Build Community

The foundational components of our Sunday morning program for kids are (1) relevant, engaging Biblical content and (2) loving community. Kids face all kids of challenges in life – broken homes, financial uncertainty, and social pressure, to name of few. Security is a foreign concept to many kids.

Our dream is to create an environment where every child is treasured and valued, where every child is known and has the opportunity to know others, where every child is loved and has the opportunity to love others. That's where you come in.

As small group leaders, you are the glue that holds your small group together. Community doesn't just happen. You can facilitate community for your group by implementing a few ideas. I have already mentioned some of these in previous tips, but they warrant repeating because they are so important. (This list isn't exhaustive, but it's a great start.)

Ways to build community:

1. Know your kids. Make it your goal to find out something new about each kid each week in your group. Start taking notes if you have trouble remembering what kids tell you.
   
   
2. Ask follow-up questions about kids' lives. Once you find out what their hobbies are, ask about them from time to time. Once you find out if they are in any performances or games (music, drama, sports), ask how they did. Take a personal interest in each kid.
   
   
3. Take advantage of free time. Be in The Reef or The Galaxy by 9:30 to spend unstructured time with your kids. This is a great time to get to know them.
   
   
4. Establish rules of respect in the group so that when one person is talking, everyone else is listening.
   
   
5. Encourage kids to pray for one another. One way to do this is to have every one write something they want prayer for on a slip of paper and then trade papers or put them in the center of the circl and everyone draws one out. Have them pray aloud for the person whose paper they go.
   
   
6. Send your kids a postcard or note each month or whenever they miss or whenever they do something really great in small group. Getting a sincere note from a small group leader means more than you can imagine to a kid! A more communal idea is to write cards as a group to kids who have been gone for a couple weeks.
   
   
7. Address the kids by name each week. Using someone’s name speaks volumes!
   
   
8. Pray for your kids each week.

These are just a few ways you can facilitate community in your group. There are a ton of other ways. I encourage you to click the comment button below and share your ideas with other small group leaders.