Becoming a Better LifeGroup Leader
Vision
Wooddale Church exists to honor God by making more disciples for Jesus Christ. Our LifeGroup ministry enhances that vision by helping disciples grow in a relational environment, with an intentional leader and a reproducing process.
What is a disciple?
In Matthew 4:19, Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make your fishers of men.”
A Disciple of Jesus Christ is someone who is:
- actively following Jesus (“follow me”)
- being changed by Jesus (“and I will make you”)
- committed to the mission of Jesus (“fishers of men”)
Mission
For Wooddale’s LifeGroup ministry to be the primary conduit for people to walk the pathway toward spiritual maturity.
Purpose
LifeGroups exist to build relationships with God and friends, impacting everyday life through connecting, growing, serving and sharing.
Core Values
- Connect | Relationships that extend beyond group meetings
- Grow | Motivate members to live more for Jesus (Follow, Be Changed, On Mission)
- Serve | Serve those inside and outside of the group
- Share | Invites and prays for the lost
Core Activities
- Meet at least every other week to:
- study the Bible through opening God’s Word, sermon-based questions, video curriculum, book studies or a combination of these above.
- enjoy group social activities
- serve together
- Engage members’ Adopt 7
- Pray and care for one another
- Ask each other how we are following Jesus, being changed by Jesus and living on mission for Jesus.
Sermon-based LifeGroup Questions
Current and archived Sermon-based LifeGroup questions are available to download at the Sermon Archive.
RightNow Media
With RightNow Media you can instantly stream Biblical teaching for your LifeGroup. It’s available as an add-on channel on most smart TVs and is available on Apple TV, Roku, the App Store and Google Play. If a LifeGroup member misses a meeting, he or she can easily catch up!
Get free access by clicking this link.
Wooddale has put together a list of some of the best studies available on RightNow Media:
Lead Better
Below are resources to help you lead more effectively.
In 2017, Wooddale’s leadership hosted a conference entitled, MULTIPLY. Anyone who was involved in a discipleship relationship at Wooddale was invited to attend. All attendees were given the MULTIPLY booklet that was produced by a team of people who were serious about Wooddale truly being a church of disciples making disciples.
Multiply will be a yearly training event for LifeGroup leaders. The conference will always focus on an aspect of disciple-making. The next MULTIPLY event will happen in the spring of 2019. Dates will be announced soon.
In January of 2018, Pastor Dale preached a series of sermons entitled, “Multiply: Be One Make One.” The sermons took a deep look at what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, the stages of discipleship, and becoming disciples of Jesus who make disciples. Before leading a LifeGroup, we encourage all LifeGroup leaders to watch this sermon series.
There are four steps to the growth of a disciple: Connect, Grow, Serve, Engage. Each of these things happens best in a group! The LifeGroup Coaching Dashboard will help you as a leader assess how present these four things are in your group. This is not a scoreboard, and no group is perfect! However, by thinking through these areas, you’ll be able to identify some things your group can grow in to have a stronger discipleship mindset. Every group needs an intentional leader to foster these things. Sound bit scary? It is, but you’re not alone (see Matthew 28:20). In fact, our pastors and coaches are also here to help you develop these things in your group.
Group leaders and members often wonder what period of time they are committing to lead a group.
The LifeGroup “season” begins in September and runs for the whole year. Many groups change things up in the summer to accommodate vacations and other summer-only activities. Sometimes that means they meet less (or even not at all) until the fall. Other times groups will simply change up where/when they meet, or what they do together.
So, we ask LifeGroup leader’s to commit for one year at a time: September to September.
Each Wooddale LifeGroup has an online account, similar to a Facebook group but private and for the group. The online account provides LifeGroup leaders a great tool for organizing and communicating with their group. With the online account at a leaders fingertips, leading a group has never been simpler.
The online account serves a very important function for the LifeGroups Ministry, and Wooddale at large as well. Keeping close to 100 groups organized (and more in the future!) is a big task and the online account system makes the difference. It cuts out the middle-man, making it easier for people to find a group and faster getting involved. It also means we need fewer staff to keep the LifeGroups organized, thus allowing Wooddale to more efficiently allocate resources.
Operating the online account is no problem either with our handy LifeGroup Leader Online Account Guide, which you can download at the button below.
LifeGroup meetings usually run differently than a normal small group Bible study. In comparison to traditional small group ministries, this difference in meeting style serves as one of the most unique elements of a LifeGroup Ministry.
For most small groups and Bible studies, the main purpose of meeting together would be to read and discuss Scripture (or some other Christian study) together. Some social time and desire to serve together might be a small part of what the group does throughout its lifetime. Thus, knowledge would be the primary goal.
For a LifeGroup, discipleship is much more holistic than just studying and learning. A LifeGroup exists to forge relationships with God and others in a way that cultivates and encourages deeper spiritual maturity.
This means group meetings should not always focus primarily on studying the LifeGroup discussion guide or other materials. There should be a relatively equal balance over time between study, serving, and socializing because all three are vitally important for a holistic approach to discipleship.
However, whether your meeting is focused on study, service, or socializing, every meeting should include prayer, care, and accountability.
Better Together
Here are some other ministries at Wooddale Church that may benefit your group.
Spiritual Mentoring – Designed for two people to meet regularly for spiritual and personal growth. Meetings include Bible study, discussion and prayer where lives are often transformed!
#WeAreFor – For far too long, the church has been known for what it is against. Maybe it’s our fault. Maybe we’ve failed at showing God’s unconditional love – but we want to change that. We want to show our community everything that we are for. #WeAreFor is a great way for individuals and LifeGroups to band together to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our generation.
Short Term Ministry Trips – At Wooddale, we want to be a church that shares the Good News of Jesus Christ with all of God’s people – here, near and far. How cool would it bet to serve God with you LifeGroup on the mission field?
Stephen Ministries – Sometimes members of your group go through challenges in life – times when they could benefit from some additional care and support. Stephen Ministers are trained lay people who can provide emotional and spiritual care for anyone facing a crisis or difficult circumstance in life. Through confidential one-on-one times of conversation, prayer, and encouragement, a Stephen Minister supports people in difficult, even defining moments of their lives.