Q: Does your Small Group have more than 7 people?
A: Countless times I have had SG leaders ask me this question, “We are inviting new people into our group, but I feel like our group is getting too big. What am I supposed to do, lock the door of our group?”
After I tell them not to lock the doors, I tell them about a simple tool called SUBGROUPING.
What is subgrouping?
Subgrouping is simply allowing your Small Group to divide up into little mini groupings during the discussion part of your Small Group gathering.
Let me repeat that. Subgrouping is simply allowing your Small Group to divide up into little mini groupings during the discussion part of your Small Group gathering.
The primary reason to subgroup is that it ensures that every person in your group has an easy opportunity to participate in the discussion of your Small Group lesson. Jim Dethmer, an expert in Small Groups says this, “The key to real community in a Small Group is giving everyone the opportunity to share.” He goes on to say that, “This cannot happen once the group gets bigger than 7 people tops.” In other words, if your group has 8 people in it, during the discussion part of your gathering, you need to create 2 groups of 4 or maybe even 3 groups of 2 and 3 people. Make sense?
Another reason to subgroup is that it allows your group to grow as large as God wants it to grow which usually is determined by how many people can squeeze into a home. Over the years, I have seen small groups grow as large as 40 people. The secret, however, was subgrouping.
The next big question is, “ How do you subgroup?”
Actually it is really easy. You can subgroup in many creative ways. For example, the last couples’ small group I was in the men and the woman subgrouped. (Which as you would presume, this allowed the guys to go in the other room and talk about deep spiritual stuff like the weather and sports – just kidding). Your subgrouping can be random – for example, pull names out of a hat, divide up by birthdays, count off. Or it can be very intentional with the Small Group leader designating ahead of time who will be in what subgroup. That’s how you subgroup.
The final question is, “Once you decide to subgroup, who will lead these subgroups?”
Great question, and it leads me to what I consider to be one of the coolest parts of subgrouping. Once again, the Small Group Leader can be as creative as he/she wants to be. It can be as simple as giving the entire subgroup the discussion questions for the lesson and letting the subgroup figure out on its own who will facilitate the discussion. However, a great idea is for the Small Group leader to determine in advance who they think has potential to someday be Small Group Leaders and invite those people to be “Apprentices.” If you choose this method, the Apprentices would serve as the subgroup leaders each time. This is an outstanding way to develop new Small Group Leaders. (To get more details about identifying and developing an Apprentice, check out the training tips that our very own Kyle Costello has done for you.)
Finally, at the end of the discussion, I recommend bringing everyone back together to formally close the group time.
Well, there you have it. Subgrouping is an incredibly powerful tool to grow a Small Group and care for people. Give it a try and watch God fill your home with 16, 26, maybe even 36 people!
I APPRECIATE YOU SMALL GROUP LEADERS.
Blessings!
Click here for our video presentation on Subgrouping!
