What to do with the children during small group meetings?

Are there children in your small group? What are some ways you've tried to run your small group meetings with kids?

Cornerstone has a high children to adult ratio based on Sunday attendance (approx. 1/3 of the attendance is made up of children). More and more small groups are trying to figure out ways to handle the children situation in small group meetings.

Do we provide childcare for them? Do we offer a separate "program" for them? Do we incorporate them into our group meetings?

There is no "perfect" solution. What you decide will depend on a lot of factors like the comfort/preference of parents, the number/age of the children, the dynamics of your group, etc. There will be advantages and disadvantages to every idea which you and your group will have to weigh in on. You may even need to try a few and tweak them before you end up with a solution that works.

Here are some childcare ideas

• Alternate men and women meetings. On one week the men meet while the women take care of the children, then switch. Add a joint meeting where men and women meet together at the end of the month.
• Have children play together in another part of the house unattended.
• Hire a babysitter and have kids play at a nearby location.
• Rotate small group members to handle childcare (on-site or off-site).

Here are some resources for children's programs or incorporating them into small group meetings

• VeggieTales videos or What's In The Bible videos (www.whatsinthebible.com)
• Books, games, puzzles, colouring and craft activities
• Small group study that features separate complementary study for children (requires children's facilitator) - www.lifeway.com/sgl
• Family small group study that includes children -www.saddlebackresources.com/en-US/SmallGroups/BooksoftheBible/LessonsforFamiliesfromGenesis.htm
• Family Small Group DVD studies (poor quality) - www.smallgroupsmaterials.com

Please comment on your experiences with children in your groups. Also, what ideas have you tried that have worked well or not so well?

The end of an era, the beginning of a new one...

Last Friday our small group celebrated our last small group meeting. While it marks an end to our amazing 6 year run as a group and while we won't be meeting with this same group that has become "family", it's also the beginning of many exciting new things!

I'd been said that a characteristic of a great thing is that you want to share it with others. This could describe our experience of community life together. In answer to our prayers, God has raised up multiple leaders from within our group who have expressed a passion and desire for wanting those not connected with a small group to experience community for themselves. And so after much discussion and prayer, this fall our small group will be birthing into 3 groups and will welcome more people into the circle of community!

As we plan for the exciting opportunities ahead, it was also a time for our group to celebrate what God has been doing in our lives. Over dinner, we shared our fondest memories of doing life together over the years. Later, each person got to sit on the "hot seat" while members of our group had the opportunity to express how they've been blessed and encouraged by that person.

We celebrated God's goodness as we remembered how the rlationships in our group played such an important role in the steps of faith and commtiment people have made in their spiritual journey over the years.

How people who only occasionally attended Cornerstone decided to "go all out" for Jesus - including the decisions to get baptized, serve actively in various ministries, even serve on various missions trips. How when people were at their lowest point, they found encouragement, support and prayer from the brothers and sisters in the group to go on. How the example of faith others demonstrated in their lives inspired other group members in their own journey. How we celebrated new births, career changes, weddings, and house moves together. How our group served the community in different ways.

It was a late night with laughter, tears and reminiscing over fond memories and stories. As the 3 new small groups move forward, we know the goal isn't to "replicate" the same experience we've had. But our experience has given us the confidence that God changes and transforms lives in the context of loving and accountable relationships. We're excited about what God will do in htis next season of life and how he will continue to transform even more lives. And isn't that what community's about?