Leading Deeper in Small Group and Sunday School
Correy Trupp is the Director of Small Group Ministry
Chuck Russell is the Leadership Development Director
One of the perennial issues small group or Sunday school ministries face is the call to lead individuals deeper into the life of Christian discipleship. While it is hard to find anyone who disagrees that the mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, there is confusion about exactly what that means. Over the last few years at Resurrection, we realized in order for groups and individuals to move deeper, the leaders needed to be able to articulate clearly what we mean when we say “…becoming a deeply committed Christian.”
We have worked for more than a year to clearly articulate what it means, at least in the context of our ministry, to be a deeply committed Christian. The primary guiding document we produced is called “The 15 Core Traits of a Deeply Committed Christian.” A downloadable copy is available on our website. We encourage you to utilize it not simply by copying it for your ministry, but by revising it according to your context for ministry.
This document has become key to the development of a number of programs and ministries. We have formed a core discipleship strategy around inviting individuals to Learning Communities which focus their teaching on these core principles. For non or new Christians we invite them first to Alpha which is a basic introduction to the Christian faith. From there, individuals are invited to on-site learning experiences focused specifically on the three overarching areas articulated in the 15 core traits document knowing, loving, and serving God. We have developed three six week learning experiences where participants are able to discover more about each of these areas in an interactive teaching environment, led by an experienced teacher, but also involving significant table and small group experiences.
Ultimately, the goal is to move individuals into a small group (home based, Sunday morning, Disciple, women’s, men’s, etc). As they move into a small group from this intentional process, individuals have a better understanding of what it means to know love and serve God, and the important role small groups play in their personal discipleship. This creates small groups that have a healthier focus of intentional discipleship, not simply social interaction.
Once in small groups, leaders are trained and encouraged to regularly evaluate, review, and guide their groups according to the 15 core traits. Groups are asked to engage in studies and experiences that touch on each of the core traits which helps groups avoid the tendency to get stuck in one area of discipleship.To this end, we have created a curriculum selection tool .This tool is organized around the core traits, and further categorizes items according to level (introductory, intermediate, advanced). Feel free to use this tool to find resources. To order resources contact your local Cokesbury store or to visit www.Cokesbury.com
While this will always be a work in progress, these tools have become an important resource and help guide our decision making and training as we pray, think, and plan around the question of how to lead people deeper in the Christian Life.
Correy Trupp oversees Small Group Ministry at the Church of the Resurrection. He can be reached at correy.trupp@cor.org.
Chuck Russell provides support to leadership development and catalyst ministry efforts at the Church of the Resurrection. He can be reached at chuck.russell@cor.org.