While no two Hope Community Church small groups are identical, some parameters have been established to help ensure groups maintain a healthy environment that is in keeping with the vision and philosophies of Hope Community Church. These parameters are referred to as ‘fence lines’. Below is a list of fence lines for small groups at Hope. These have been generated from years of observing healthy and thriving Hope small groups.
Group Size
We strive to keep the number of people attending a Hope small group between 10 and 20 adults. Group size could fall below this number when groups are just beginning or have been recently planted from an existing group. At times, the group size may fluctuate depending on the state of the small group.
Topic of Study
Hope Community Church small group writers prepare multiple new lessons each calendar year. It is our preference that groups follow the material that is congruent with the current sermon series. If for some reason that is not an option, it is recommended that small groups study material from the library of Hope’s material. If leaders choose to use material outside of the Hope created material, leaders should consider the following:
- Non-HopeCC material must be approved by their small group coach.
- This material should follow a book of the Bible.
- Homework outside of small group in the form of reading or writing is not permitted.
- We highly discourage the use of video series or non-fiction books as small group material.
Leadership
Who
Individuals who meet the requirements of a Hope Community Church small group leader – Leaders must be both spiritually and relationally warm people who have a mature and devoted faith in Christ. They must carefully handle the Word of God and the hearts of others. All leaders must be cleared with the Hope Community Church staff team before stepping into any official leadership roles.
How Many
Typical Hope small groups have between two and four leaders. New groups may start with as few as two leaders. We encourage groups to have no fewer than three leaders, and ideally four leaders (2 of each gender) over the long run. This allows for smoother leadership transitions and a healthy division of labor.
Gender & Marital Status
Hope Community Church small groups should have both a male and female leader in every group. This allows for gender specific accountability. If a married couple leads a group, our staff highly encourages the couple to find at least one additional person to co-lead the group to maintain leadership health.
Meeting Length
Hope Community Church small groups are designed to be 2 hours in length. Some groups may extend the time to as long as 3 hours as long as this is a clear expectation of all the group members and visitors.
Meeting Format
The structure of a two-hour Hope Community Church small group on a typical week could be divided as follows.
- Community: 20 minutes of intentional interaction
- Bible: 50 minutes of time spent studying and applying the Word of God
- Accountability: 50 minutes of gender specific accountability
Open Chair Mindset
Whenever possible and healthy for the group, we encourage groups to always have an “open chair.” This means that the group maintains an attitude of openness to newcomers and maintains an environment that would make a newcomer feel welcome. The group does not necessarily need to be advertised by our staff as open, though, this is more of a ‘posture’ we’d encourage groups to embody. The vision behind this is simple. Hope Community Church has a constant stream of people in need of gaining community, and small groups are the most effective way for those people to meet others and grow in community in the body of Christ at Hope.
Personal invitation
It is the most effective way of getting new people who are in need of Christian community into your group. Sunday mornings and church events create a place for this personal invitation to occur. Create a vision in your group that they are welcome and encouraged to invite people to check out your group.
Children in Small Groups
Children are welcome in Hope small groups. More Hope resources are available on this topic.
Location
Hope small groups primarily meet in the homes of Hope attenders. If a small group needs to switch meeting locations or chooses to meet in a place other than a private residence, leaders must first talk to their coaches.
