With tons of small groups and even more potential participants, how do you enable people to find the right small group? Here are some practical tips:
- Make information available through multiple channels. Have current information about your small groups available online and at your welcome or information at the church or at home.
- Publish only groups that are open for enrollment. Don’t make people filter through groups that they aren’t able to join. At the same time, make sure that you communicate how open and closed groups work and when there might be changes to available groups.
- Make sure that small group information is concise, complete, and accurate. Group descriptions should be brief enough that people will read them but complete enough to give a prospective member an accurate flavor of the group.
- Use a “sampling” event to allow potential group members to try out small groups by meeting with other members and participating in actual discussions.
- Follow up. Be sure that leaders are following through on potential group members. If the group isn’t a good fit, make sure that the potential member is referred to another group. Make sure tools and processes are in place to keep people from falling through the cracks.
Finding the right small group can be challenging, but you can help your people take a step in the right direction as they look for a group that will help them grow within the community of Christ and grow closer to Him each day.
