that God should be the main force to pull all groups together but students are reluctant and often too blinded by their differences and drama to see the obvious answer. In an attempt to unify my small group of sixteen girls ranging from juniors to senior girls, I have initiated them into the sisterhood of the Alpha Omega small group sorority.

With four new senior girls heading off to college next year and twelve junior girls soon to follow, I had to find a way to bring this group of girls from two rival high schools together. The idea came to me one night when I went to dinner with one of my close friends from college. She and I would never have met had I not joined a sorority. The friends that I made through my sorority in college are some of my best friends that I am still in contact with today. Nothing unifies a group better than the identity of sisterhood.

JG

Add Comment October 23, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts $280 in Youth Ministry Resources for $69

Here’s a spooky deal from Simpy Youth Ministry this week – almost $280 in youth ministry resources for $69. Pretty awesome – and it includes 99 Thoughts for Youth Workers, too! Only the first 400 orders get it – so if it looks like a good for your ministry, get it quick!

JG

99 thoughts

4 View Comments October 21, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts 6 Ways to Encourage Small Group Students to Take a Next Step

This week in small group leader training I covered a few ways to help students take a next step in their spiritual growth. Here are 6 ways small group leaders can help students grow on their own:

Think About the Individual
The large group setting is more objective and big picture look at Scripture and challenges students in the crowd. The small group setting is totally subjective, allowing students to be challenged individually because they are known and cared for. A small group leader can think about the individual by reflecting how God has been moving in their hearts. Maybe even replay discussions you’ve had with your students over the past month. Then suggest a resource (or HABITS tool) that fits where God is moving their heart.

Personalize a Resource
When you find the right resource, take time to write a note in the front of it. Make it personal to them, share you heart why you wanted them to have it and speak into the future you see for them. When you hand a resource to someone, it says a lot – but why not say even a little more and jot a few thoughts inside the cover.

Encourage a Small Step
Last week, we learned to celebrate any step forward in building a relational ministry. A baby step is still a step forward, and sometimes we have to remember that spiritual growth doesn’t come in leaps and bounds. Sometimes, the small steps are huge to a student, encourage a step, no matter the size.

Encourage a Big Step
Blow their mind with something out of their league. Think bigger than they think of themselves. Believe in them enough to challenge them to bite off something huge. Tell them they are up for the challenge and think they can do it. Who knows, it might be

Offer to go through the study/book/resource with them
What if you did it alongside them, too? Help them know you are serious by offering to walk down the path a ways with them. Maybe it is reading a few chapters with them, maybe serving with them a few weeks, maybe texting back and forth with questions and thoughts about what they are reading. “Grow on your own” doesn’t release us from helping students down the road a bit, too.

Follow-up in a few weeks and see how things are going
Fire and forget is still good leadership – giving resources away to students and encouraging them to grow is what we’re all about. But better leadership is to offer some accountability and checking in on their progress. The accountability encourages an expectation that they can and will get through this, and you are partnering with them in these steps of the spiritual journey.

Next steps in spiritual growth aren’t easy, but they can be life-changing. What other ways can small group leaders encourage students to take a “next step” in their spiritual growth?

JG

2 View Comments October 20, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts Church Sign Fail

From today’s Fail Blog. Ha!

JG

Add Comment October 20, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts PumpkinFest Promo Video

You can see last year’s promo videos here, here and here. Here’s the first of 2 this year!

JG

Add Comment October 20, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts POLL: How do you primarily communicate with students?

How do you primarily communicate with students? For us, I would say #1 – texting, #2 – live and #3 – web. How about you?

JG

2 View Comments October 19, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts 4 Reasons We Meet Together for the First Few Weeks of Small Groups

For the last couple of years, we’ve been meeting together for the first few weeks of our small groups launch. Here’s a little of the strategy behind it:

We build up our leadership team
Each night starts with food, discussion and training. It is easily one of my favorite parts of the week! Years ago, I used to host “steak-outs” and grill up steak for my team each month, this gives us a chance to meet together and talk, laugh, share and grow together each week. If you try this, just make sure a) the food is good and b) what you’re meeting about is worth it since you’re asking for an extra hour of their week.

The “next step” from the weekend is much easier
I love it that we can say, “just show up on Tuesday or Wednesday here in the same place and we’ll get you in a small group.” Instead of having to get out the GPS, try to find a home and the pain of walking through the door as a stranger for the first time – they can arrive at a place where they are already comfortable, make some friends and take the next step in our discipleship process.

We establish the expectations together
We ask a lot of our volunteers and students in small groups – and by starting the year together we can model and demonstrate higher expectations. For students, being all together means we’re asking them to be quiet because of other groups, and respectful of others. For leaders, we train and expect reporting, promotion of the ‘next step’ and communication.

It gives us a chance to model different types of cirriculum
The first week was “get to know you” type of night – but the next four weeks all model different types of material they can choose to use in the small group year. This week we’re using a NOOMA video and asking them to discuss/teach around video, and we’ve also done topical, expositional and book studies during our time together.

Last year was the first time we even had the space to experiment with something like this (with the opening of the Refinery) and we met together for 10 weeks. This year, we’ve reduced it to 5 and it feels much better, we love homes and you can start to feel the pull a few weeks in. Next year, I’m thinking about somewhere between 3-5 weeks of meeting together before we move into homes, or maybe asking freshman groups to meet a bit longer than the veteran groups.

Either way, we find this time super valuable, and you might, too. Always up for an experiment!

JG

2 View Comments October 19, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts HSM Weekend in Review: Volume 70

Weekend Teaching Series: Happy: Week 5
Sermon in a Sentence: True happiness results from a heart that is pure.
Service Length: 71 minutes
Bible: Matthew 5:8 (NCV)

Understandable Message: This week I began the home stretch of our 6-week series by focusing on one of the Beatitudes – Happy are the pure in heart. I focused on how the heart is the center of our character and any impurity, even small, ruins it all. I started with handing out a batch of cookies to the audience, but telling them not to eat it until I let them know the final “secret” ingredient. When I revealed what it was, students were able to realize that even a little “yuck” ruins the entire cookie. So that’s where I took the talk – God wants our whole heart, anything less and we miss the point.

Volunteer/Student Involvement: The band was made up of students who doubled as greeters, students also did lights, camera, sound, videos, editing and more. The skit from last week on forgiveness made it to the big leagues, too – we had a student band, choir and drama all in big church this weekend (would it be wrong for me to count them in my totals? Ha!). Awesome! Adult volunteer involvement was high as well, with volunteers running the game and greeting students, too!

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We had the music video for “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” during the countdown, and enjoyed a couple rounds of Will it Blend? (rubber bouncy balls and glow sticks). We had another PSA video, as well as a PumpkinFest promo video that both landed, too. Very fun service – grab the complete program sheet here!

Music Playlist: Glory to God, You’ll Come, It is Well, You Hold Me Now

Favorite Moment: Music this week was a high point for me – really what I needed for sure. But the highlight of the weekend had to be when a student named Alec shared his story, and his whole small group took the stage behind him. Alec’s small group leader “Doc” introduced him, it was really powerful hearing him share about his life being turned around and life change. After the service Doc and I had the prvilege of baptizing Alec, surrounded by his dudes. Epic moment for sure.

Up Next: Happy — Series Finale (week 6 of 6)

Add Comment October 18, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts HSM Message Hook Promo Video

We’re giving away “HSM Hooks” for the next two weeks to help encourage students to keep and hang their bulletins each weekend to reflect, meditate on and be inspired by. Here’s the promo video that we used to announce them. I’ll report back soon if the idea was a good one or not!

JG

6 View Comments October 18, 2009