Update, 2/24/2020: I had previously titled this post, “How to lead a Bible study.” Then one day, I randomly thought about how this is not how I would lead a Bible study, but how I would lead a small group–maybe a book study, or follow-up discussion after a message. Very different. Bible study requires a lot of different skills and tools that I do not even begin to cover here! Please replace “Bible study” with “small group” in the rest of this post. Thanks!
This summer, my group at church decided to split into men’s and women’s small groups, and I happen to be leading a couple of the meetings for the women. I’m leading one this Thursday, actually. And here’s
the surprising thing: I’m feeling pretty relaxed about it. This definitely has not always been the case. It used to be that when it was my turn to lead the group, I’d dread it from the very moment I signed up to lead. The feeling of dread and regret (for signing up) would grow as the date neared and, being the procrastinator I am, I’d put off the awful, burdensome task of preparing until the night before. It was no fun, and I just couldn’t wait to get the whole thing over with.
I worried. What if people didn’t talk? What if nobody read the material? What if no one showed up? What if nobody answered my questions? What if I had nothing insightful to share? What if no one got anything out of it? What if we ran out of things to talk about? What if it was… silent?! Oh, the dreaded awkward silence. I over-prepared and set up activities and tried to think of back-up questions and exercises to take up time to ensure that we could fill up the long two hours that I was supposed to be in charge. Ugh. How could two hours feel so long?
These days, I don’t worry anymore. This is partly thanks to my training as a teacher. For one, I’ve learned that engagement doesn’t always require talking. I have also learned to be comfortable with silence, which can actually be an indicator of deep thinking! As I was preparing some of my recent posts about teaching students how to think deeply about their reading, it occurred to me that over the years, I’ve translated a lot of these techniques into my role as a Bible study leader. As a teacher, a big part of my job was to help students 1) comprehend the material, 2) think more deeply about it, and 3) remember it. There are many aspects of this role that are strikingly similar to facilitating a Bible study group, where your job is to facilitate discussion around a text that everyone has read together. This includes helping people 1) process the material, 2) think deeply on it, and 3) remember it.
Similar, right?
As a Bible study leader, I take it one step further. Not only am I supposed to lead my group in understanding and remembering the texts we read, but I’m also supposed to help them figure out how to apply it to their lives. James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” How will people be doers of “the word” (i.e. the Bible) if they cannot understand or remember it? Even when people do understand or remember it, taking concrete steps to apply it requires another level of intentionality, so part of my job as a small group leader is to help people not just listen to and understand the word, but to also figure out ways to do what it says.
While I think my friends are excellent readers, I know that a lot of them are also familiar with that feeling of dread when it comes to leading small groups. They’ve told me, and well to be honest, I can sometimes feel their discomfort when they’re leading. It’s okay. I’ve been there. But I thought I’d also offer some practical tips for the next time YOU have to lead the group. It can be a daunting task, but it can also be a very meaningful and rewarding one! Here are some tips I have to help you formulate good Bible study questions to help your small group members understand, remember, and apply the Word more effectively!
Create thoughtful questions
This is one of the main points of doing a book study. Create questions that will help people thoughtfully process and reflect on the text covered. Sure, lots of books come with study guides, but I often find that the more authentic the questions are, the more engaged people are. Sometimes, my personal, authentic questions end up being the same questions found in the accompanying study guide– no matter. It is still more thought-provoking and compelling when I have my own background on the question, or my own reasons for asking it.
Over the years, I’ve found that I fall back on the same routine for how I read text and formulate questions for leading small group. It’s basically a Quote-and-Response (QAR) format, something I first remember doing in high school for my British Literature class. Now I do it voluntarily to help me make the most of the text I’m reading. Here’s what I do:
I draw a T-chart and label the left side with “Quote” and the right side with “Response.” As I read, I jot down a quote that was compelling for whatever reason, and then my response right next to it on the side. The response might be an elaborated thought, a question, a connection, a summary, or simply “…what???” to indicate that I don’t get it. (Sound familiar? Seriously, these strategies are not just for elementary school kids. They’re for everybody!).
Maybe I agree with the quoted text (“Amen!”) or maybe I really, really don’t (“Uh… no.”). Sometimes it really resonates with me (“!!!”) or the application to me is clear (“I need to work on this.”). The point is I’m recording my thoughts and interactions with the text so I can use it later as a diving board to encourage others to grapple with and interact with the text.
Here is an example of how I worked through the text of Celebration of Discipline
To be honest, I’m generally more lazy about writing out the whole quote, and just do key phrases with a page number. When the time comes to actually lead the small group, I simply refer to the longer quote in my book, which I’ve usually underlined and written notes by (yep, I’m a book-scribbler… sorry, Ben!). I just read it off the book and then jump back to my journal for the follow up thoughts/question to ask.
What if I’m leading a small group after a MESSAGE, not after we’ve read a chapter in a book?
Maybe you are leading a small group and instead of discussing a common text, you’re leading a group through a discussion following a message given by a speaker. You can use a similar method to formulate questions even as you are listening to the message for the very first time yourself. Just make your own T-chart and scribble down key phrases to quote the speaker or key verses that were thought-provoking, and write your related thoughts and/or questions in the column next to it.
To be honest, I don’t even make T-charts anymore. I just scribble phrases from quotes and write related thoughts and questions in bullet points underneath. It saves space. But if it’s your first time trying this method, the graphic organizer is a handy way to organize things.
Now, after a message is over and it’s your turn to lead a small group discussion, you won’t always have to depend on the speaker’s fill-in-the-blank handout or their “Small Group Leader Questions” handout! You don’t have to panic if they don’t provide you with that life-saving slip of paper after they end their message. YOU DON’T NEED IT. Not only can that oftentimes feel dry and inauthentic, but you can make your own thought-provoking questions! Like I said above, it’s oftentimes more compelling when you come up with your own authentic questions to ask. They may totally overlap with the handout you’re given (if you’re given one) that has pre-written questions on it, but it’s more meaningful to the participants when they feel it’s an authentic question you’re posing to them, not just a question you’re reading off a slip of paper.
It may seem daunting to come up with questions on the fly like that, but the more you practice it, the better you get at it. So don’t be afraid to get in there and try it out! You may hate small group leading at first (I did), but you may also eventually discover that you’re gifted at helping others to process and apply the Word. It might take years to realize that, or rather it might take years to hone your craft and grow better at it. But you’ll never know and you’ll never grow in it if you don’t try!
Let’s get practical: how should I schedule the actual 2 hours of the small group meeting?
1. Start with a recap (5-10 mins). Chances are some people did the reading a while back– far back enough that they’re a little rusty on it. Or maybe they didn’t read it at all. Go ahead and highlight major points of the text to jog their memories. If you want, you can involve everyone in the review process, but I find that these days, I prefer to have one confident volunteer do it or just do it myself. I don’t want it to drag out too long, and most of the time this is just laying the foundation for the rest of the discussion. This isn’t the deep thinking part of the study. This is the basic who, what, where, when part that we need to establish just so we can delve into the deeper stuff next. Think of it as an appetizer. A lot of small group leaders tend to spend too much time here, but if you have really good meaty questions prepared (see #2!), you want to save the bulk of the time to chew on those!
2. Work through your major points (30-45 minutes). I usually aim for 3-5 meaty discussion points/discussion questions. One way I guide the discussion is to present my Quote-and-Response (see above). I share 1) a thought-provoking quote, 2) the thoughts it provoked for me, and 3) a follow-up question for discussion. Sometimes I pose the question to the whole group and let people answer one at a time in the big group setting. Other times, it seems appropriate to have people break off and discuss the answers more privately in smaller groups of 3-4 or in pairs. This is a very effective way to 1) get people talking, 2) get people engaged, and 3) allow everyone to verbally process and actively engage (rather than having one person taking up too much airtime with everyone else sitting back, passively listening). Read more about the pairing off strategy here. It’s one of my go-to techniques for teaching and for leading small groups!
If I go the latter route, and have people group off or pair off, we always pull back together after a few minutes and then share out as a group. After finishing one particular question/discussion point, give people a chance to share any of their own additional insights. Simply ask, “Was there anything else in this section that stood out to you?” And let people mull over the section, think, and share if they want. If not, move on to the next major point.
3. Give people time to process and apply (20-30 minutes). Again, we want to be doers of the Word, not merely listeners. No point in going through all this if they’re just going to walk out the door, forget it, and never do anything about it! After you’ve gone through your main questions and discussion points, have people break off into groups of 2-3 to talk about application and then pray for each other.
Sometimes it’s just a simple question– “How will you apply this? Share and then pray for each other.” Other times you may want to have a few prep questions to lead up to the application question. For our solitude study last time, I gave out slips of paper listing various ways (from the book) to pursue solitude. This way, they had something tangible to hold and look at. As a follow-up, I 1) asked people to share which way would be the most helpful, 2) what would keep them from doing this helpful thing, and 3) what practical steps they could take to make it happen.
People will usually also take this time to share more personal prayer requests, so if you’re really short on time at this point, go with pairs instead of groups of 3+. The more people there are in a group, the longer it will take.
Another strategy I learned recently is to have people meet in smaller pairs or groups and then simply pray for themselves. Not “First we’ll share our prayer requests and then pray for each other,” and not even “First we’ll share our prayer requests and then pray for ourselves.” No, simply, “Sooo I’m just gonna start praying out loud for myself– then you go next and pray for yourself.” And that’s it.
I know, it seems strange at first– I’m going to sit in this small group and… pray for myself?? Out loud? Yes. Turns out it’s a neat way of hearing someone share while also effectively praying at the same time– how efficient! It’s also neat because you get to sit in on someone’s personal, intimate, usually-private conversation with God. Sometimes, the way we share about our prayer needs is different from how we actually present them before God ourselves, and there’s something special about sitting in on someone else’s holy conversation with the Lord.
Of course, feel free to adjust timing as needed if you have less time allotted (or if your small group always seems to start late…). This is just a guide to give you an idea of how to organize your time. In the end, feel free to dwell more on one section if you feel led to, and feel free to skip or pass over another if you think it’s best.
Ultimately, it’s all in God’s hands. You are offering your service and time as a willing instrument, and He’ll do what He wants with it. You may feel like the whole thing was a wreck, and have no idea that the Holy Spirit was working through that time to convict someone in a life-changing way. In the end, it’s not about you or your small group leading skills. It’s about people coming together to seek the Lord. He will redeem whatever time you give if you keep your focus on Him and make it your goal to help others do the same. SDG.
4 responses to “How to Lead a Small Group”
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This is fantastic Jo! Both my mom and GayLynn are sunday school teachers and I think I’ll pass this on to them. In case i ever get that dreaded calling haha I’m definitely saving this! Thanks
Wow didn’t know they taught! Hope your family is doing well, Christi!
I love how learning things in one area of life almost automatically transfers to other arenas. Lots of the tips you share could really be used in any kind of study/discussion group!
Yah, I think so too! I mean, a lot of it is used for “book clubs” in the classroom, so why not other kinds of reading groups, right? 🙂