The prospect of leading a small group faith study can be intimidating. Do I have what it takes to lead a group, especially in a spiritual way? Shouldn’t I be a religious, a bible scholar, or at least an expert in the course material I’m instructing? I am not a natural-born leader and actually I am somewhat of a socially awkward introvert, can leading really be for me?

I hope to convince you today that with a few tools you can become equipped to effectively lead a small group in your church community. Leading does not take book smarts or a winning personality, but a heart for helping others grow spiritually through study and the willingness to own the task.

The common lay faithful can take responsibility for spiritual growth within their community. In fact, the Church needs us to do this!

“Therefore, (lay believers) in particular ought to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to the Church, but of being the Church… their activity in ecclesial communities is so necessary that, for the most part, the apostolate of the pastors cannot be fully effective without it” states the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 899.

The following list is meant to be a loose guide for leading a small group, not to bog you down with tasks. If you are called to lead and feel unequipped to do so, please consider using this as a starting point!

1. Set Boundaries for Your Study

This tool is especially critical if you are leading at the request of a pastor or ministry leader. Even for studies you start up on your own, setting limits can be helpful. Some boundaries worth establishing are time period, schedule, team requirements, and resource requirements. Two example boundaries statements are 1) “Dear Ministry leader, I am happy to lead the {awesome study name}! I would plan to lead on a weekday evening starting at 7, up to twice a month, for 6 months. I need the material to be provided to me or everyone to buy their own material. My preference would be to be paired with a male leader since the group is co-ed; please let me know if you can help with this or if I need to find my own team. Thanks!” or 2) “Dear Self, you are only going to lead this {awesome study name} for one day, 4 hours maximum. You will ask someone else to bring the refreshments. You will not prepare for more than 3 hours for the study. Afterwards you will nap.”

2. Plan and Execute Communication

It is helpful to have a plan in mind (or written) for how communication will be achieved based on your stakeholders. Here are some examples of people and communication required.

Parish Office Person: send a bimonthly email with room needs and bulletin announcements.

Pastor: casually remind him every few months that your group is still meeting and doing well (he can recruit people for you if he remembers about your study!)

Study group: email them before each meeting to remind them of time, meeting place, and homework (if necessary). If meeting is cancelled, send out mass email and request confirmation of email receipt, with follow-up call to those who do not respond.

Maintenance Person: every few months reach out and thank maintenance person for setting up your space. At that time you can inform person of any changes required (we don’t need tables, we will need heat soon!).

3. Prepare Before Each Study

At a minimum, leaders should complete any homework and a brief review of the upcoming meeting study content. Perhaps you will need to dive into some portion of the content a little deeper. (My pet peeve is when one verse of scripture is included but with no context!) This may sound odd but, for introverts like myself, it may be useful to prepare an appropriate conversation topic to discuss before the meeting starts. For example, you may coach yourself, “Don’t bring up the rat in your house again! Talk about Saint Edith Stein for her feast day today!” or, with a different group,… “Talk about the rat!”

Prayer is a mandatory step in preparing for each session. Pray for yourself, that you may have humility and wisdom in your leadership. Pray for the Holy Spirit to use you effectively and help with any current struggles you may have. Pray for your group, for individual intentions and for the group dynamic . Just pray!

4. Set Rules for the Group

Each of your study participants may come from a different experience of group study. It is best to set the stage so that everyone is on the same page with what is appropriate for this group discussion. A standard go-to that I have, which is adapted from a Maryland Catholic Women’s conference handout is the following:

Affirmation – Everyone in this group is at a different point on their faith journey. We will value and affirm people

where they are.

Confidentiality – What is said in this group, stays in the group.

Be Present – Please turn off electronic devices.

Listening – Others will need to be encouraged to share. Be sure to actively listen and allow others time to share.

Self-Awareness – Some people are talkers and some are listeners. Be aware of not dominating the discussion or

always waiting for someone else to contribute.

First Shall Be Last – If you were one of the first to talk last time, allow someone else to go first.

Silence – Silence is okay…sometimes people need a chance to process what has been shared.

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5. Reach Out for Expert Support

It is likely that you, assuming you are the average Joe Shmo like myself, will have a hiccup at some point with your study content. This is OK and should be expected! Simply write down the point of concern and treat it as homework to resolve for your next session. Some helpful resources are talking to a priest, doing research over the internet, or even going straight to the source of your study. For example, maybe you purchased the material from the Augustine Institute and they will support resolving the question.

Often a newly formed group will keep conversation in the highly theoretical or impersonal. We know from reading the lives of the saints that personal sharing of our faith walks is often more effective than just theory. As the leader it is up to you to be the first to open up. The leader sets the tone of the group. If you can’t take the conversation down to the practical examples of day-to-day life or deeper struggles, then often it won’t go there. Let the Holy Spirit move in you and be confident in your vulnerability since it often (not always!) will be up to you to be the first.

7. Troubleshoot Problems

Any concern with an individual in the group should be handled privately, one-on-one, either face to face or over the phone. (See “4. Set Rules for the Group” for some typical concerns that may arise.) Direct confrontation, no matter how humbly approached, is not a skill that comes naturally for anyone so don’t please don’t feel like you are inadequate to lead because you are not sure how to handle this type of incident. After a one-on-one attempt, it may be wise for the situation to be resolved with support of a priest or ministry leader. Don’t let an individual issue compromise the integrity of the group study.

Problems with the group in general? Is everyone showing up late? Talking over each other? No one doing the assigned reading? If there are general problems with the group there are two effective approaches. 1) Create an anonymous poll for people to respond to specific questions (SurveyMonkey can help!). Perhaps you will survey if the group prefers to meet monthly instead of biweekly or if there should be a 10 minute quiet time at the beginning of each meeting for people to catch up on homework. 2) Talk to a few trusted study participants separately. One of them may be able to provide you with new insight (50 pages a week is too much reading!). Not recommended: Approaching the group all at once will likely be confusing or unhelpful since commonly only the loudest or most persuasive voices will be heard.

A Final Note

All of the tools listed above are effective in the hands of a leader who follows the example of Christ by leading as a servant. As study leaders, we pave the way for others to grow in the faith through study and social connection. “Paving the way” means ensuring the study logistics are taken care, resolving problems, and communicating effectively. Although this effort can be testing, one of the greatest joys of my life has been seeing others grow spiritually through small groups that the Lord has called me to lead. I hope that you too can experience this joy and that you will grow by the power of the Holy Spirit working through your faith study group.

“May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in Him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13