(This is the second in a series of posts to share my thoughts regarding comments heard from hundreds of Awana leaders about the new Mission series of T&T books)
The small group concept has been around for several years in varying ways within the life of the church. Generally, we see small groups as something for adults, though several curriculum providers have incorporated small groups into their children’s programming as well. Awana embraced the small group approach with the new T&T Mission series. The success or failure of your small group time depends on the leader and how they embrace the small group time and connect with the clubbers in their small group.
Small group time is designed to be a time of Bible study/discussion.
There is some debate about whether it is better for the lesson to be introduced at club before the child works to memorize the verse and complete the Start Here and Explore portions or if the child studies the verse and completes those sections before it is discussed at club.
Let me ask you this question…
If you participate in a small group, or a Bible study, and you know what is being discussed at the upcoming session (the Scripture, topic, or chapter of a book being studied), do you read the Scripture (or part of the study to be discussed), answer questions in the workbook, etc in preparation for the study, or do you read and answer questions afterward?
My presumption is that you prepare in advance, so you can contribute to the conversation, not do the work after. This is the design of the Mission series (as well as Trek and Journey), to have the clubber prepare so they can contribute to the conversation and ask questions that they may have regarding what they did in the handbook.
For this to work effectively, two things must occur:
- The clubber must come prepared
- The small group leader must come prepared
Can we be honest? In some clubs neither of these will happen in some groups.
For purposes of this post, I am viewing the method of having small group time with the clubbers expected to come prepared (I will address other methods in the next post). I must assume that the small group leader is committed to coming prepared – I hope this post offers helpful tips to make small group time effective and meaningful. I must also add the disclaimer that if your focus is on insuring that every child recites the verse and completes the section each week, then this post is not for you and you will struggle in small group time.
Small Group Time Formats
- Clubbers come prepared with sections complete and verse memorized
This gives you time to have a deep discussion helping the clubbers understand the focus of the lesson. It allows you to go deeper with questions from the silver sections. - Clubbers come with the Start Here and Explore Sections complete but without the verse memorized
You can hold a brief discussion to help them understand the lesson, then spend time helping them learn the verse. - Clubbers come with nothing prepared
The leader should decide what will benefit the child. There may be some weeks where they focus more on the verse to be memorized, other weeks they may focus more on the Start Here and Explore sections. This is where you may consider developing awards as I noted in the Challenges with the T&T Mission Series post.
Have the small group time be longer than the large group time if your schedule permits. This allows a greater time for relationship building, discipleship, and working through the section.
To help the clubbers who do not come with the Explore section complete, provide some answers during the large group time lesson. That may help them pay attention to the lesson and complete the section.
You may opt to try to group clubbers together if they come prepared or not, or if they’ve completed handbooks previously. That could allow the small group leader to be focused on one of the methods above. If the group is mixed, which is most likely the case, work to have the clubber who comes prepared help the ones who may not be prepared or struggles with the section. Mentor the one who comes prepared to be a leader in training, a student leader. That clubber can help encourage and motivate the others.
What are some ways that you have made small group time work for you?
