Group Life Podcast

Join hosts AnnaMaria Mattey and Dave Liefeld as they continue unpacking the second "C" - commit. Ary Grubner from Willow's Young Adults ministry joins them to discuss his own experience leading.

Join hosts AnnaMaria Mattey and Dave Liefeld as they go deeper on the first "C" - connect. Featuring Lead Pastor of Parkcrest Christian Church and former Willow Creek staff member Jared Wilkins. 

Join hosts AnnaMaria Mattey and Dave Liefeld as they unpack the 4 Cs that make up a great small group - Connect, Commit, Confess, and Challenge.

Explore strategies and tools to grow as a leader and to help your people to flourish.

At the very heart of the gospel, and our rescue is God’s grace and mercy. Yet we can find it so hard to demonstrate in our own lives. Why would that person do such a thing? How can I love them when they say things like this? What could possibly make them think that way? However, perhaps the person we find so hard to love is doing the best they can—with who they are and what they have. Join Mandy Burbank as she explores the loving and legitimate discipline of believing that people are doing the best they can whilst establishing healthy boundaries. Discover that this perspective embraces sound theology and science rather than requiring mental gymnastics and the denial of reality.

How do we support people wherever they are on the spectrum of marital status? Everyone has a marital status – not everyone likes it.  It affects a group member’s life in different ways, in different seasons.  It can contribute to growing and thriving as fully devoted followers of Christ.  For others . . . nothing could be further from the truth.  How can you help those who are thriving in their marital status to continue to do so?  How can you help those who are struggling in their marital status to transform their situation?  Join Karis Reichert as she brings insight and clarity that will equip and empower you in this pivotal issue.  

As a group leader you have a strategy for creating an environment for connection.  That is Group Leadership 101.  However, is it inevitable that every group come with its own revolving door?   Disengaged people looking to leave the group.  Unconnected people looking to become a part of the group.  As the leader how can you catalyze the formation of new connections, protect existing ones and restore damaged relationships?  Join Jared Wilkins as he draws upon his experience and insight to explore the stages of development of every group. Then take your connection strategy to the next level by learning when to apply the tools that he shares.

Isn’t this simple a matter of semantics?  Surely, great teaching results in great learning!  Perhaps.  A group leader who is a charismatic, humorous, persuasive and knowledgeable can be very engaging and motivating.  However, often this allows their group to remain passive.  Consequently their group retain little and apply even less to their lives.  A leader that chooses to facilitate people’s learning shifts the focus and ownership onto the learners.  They design opportunities and experiences for their group to ask and explore rather than to listen and absorb . . . and it can all begin with a simple shift from giving answers to asking more questions.

Alpha is about sharing God’s love through friendship. Do this by listening well, taking interest, learning from everyone’s point of view, and affirming group members so they feel heard.

Healthy leadership requires a healthy soul, something we often neglect. Learn to care for your soul and lead out of the overflow of your deepening relationship with Christ.

We are all busy, so making it to a weekly face-to-face small group can be tough. How can we leverage technology and other creative ways to keep our groups alive?

Build your confidence, and skill level, in using this simple path to getting your people unstuck and on their way.

Caring for people who are suffering is immensely important.  Often, it is also very hard.  In fact, it may be one of the areas of life where we most keenly feel the distance between our desire to help and our actual ability to do so.  Sometimes that inability stems from our unhelpful compulsion to change or to fix.  Sometimes it results from our choice to be silent and passive.  So how can we show Christ’s love to people who are suffering?  Join Chrissie Steyn as she uses her vast experience and expertise to guide you through some powerful principles and practices.

Gain valuable insight into the unique purpose and value of the coaching role. Learn how to develop essential coaching strategies and apply key skills as a Small Group Coach.

Learn to create a shared vision and values with your group members. What do you see and feel when you picture your ideal group meeting together?  How is your role in that ideal scenario different from the current reality?  What is needed to set a course for that desirable destination?  This workshop explores two significant agents of purpose and direction: a clarifying vision and a set of guiding values.  As importantly it, you’ll explore how to create a vision and set of values that are shared throughout your group.  How empowering to have a group who have all taken ownership of the same picture of their ideal group! Vision and Values worksheet

We have all felt the impact of someone undermining a conversation. Awkwardness, frustration and distrust often follow. Why is that? Part of the explanation may be that we begin to question the purpose and safety of the interaction, and perhaps, of the relationship. These styles of communication become particularly challenging in a group context.  So how can a group leader respond well? Join Mandy Burbank as she draws on her wealth of expertise and experience. She explores many of these challenging styles and explains powerful ways to respond.

In Caring Enough to Hear and Be Heard David W. Augsburger says that, “Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.” Are there people who listen to you in this way?  Do the people in your community feel heard by you and each other?  As we learn to listen ever more attentively and perceptively so we learn to communicate Jesus’ love to others. Join Jason and Erin Feffer in this interactive and rewarding workshop as they explore holy listening and listening groups. 

In this episode of the Discipleship Monthly Podcast, we sit down with Steve Carter to talk evangelism.  It seems to us that the holiday stretch from Thanksgiving through the New Year is a time when many people are a little more open to the big questions of life, and we wanted to get Steve's perspective on how we can maximize that time.  The insights and strategies we talk about in this conversation apply to individuals, groups, communities, and everything in between.  

In the second episode of The Discipleship Monthly Podcast we sit down with the "venerable" Bill Donahue to talk about what makes for real community, and what gets in the way.  Have a note pad ready, because Bill's bringing wisdom every leader needs.

In our initial Discipleship Monthly Podcast we're talking to two ministry veterans, Ashlee Eiland and Cindy Blaski, about who was instrumental in discipling them and what advice they have for those who are serious about helping others grow in Christ.