Remember ESPN:

E: Encourage

S: Share Scripture

P: Pray

N: Next Steps

We love hearing about lives that are changed through Connect Groups. You can share your stories with your Team Lead or submit them at https://thechapel.cc/submit-story You can also share your own personal stories through social media and tag #thechapelgroups

Reach out to them! We have found that the best way to connect with group members is to text them. Here’s an example text we would send:

Hey John! This is Dave from theChapel. How are you? We missed you last night for our Connect Group. Do you think you’ll be able to make it next week? We meet on Tuesdays at 6:30pm at Panera Bread in Tarpon Springs!

After 3 tries to contact someone via text without a response, it’s okay to assume that member is no longer interested in attending your group & you can remove them from your group. Just make sure you let them know why! Here’s an example text we would send:

Hey Grace! I’ve sent you a few texts about our group through theChapel. We are bummed you couldn’t join us, but totally understand. There may be a group with a schedule that better fits your needs. Check out the groups directory at https://thechapel.cc/groups/  Since I haven’t heard back from you yet, I’m going to go ahead and remove you from our group so we’re not sending you info you might not be interested in. If you do still want to join us or any other group in the future, just reach out! Would love to help you get connected!

There are several ways you can approach this depending on how comfortable you feel within the situation! A lot of times, people don’t even realize they are doing this. They may even be trying to help fill the silence or move the conversation along (a little silence is okay–some people need time to think before they’re ready to share!)  Here are a few different options:

1. Lead the next question with the statement: “Someone who hasn’t had a chance to share….”
2. We recommend having a face-to-face conversation with the person before or after the group. Just pull them aside for a quick one-on-one conversation. If you do this, it is very important that you lead with gentleness and grace and also that no-one else will overhear this conversation. You could say something like this:

“Hey Steve, you have so many great things to share in our group! I’m so glad you are so willing to jump into our discussions each week. I have noticed that there are several people in our group that aren’t quite as quick to share and I was wondering if you could help me create some opportunities for them to share too?”

1. If you are comfortable with confrontation and feel confident that you can interrupt in a way that is well-timed and not discouraging to that person, you could also do this. Please note that this is not the preferred method as there is a lot of room for it to be more hurtful than it is helpful. 

How you approach this depends on how extreme the situation is. 

If what they say reflects on something the person is working through or not clear on, but wouldn’t cause someone else in the group to be confused in their own beliefs, get coffee or a meal with that person and have a conversation about it! Chances are, they would appreciate someone to process through these questions with and get insight from another person who can help them. 

If what they say is clearly contradicting Scripture or our beliefs at TheChapel, a gentle way to address it is to say to the group: “That is an interesting thought. Does anyone else have thoughts on what Ann just shared?” Oftentimes other people will chime in and redirect the conversation while still keeping it a group discussion. Other members might also bring their own questions to the table on this topic. This is a good thing! Just make sure that you give closure or clear direction on what Scripture says on the topic before you move on.

Important notes: 

1. There are several things in Scripture that are not “black & white”. This means that someone may have a different belief than you or other members in your group that isn’t necessarily Biblically incorrect. Be careful that you, and the members in your group, aren’t “majoring in the minors”! It’s okay to come to different conclusions on things that aren’t clear. Your role as a leader is to make sure we maintain a “safe” and encouraging environment for group members to continue to share.  
2. If you aren’t sure what the Bible says or our stance as a church, reach out to your Team Lead and we will help you.

It’s okay to be direct and ask them to share! Chances are they are an internal processor or maybe a little shy. It validates someone’s value to the group to ask them their thoughts, just make sure you aren’t singling them out. A few ideas on how to do that:

• Ask them a question relating to the subject that your group is focused on.
• After a few others have shared, ask them what they are thinking. When they respond, make sure to affirm them/thank them for sharing!
• Create an opportunity for everyone to say something at the beginning with an ice-breaker/get-to-know-you question.

1. Open the Church Center app
2. Open your group
3. Click on the “events” tab
4. Tap on the “take attendance” button and select anyone who is in attendance.

Attendance opens a few minutes prior to the scheduled time of your group meeting.

Attendance is trackable data that allows you and our Connect Group team to measure the health of our groups. (It really does provide us with a lot of information!) And it only takes a minute or less to do! 

For you as a Connect Group leader, being able to see patterns in attendance of group members allows you more insight into the needs of your members. A couple of examples:

1. Someone can only attend every other week, their attendance may look less consistent initially, but you’ll see overall that they are, in-fact, committed to your group. This information provides a conversation point for you to shepherd that member! 
2. Someone attended the first 4 weeks but then stopped attending & says they’ll make it every week, but then they don’t – this gives you the opportunity to follow up with what may be going on with that member and help them take next steps or provide them prayer and care. 

Click here for a tutorial on how to use the Church Center App!