Reason #199 Why We Love Small Groups

A few of our 2017 grads. Photo credit to one of our moms for snapping and sharing the pic.

Earlier in May we honored the class of 2017. It’s an annual event we do in our services where we bring our high school seniors on stage and recognize them for graduating. While it’s a regular thing we do (along with churches all across the country), each year is as unique as the members of each graduating class.

For the past few years we have asked our grads to fill out a brief questionnaire so we can make the recognition a bit more personal. Not all of our congregation knows every graduate by name so it’s an opportunity to highlight what our grads have achieved and what they have planned.

The last question for them to respond to was this: What is Your Best School Memory?

A couple of their answers show just why we love small groups.

I anticipated that our grads might point to homecoming or prom or an athletic or academic accomplishment. Some did. In fact, one of our grads was Homecoming Queen this year. Two of our grads finished #3 and #4 in their graduating class. Others enjoyed some athletic success.

But what two of our grads put down as their best memory had to do with their experience in small groups.

Here are the grads own words:

“I loved being kidnapped . . . by my small group leaders. It was always fun being surprised and spending the day with my small group.”

“My favorite memory is having our annual small group Christmas party/sleepover.”

Just another reason why we love small groups.

To the small group leaders out there: You are making an impact. You have influence. Sometimes we just have to wait until they graduate (or later) to see it or hear it.

To the small group leaders out there: Thank You!

Junior High Retreat 2014

Last weekend we took our junior high students to the annual Middle School Retreat held at our church camp Butler Springs. We had a good weekend playing some pretty messy games, hanging out, singing together, listening to some good messages and just having a good time.

The leaders of the weekend did a good job unpacking the theme Messy Spirituality.  We started the weekend by admitting that we are all a mess – we all have our shortcomings, we all fail, we all mess up. The good news is this:  Jesus knows that and He gets in the mess with us and helps us clean up and move forward.

There were two phrases that they used during the weekend that I thought were helpful for our students.  The first was this:  “Say ‘Yes’ until you can’t.”  The idea behind that phrase was to encourage the students (and adults) to simply try.  Whatever task or challenge that was presented, we should say “yes” until we couldn’t anymore.  Rather than decline an invitation because we didn’t know if we could handle it or accomplish it, we should simply say “yes” and give it a try.

The second phrase made sense to Star Wars fans.  It was this:  Yoda was wrong.  In the movie The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda has a conversation with Luke Skywalker.  Luke is faced with a challenge and tells Yoda, “I’ll give it a try.”  Yoda says, “No. Try not. Do…or do not. There is no try.”  The invitation in following Jesus is to try, to trust in His power to help us when we need it and to depend on His grace when we mess up.  The invitation to follow Jesus is to be faithful, not to be perfect.

It was a good retreat and gave our leaders and students a chance to spend time together outside of our regular student ministry programs.  I’m grateful for our leaders and the time they invest in our students.

Here’s a short video with some pics from the weekend.  Special thanks to Dale for putting it together.