Here is the format for our grouping sessions.
Frequency
Remember, we must meet on a weekly basis. Continuity is good, meeting every week keeps the momentum going. Out of state out of mind? You really never want to be in that situation. The more you meet and fellowship, the stronger you will become
Quantity
As the scriptures read in Matthew 18:20, “For where 2 or 3 gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Make sure you have 3 or more people meeting. I like minimum 3, and a max of 12. Optimally, you will have up to 7 in a group, no more. When you start meeting you will see that the maximum number of 12 will just take too much time to meet and share. The reality is that all 12 will not meet at the same time. 12 is a good number, (The 12 disciples) since the realistic avg of attendance will then be 7 in the busy cities.
Agenda
Meet & greet, fellowship. The host should have coffee ready, the rest of the crew can alternate and bring bagels, etc.
Open in prayer. Anyone from the group can open in prayer.
General discussion. The beauty of God’s Fishermen’s.com grouping is how every meeting just “dynamically happen” Sorry, we really never have a specific topic. Topics are generated through the Meet & Greet, fellowship time. You would have to experience it so that it makes sense.
Bible Study. The bible study will be automatically be created based on topics discussed in the General discussion.
Time
Meetings shouldn’t be longer than 2 hours. I don’t want to get into the reasons for this now, but from our experience 2 hours is what makes sense. We generally start our meetings at 8am, and you are “out the door” by 10:05 on Saturday mornings. Our reasoning for this is, we meet for 2 hours, then we go home and cook breakfast for our families. Although we meet on Saturday’s you can really meet any day or evening you want.