As you know, October 18^th will be the end of our current six-week series, “Centered”…but with this series ending, LifePoint will begin a new church-wide series called “The Sending Church” that starts November 1^st and continues through to the 15^th.

We sincerely hope that your group WILL continue!  A huge part of a group’s success depends on understanding expectations from the very beginning…about 80% of our issues, problems, or conflicts in small groups come from leaders or members never discussing or living by basic principles.  The principles are spelled out in the covenant, and we know after a few months if a group has discussed these principles or covenant, (the “covenant” also called “agreement upon expectations”).  Here is a LifePoint covenant:

-          Discipleship, Community, and Service are our three objectives for every Small Group. Check your group life often to see if they are being lived out.

-          Apprenticing through the process of Crawl, Walk, then Run should be on your mind always. Every Leader is expected to enlist an apprentice and help them learn to lead by giving them a sentence, section or study they lead.

-          Sharing the load of SG is a MUST! It gives belonging to a person and gives you energy to live on in SG. Discover every group member’s passion/interest/hobby and let them own a part of the group.

-          Quarterly I2I Parties are expected so that you can influence others as you have been influenced.  Plan a party/social once every three months so you can invite your neighbors or friends.

-          Curriculum Guide: we help you choose your group’s next study by giving you a list of LifePoint approved resources, many based on LP’s five expectations.

-          Accountability: let others walk in your life as you walk in theirs. Be transparent and others will be also.  Speak into their lives as you allow them to speak into yours.

-          Covenant: agree upon expectations early in the group’s life or there will be problems ahead as you do life as a family together. Below is a covenant (list of expectations as a sample)

It is important that your group agree on a list of expectations. Setting these guidelines is the first step toward real Christian community. We will meet on _______ at ___ o’clock for 6 weeks. Childcare will be provided by ____________Food will be _____________

We agree to…

Discipleship

-          Make our meetings a priority

-          Have Bible study at least 2 times per month

-          Pray for the lost

-          Worship personally in quiet time and corporately

-          Develop future leaders

-          Allow everyone to participate in discussion

-          Challenge each other on our path to growing to be like Christ

Community

-          Host monthly socials and quarterly I2I events

-          Allow group members to hold us accountable to the commitments we make

-          Share the work load of small group

-          Call on each other at any time

-          Respect each other’s opinions

-          Keep discussions confidential unless permission is granted

Service

-          Encourage members to serve each other as needed

-          Serve God through on-campus opportunities of LifePoint Church

-          Serve the world by praying for, encouraging people to go, and/or support participants of mission experiences

-          Serve the community by identifying a project, whether monthly or annually or on-going, that our group will adopt

More information available throughout www.groupleader.org .  To print a copy of a covenant for your group, click on Other Resources>Small Group Covenant.