Small group ideas
Small groups are excellent ways to enable questions to be asked, or to go deeper with some. Mix them up. Groups of 4 will feel very different to groups of ten. You can have year 9 boys in one, year 9 girls in another, or mix up the sexes, or the ages! Or why not do something completely different. See some ideas below.
how do you split YOUR YOUTH into small groups?
First of all, it's worth saying that if you're already a small group, then you already get the benefits of being in a small group. Don't lose heart but lever what you have - the opportunity to know your group very well and to go deep in your discipleship.
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Youth workers regularly ask, "How do you divide people into small groups?". Easy to say, "Here's the best way," but I'm not sure it's as easy as that. It depends on how big your group is, how many leaders you have and what you're trying to do. There are great things about staying in the same group, where people can be known and they'll trust leaders and each other.
SINGLE SEX, SINGLE YEAR GROUP
This is a great place to start. If young people stay in this group, preferably with the same leaders, they'll develop great relationships and be able to go deep.
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But...
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they're also stuck in the same group, potentially for years. That's brilliant if everyone get's on well, not so good if they don't. If all your leaders are excellent, it's great, if they're not, again it's more difficult because young people are stuck with the same leader for years. The call for staying in the group for years generally comes from a large year group who have great leaders and great relationships.
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And...
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If a young person is in a large year group, again this is excellent. There will always be life and vibrancy here. If they're in a small group of 1 or 2, will they come back month after month?
VARIATIONS
You can also change it regularly or occasionally:
FIX THE GROUP AND MIX THE LEADERS
There's nothing to stop you keeping the group of young people the same, but swapping leaders. If some leaders are better with older youth, keep them leading the top year or years, so every year or two, the group's leaders will change.
MIX YEAR GROUPS
Depending on your theme/passage and your group's size, you can mix year groups. Let's say you have 10 year 10s and 10 year 11s, you can have two mixed year 10 and 11 groups. That gets round being stuck with the same people if you don't get on, but also allows the possibility of one group going deeper.
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Don't be too prescriptive though if you're doing it this way. What do you do when there are two best friends but one is more mature spiritually than the other?
MIX YEAR GROUPS (CONT...)
If your group has a small year group, or is generally smaller, you might mix year groups. Aim to have 6-12 regulars. You want to be a place where everyone can speak and be listened to, and there's not too much pressure on a small number.
MIX SEXES
Occasionally we gets a call, particularly from our older youth to mix sexes. You could have just the older year group mixed all the time. ​Alternatively, you could mix the sexes for a series. You might want to mix them for a more gospel-focussed series, but then separate them again for a series covering more lifestyle issues.
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You could mix them regularly maybe once a month or once every half term.
MIX EVERYONE!
One day, we mixed everyone up into small groups. As a one off, it worked fantastically well, with our year 13 boys getting to know year 10 girls and vice versa. I wouldn't do it all the time, but it did work!.
choose your own small group
If you've got sufficient young people and leaders, why not get your youth to choose their own small group - going deep or looking on? They can choose.
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Sara Parsons, Youth Pastor at St. Aldate's, Oxford, UK came up with four groups for her young people to choose: On the beach, paddling, snorkelling or scuba diving. Over time, you may need to encourage some people to move from snorkelling to scuba diving, say, who don't quite feel ready for it, but groups like these may be helpful to find where people think they are in terms of faith, enabling leaders to talk at the right level for them, helping them to go deeper, without being concealed by others in the group who are already mature. If you've got a large youth team, you'll probably already be able to think of which leader could lead each group.
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Six months in, we're now finding unchurched young people have made their way (without any prompting) into the Snorkelling group, saying, "We've been here a while. We really think we should be going deeper." We've also got both 14-year-olds and 17-year-olds in the Scuba Diving group.
(Note this prints on A3)
EASY WINS IN A SMALL GROUP
It's really valuable to think about what you're trying to achieve: A warm welcome? Relationship-building? Fun? Deeper conversations? Prayer and response?
![IMG_20201106_210026[1].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/089029_4be0f0d92a7e473c9b52a3bbe264f41f~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_233,h_311,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/089029_4be0f0d92a7e473c9b52a3bbe264f41f~mv2.jpg)
STARTERS
GLOW
LOW
HERO
High point, low point, and hero of the week
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Interesting to note, parents out there, how often parents are mentioned as teenagers' hero of the week...
Mix up Glow, Low, Hero with...
HIGH
LOW
BUFFALO
High point, low point, and a funny or weird thing that's happened to you this week
Go deeper with...
HIGHLIGHT
LOWLIGHT
SPIRITUAL INSIGHT
High point, low point, and a spiritual insight you've had this week
10 SECONDS
In 10 seconds, each person must name a boy's name, girl's name, animal, town/city, country beginning with a chosen letter. They've got to be said in the right order as well. Choose a different letter for each person.
THIRD FAVOURITE
Brilliant starter. Third favourite movie, song, band, book - whatever your group are into (or not!). Noone is allowed to explain their first or second, just leave that hanging!
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If you want to go deeper, you can have Bible book, character, woman in the Bible, Fruit of the Spirit, whatever.
DRAW IT
Give each person a piece of white card and a pencil. Show them a line drawing for 10 seconds, then hide it for another minute or so while people finish their drawing. The most accurate copy wins. Each person can then draw something for others to copy.
TOP THREE
Movies, YouTubers, Instagrammers, interests, memories, possessions, foods, bands, books, sports, teachers, etc.
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Share it in twos, then feedback.
* This link will take you to Conversation Starters World. I have no affiliation with the website, nor have I checked every suggestion it gives, but it will give you some ideas and will kickstart some more.
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** This link will take you to the Sussed website if you want to find out more or buy the game. I have no affiliation with Sussed.
MAINS
FAVOURITE BIBLE STORY
All play.
FAVOURITE BIBLE BOOK
All play.
TESTIMONY
Prepare one to share (maybe start with a leader), then others can ask questions!***
FAVOURITE BIBLE VERSE
All play
*** If someone wouldn't call themselves a Christian, you could say, 'Could you tell me how you've come on a journey in the general direction of God?' or even, 'What brought you or keeps you coming to this group?'
DESSERTS
Some groups will find it easy to pray, others almost impossible. Help people to pray by making it really easy, then build up.
FILL IN THE GAP...
WITH A PERSON
Say, "'Dear God, I pray for...' then put in someone's name. Might be a friend who's having a hard time, a relative who's sick, or whatever. Everyone thought of someone? I'll start and you can go next. Dear God, I pray for...' You can make it relevant to what you've talked about if that fits.
FILL IN THE GAP...
WITH A PLACE
Say, "'Dear God, I pray for...' then put in a country or a group of people. Might be a place where there is war, or a group of people who are treated unfairly, or whatever. Everyone thought of a place? If you really can't think of somewhere, then just say, 'Pass'. I'll start and you can go next. Dear God, I pray for...' You can make it relevant to what you've talked about if that fits.
SILENCE
Yes, you can do this, even with young people.
Young people love to sit round a a fire pit!
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Be creative:
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Give young people marshmallows to toast (you can buy extra-long skewers)
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Get individual portions of chips delivered
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Ask an ice cream van to visit (yes, it may still be cold in the evenings, but is it ever too cold for ice cream?!)
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Or a hot dog van
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Or a hot chocolate van
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Don't use a gazebo with a fire pit - what's the Worst Case Scenario? And always keep a fire extinguisher close at hand.
Here's a starting point for a risk assessment for a fire pit. It's our best go at it, but there may be other things in your context that are important. So, use this as a starting point, but don't rely on us getting it right, think about it yourself too. Thanks to Lorraine Fletcher at St. Peter's, Woolton for your help with this. As ever, if you can improve it, get in touch.
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