One difference you’ll notice about this small group study, is that unlike other studies where you could have a mixture of people together for the entire meeting, your group will now break into sub-groups of men and women for the discussion part of the meeting. So, if your group is a co-ed group, you’ll still start the meeting together, you can have a snack, talk, open in prayer, and even watch Pastor Rick’s video together. But, once the video is over, have the men or the women stay in the room where you usually meet, and send the members of the other gender to a second room in the house. Maybe the ladies stay in the comfort of the family room and the guys go in the kitchen. Maybe the guys stay in the living room and the women grab some chairs and go into a bedroom.
The purpose of doing this sub-grouping will become quickly obvious as you have more discussion times together. There will be certain things that people are going to want and need to share that will simply be easier to share with members of their same gender. That safety and comfort factor is key to getting out hurts, hang-ups and habits.
You group may choose to stay in their sub-groups to take individual prayer requests and praises and then end in prayer as a sub-group. Or, you may decide to come back together for the final prayer. In either case, breaking into gender sub-groups will make a huge difference in the life change experienced in your small group during this study.
|