Life of a youth pastor .

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Large Group vs. Small Group

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tug of war

Let’s play out a mock scenario. You are alone in ministry and are presented with the option to provide a dynamic large group program that dozens of students enjoy attending OR recruit and equip other leaders to provide small groups for the same group of students.

Large Group or Small Groups? And you can only choose one.

This may not be the current reality of your leadership position or church, but depending which one you choose in this mock scenario says a lot about your ministry philosophy and how you will execute that philosophy.

Perhaps you do offer both the large group program and the small group model. One of these will receive more planning this week than the other. One of these has a larger budget. One of gets more time and attention.

Why did I create a mock scenario for you? Because it’s easier to think that this is a pretend situation rather than a reality that happens every single week. Every week you will choose as the ministry leader whether large group or small group is more important. You will program for one better than the other, you will put more time and effort into one rather than the other. It may be time for you to re-evaluate your priority of large group vs. small group.

I’ve got more to say about this in my next post and announce the winner.

Give them time.

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loveovertime

My most repeated request from small group leaders over the past month has been, “Can we get more time for small group?”

I love what the ReThink groups states: Love over time matters. If that’s the case, here is what I would say to all the youth pastors out there, “QUIT TAKING ALL THE TIME.” If you have an opportunity to put another leader in the spotlight, do it. Make small groups a reality.

With our student programs being scheduled to include both large group and small group time, the large group time can easily trump the small group time–but it shouldn’t. The large group time has many moving elements–games, announcements, message and worship. Just because it has more moving parts, doesn’t give it a more dominant position. When we weigh the importance of small group time vs. large group time, the actual amount of time given is your measurement. Small group leaders need time to build trust. When trust is built then students open up and relationships happen. Relationships matter the most. Relationships are the glue of our ministry.

I have been guilty of hijacking the time of my small group leaders during our large group time. Leaving your leaders just enough time to get into a quick discussion before closing in prayer is like giving them a cake and not enough time to eat it.

Give them time.