How to Lead Preteen Small Groups – Part 1
Our preteen group, X-Zone, just got back from Winter Camp. Wow, what an experience (can’t wait to blog about it). Now that camp is over, I can finally get around to writing my follow-up post to: Why Do Preteen Small Groups? If you haven’t read it, I recommend you do.
So, how do you lead small groups for preteens? Before I tackle that question, know that there is no ONE WAY, but MANY WAYS that are effective. Each church is different, each leader’s vision is different and each preteen group is different. But over the years I’ve discovered some common factors to leading successful small groups for preteens.
I was originally thinking of writing all them down in one sitting. But as I began to write, I thought it best to give you one tip every day or so. I simply had a lot more to say than I originally thought.
Here’s tip #1:
1. Define the Purpose. What do you want to accomplish as a result of having small groups? Will the focus be to build relationships among preteens and leaders, help preteens go deeper with God , study the Bible more in depth or something else? When everything is your goal, you accomplish little. Decide what your purpose is and then build everything else around that goal.
Here are a few examples:
We once hosted a video game small group on Fridays after school. The focus was relational in nature. Preteens were invited to join leaders at church for snacks and video games. It was a huge hit!
Another small group we offered for years was our Sunday night growth groups. They were discipleship in nature. We focused only on the preteens who wanted to go deeper with God. They had to sign up and commit to attending each week. We encouraged parents to let their preteen decide whether or not to attend, rather than pushing them to do so. About 20% of the preteen group signed up. We were comfortable with that number because we wanted to focus on the preteens who wanted to grow in their relationship with God. A group of 25-30 preteens showed up at a host home each week. Not a small group, right? We thought it would be a good idea to meet as sort of a community group for hang-out time and worship. We met for a quick hang-out time (no game) & snacks, a volunteer led worship with a guitar (quieter/softer songs) and then broke out into small groups of 5-6 throughout the home (it was a big house). Each group had a specific topic, including: Bible study on the book of James; I’m a Christian, Now What?; Becoming a Contagious Christian; Discovering My Spiritual Gifts and more. It was a huge success!
The last example is how I currently do small groups. X-Zone, our preteen group, meets on Wednesday nights. The goal is to reach out to the preteens at our church and preteens in the community. So, programming is super fun with lots of high energy games and tons of food. We encourage preteens to always be bringing their friends. And they do all the time! After the large group message, we break up into small groups for about 30 minutes. That’s where the magic happens! Preteens ask questions about life and faith. Tons of newcomers are always coming, asking questions and exploring what it means to follow Jesus.
When it comes to small groups, we often have too many things we’re trying to accomplish. We want to build relationships, challenge preteens to go deeper with God and reach out to newcomers. All those are great goals. But one program cannot effectively accomplish all of them. But offering small groups with a clearly defined purpose can.
Looking for a small group series? Check out PreteenMinistry.net’s new 5 week small group preteen series: What’s the Bible All About?