Having regular Vision Nights during small group is an activity our staff team would highly recommend. Whether you do it quarterly, bi-annualy or annually, casting vision for small group helps all participants to be on the same page. Regular Vision Nights allow those in your group to take a sense of ownership and provides them space to share ideas and thoughts they have about group. Vision Nights can take many forms and below is one format a group has used.
Emphasize these four areas:
- Reflection of how God has been working in our group for the past year
- Encouragement for the things that your group is currently doing well
- Vision for how you would like to grow or change in the future
- Why you do small group
Here are possible questions and activities for a vision night:
- Pray for the vision night! Pray for wisdom, patience, and guidance from God in this discussion.
- Ask the question: How have you seen God work through our small group in the past year (individually or as a group)?
- Ask the question: Why did you initially decide to join a small group?
- Ask the question: Why does Hope have small groups?
Lastly, consider an activity called “The Bridge”. This activity involves three things:
- Talking about what your small group is currently doing well
- Talking about how the group would like to grow for the future
- Discussing a “bridge” step for each future goal. This step shows how to get from where you are to where you want to be.
Below is a template you can use for this activity with some examples.
| Community | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1. Plan one service night in the next four months | 1. Use community nights to serve together |
| 2. | 2. | 2. |
| 3. | 3. | 3. |
| Accountability | ||
| 1. | 1. Reserve 10 minutes once a month to pray with prayer partners that week | 1. Incorporate prayer during accountability |
| 2. | 2. | 2. |
| 3. | 3. | 3. |
It may seem daunting to take on one to three different bridge activities, yet this is where leadership development can occur! To avoid adding more responsibility to your plate, when group members have ideas to implement, ask them to take the lead on those things when appropriate (such as the example bridge activity under “Bible Study” above).
We hope this is a helpful tool as you think about hosting a Small Group Vision Night!
