{"id":29905,"date":"2014-04-24T02:00:18","date_gmt":"2014-04-24T08:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.churchvolunteercentral.com\/?p=29905"},"modified":"2016-09-07T18:30:34","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T00:30:34","slug":"7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Principles For Doing Life Together: Do your groups make the grade?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDoing life together\u201d has become a cliche to describe small groups and ministry teams. In their new book, From<\/em>\u00a0Couch to Community: Activating the Potential of Small Groups<\/em>, Austin Maxheimer and Zach Below identify 7 principles that may serve as filters to determine if this is actually happening in the groups you lead.<\/p>\n

Principle #1: Life together exists in real life.<\/strong> We are great at being faithful to our weekly meetings. However, those meetings exist as one tiny piece of our total life. Our group time together makes up 0.9% of our week. Obviously, that is less than 1% of our time. On any percentage tracking scale, that is beyond failing. Encourage group members to spend time together outside of scheduled meetings.<\/p>\n

Principle #2: Life together is celebratory.<\/strong> Our lives are filled with big highs and low lows. Do we share them together? People outside of the church know how to celebrate. They don\u2019t have a weekly scheduled meeting with one another, so celebration has to be a natural part of life. If Dusty gets promoted on a Tuesday, we\u2019re going out celebrating Tuesday night. This type of celebration is indicative of people living life together.<\/p>\n

Principle #3: Life together has meat.<\/strong> People crave relationships that challenge and encourage them. The good news is\u2014our groups are talking about things that matter. The bad news is\u2014most of the time it only comes out of a formal forced time. If we are truly living life together then the \u201cmeat of life\u201d will extend beyond our small group time and into our natural conversations. To get there we have to buy into the next principle.<\/p>\n

Principle #4: Life together is intentional.<\/strong> The members of our groups will never magically reach the relational level of \u201clife together\u201d by sitting in a circle together once a week. We may reach a comfort level. We may possibly even develop an actual friendship; however, the claims of life together run much deeper. To reach that level we must intentionally invest in each others\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

Principle #5: Life together takes commitment.<\/strong> The people in our groups are walking into a tough situation. Most of the time group members will not have a shared history. Many of the relationships forged will be brand new relationships, and it simply takes time to learn what people are all about. If we\u2019re ever going to reach the goal of authentic life together, each member of our group will need to make a commitment to nurture the relationships within the group. Life together is a long term investment.<\/p>\n

Principle #6: Life together is personal.<\/strong> Contrary to what \u201cHow I Met Your Mother,\u201d \u201cBig Bang Theory,\u201d or most TV shows imply, you cannot do life together with a group. Life is shared with individual people. Collectively those people may operate as a group, but the depth is only fueled by the individual relationships within the group. The point is that we need to be intentional about developing relationships with one another, not with a group.<\/p>\n

Principle #7: Life together shares mission.<\/strong> This is the cornerstone principle of life together. It\u2019s not enough that our groups\u2019 mission be to simply meet with each other once a week and talk. Meaningful mission binds people together. It gives purpose. Even more, it leads us to a deeper level of relationship and moves us one step closer to true \u201clife together\u201d. Nothing will bring your group closer together faster than collectively casting a vision and joining together in a shared mission.<\/p>\n


\n[Editor\u2019s Note: Excerpted from, Couch to Community: Activating the Potential of Small Groups,<\/em> by Austin Maxheimer and Zach Below. Group Publishing, 2014. Visit Austin and Zach on their website: \u00a0culturalcows.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cDoing life together\u201d has become a cliche to describe small groups and ministry teams. In their new book, From\u00a0Couch to Community: Activating the Potential of Small Groups, Austin Maxheimer and Zach Below identify 7 principles that may serve as filters to determine if this is actually happening in the groups you lead. Principle #1: Life together exists in real life. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":29907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,670],"tags":[419,346,420,344],"class_list":["post-29905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retain","category-volunteers","tag-doing-life-together","tag-leading-a-team","tag-small-groups","tag-team-ministry"],"yoast_head":"\n7 Principles For Doing Life Together: Do your groups make the grade? - Group Children's Ministry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cDoing life together\u201d has become a cliche to describe small groups and ministry teams. In their new book, From\u00a0Couch to Community: Activating the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7 Principles For Doing Life Together: Do your groups make the grade? - Group Children's Ministry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cDoing life together\u201d has become a cliche to describe small groups and ministry teams. In their new book, From\u00a0Couch to Community: Activating the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Group Children's Ministry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GroupChildrensMinistry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-24T08:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-08T00:30:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CVDaily Editors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@groupkidmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@groupkidmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CVDaily Editors\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/\",\"name\":\"7 Principles For Doing Life Together: Do your groups make the grade? - Group Children's Ministry\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-24T08:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-08T00:30:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/feef0a07ad97512cb93f0c10cd7abfed\"},\"description\":\"\u201cDoing life together\u201d has become a cliche to describe small groups and ministry teams. In their new book, From\u00a0Couch to Community: Activating the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"7 Principles For Doing Life Together: Do your groups make the grade?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/\",\"name\":\"Group Children's Ministry\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/feef0a07ad97512cb93f0c10cd7abfed\",\"name\":\"CVDaily Editors\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46c5eee474e1202476246912459cd663a92d09621a941da41cc986f646f69b47?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46c5eee474e1202476246912459cd663a92d09621a941da41cc986f646f69b47?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CVDaily Editors\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/author\/cvdaily-editors\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"7 Principles For Doing Life Together: Do your groups make the grade? - Group Children's Ministry","description":"\u201cDoing life together\u201d has become a cliche to describe small groups and ministry teams. In their new book, From\u00a0Couch to Community: Activating the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"7 Principles For Doing Life Together: Do your groups make the grade? - Group Children's Ministry","og_description":"\u201cDoing life together\u201d has become a cliche to describe small groups and ministry teams. In their new book, From\u00a0Couch to Community: Activating the","og_url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/","og_site_name":"Group Children's Ministry","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GroupChildrensMinistry","article_published_time":"2014-04-24T08:00:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-08T00:30:34+00:00","author":"CVDaily Editors","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@groupkidmin","twitter_site":"@groupkidmin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CVDaily Editors","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/","url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/","name":"7 Principles For Doing Life Together: Do your groups make the grade? - Group Children's Ministry","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2014-04-24T08:00:18+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-08T00:30:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/feef0a07ad97512cb93f0c10cd7abfed"},"description":"\u201cDoing life together\u201d has become a cliche to describe small groups and ministry teams. In their new book, From\u00a0Couch to Community: Activating the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/7-principles-life-together-groups-make-grade\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"7 Principles For Doing Life Together: Do your groups make the grade?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/","name":"Group Children's Ministry","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/feef0a07ad97512cb93f0c10cd7abfed","name":"CVDaily Editors","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46c5eee474e1202476246912459cd663a92d09621a941da41cc986f646f69b47?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46c5eee474e1202476246912459cd663a92d09621a941da41cc986f646f69b47?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CVDaily Editors"},"url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/author\/cvdaily-editors\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}