It’s your first night with your new small group. Everyone is getting along wonderfully, the discussion is moving at a good pace, and the level of sharing is deeper than you’d expected…Then, just as everyone is quieting down for a time of reflection and prayer, it happens. Someone’s cell phone rings. The person with the phone looks around guiltily. One person giggles. Another shoots an angry look. The phone keeps ringing, until the person quickly steps outside to answer it. But now the momentum is disrupted. Others are annoyed or distracted, while you’re left asking yourself, “How could we have avoided this?” The simple answer: ground rules. There should always be small group guidelines that everyone can agree upon. This helps people know what to expect from others and what others will be expecting of them. It also promotes give-and-take interaction and encourages a sense of equality among group members, so no one person becomes more or less important than another.
Of course, if you go into a group and announce, “Here are the small group rules!” others might feel a bit put off. Instead, take the approach of having your group work together to establish a few simple ground rules. It can be your first project together as a group and will help everyone have a feeling of ownership in the group.
At your first meeting (or as soon as possible, if you’ve already begun your group), ask everyone to suggest one guideline. You can do this out loud and write suggestions on newsprint, or have everyone write one or two thoughts on index cards, then collect them and read them aloud (to avoid embarrassing those not quite ready to share). Either way, gather your suggestions for small group guidelines, let others give input, and decide on just a few that everyone can agree upon. You don’t have to have a long list, but be sure the concerns of the group are addressed by those you settle upon.
5 Small Group Guidelines
Here are a few basic small group guidelines you might consider:
1. Confidentiality.
It’s not just for Las Vegas. What’s said at group stays at group. No one wants to find out he or she has been the subject of gossip or well-meaning “prayer discussions.” This is probably the most important ground rule of all.
2. Start on time—and end on time.
It will be up to you as the leader to guide the group in sticking with this commitment. It’s especially helpful to those who have children at home with babysitters and those with work schedules that are affected by late nights or meetings that run over.
3. Discussion involves everyone.
To make this work, everyone needs to participate as a listener and as a speaker. It should be understood that when one person is monopolizing the discussion, the leader could say, “Let’s hear from someone else now.” Then, when another person has listened for a long time, the leader might ask, “Jennie, do you have any input you’d like to share?”