Through the years, people have often asked me, “What do you typically do during your first meeting with your D-Group meeting?” It may be helpful to you to hear some of what I believe are “best practices” for your very first D-Group meeting.
Share Faith Journey
As you begin your new D-Group, I’ve often found that it is helpful for group members to hear the faith journey of others in the group. Take time to learn things like how they came to faith in Christ, spiritual markers in their lives, times of accelerated growth and even sharing about spiritually dry times. Understanding where the members of your group currently are, as well as where they’ve come from, will be helpful as the group seeks to get closer on their spiritual journey together.
Sign A Covenant
I have found that getting the members of the D-Group to
covenant together is helpful for commitment to each other and accountability to the group time. The old saying that goes, “if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time” is applicable here. Group members covenant together toward a common end, that is, to be answerable to and responsible for one another.
[bctt tweet=”The old saying that goes, “if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time” is applicable here. Group members covenant together toward a common end, that is, to be answerable to and responsible for one another.” via=”no”]
Structure of the Group
I have also found that sharing the structure of the group on the front end is important (last week I
shared a suggested structure for a D-Group that might help). Whatever your structure, let group members know what to expect from meeting times and then stick to the basic structure you’ve outlined. Sure, things can be added to it later, but get them accustomed to Bible reading, doing HEAR journals, Scripture memorization, and praying both together and for one another throughout the week.
Share Personal Information
Finally, the first meeting is a great time to share personal contact information with other members of your D-Group. Collect cell phone numbers and email addresses so that you can communicate with the group as need should arise. No one likes to answer a cell phone number that you don’t already have in your contacts, but you’d hate to miss an important call from one of your D-Group members. I’ve also found it helpful to share spouse & children’s names to more effectively pray for them by name throughout the week.
I hope these “best practices” are helpful to you as you launch your D-Group at the start of a new year. Next week, we’ll take a more in-depth look at what the second meeting could look like.
