The Three P’s of Leading a Small Group

Leading a small group is one way that you can serve in children’s ministry. Small groups may look different in your church, but three basics will apply to small groups regardless of where you are.  

I call them the “Three P’s of Leading a Small Group.”  

They are:

Prayer

Prayer is so important. You need to be in prayer for your kids, your pastor, and your team. You need to be in prayer over the entire service – inviting the Holy Spirit in. You want to pray for any first time visitors and families who will be coming through your doors for the first time.   In short, you should be in consistent prayer for the kids who are already in the ministry and those who will be coming.

Preparation

Preparing for each week is essential to leading a small group. You will need to be familiar with all aspects of the service – from worship to the lesson to your small group activities and discussions. God will use any or every part of the service to impact a child who will be in your small group. You want to be prepared to lead the discussion and answer any questions that might come up. Don’t think you have to have all the answers though. Be honest with the child that asks a question that you dont know the answer to. Let them know that you aren’t sure of the answer, but you will try to find it out to share with them next week.

Prayer

Yes I am including prayer twice. It is that important! Once you have the service plan, you will want to pray for the Holy Spirit to empower you in teaching and leading the kids in discussion. You will want to pray for the teacher who is sharing the main points in large group. You will want to pray for the other leaders on your team as well. Then you want to pray for the kids to have open ears and hearts to hear what they are being taught. You will also want to pray for the families of the children that you have in your small group. You want to pray for opportunities for them to have conversations about what the kids have learned that week.

The 3 P’s are essential in leading any small group. Incorporate prayer, preparation and more prayer into your small group plan, and you will find that they might just be the keys that open up eternity to your kids.