Encourage the leaders of small groups in your church to involve group members and deepen relationships by giving individuals areas of ministry they can own. While not everyone will want to take on a responsibility, others will welcome the opportunity. As you look for ways to encourage positive involvement in the life of your church's small groups, keep these ministry positions in mind.

1. Prayer ministry coordinator

This is someone who's passionate about prayer. He or she is the keeper of the prayer list, as well as the spark plug for letting the group know about urgent prayer needs that arise between group meetings.

2. Meeting host

While the leader of each group can also serve as the meeting host, one way leaders can involve others is by recruiting someone else to host the meeting.

3. Food coordinator

While this seems like a relatively minor detail, refreshments for meetings can become a major distraction for small group leaders to keep up with. Chances are, most groups have at least one person who would love to take this responsibility off the leaders' shoulders.

4. Child-care coordinator

Child care can be a big issue for many groups. Most group leaders are wise to discover a group member with the right contacts, superior know-how, and a big heart for kids who can help address this vital issue.

5. Inreach coordinator

Over the course of a group's time together, specific needs inevitably will arise within the group. For example, someone could get sick and need meals, or the group may want to send a card of encouragement. An inreach coordinator takes charge of many details such as picking up birthday and get-well cards that the group can send.

6. Outreach coordinator

Some people have a way of connecting with newcomers. A healthy, open group should desire to see others join and experience Christian community. While smart leaders will encourage everyone in their groups to reach out to others, this person almost instinctively knows how to take the lead in making visitors feel welcome.

7. Publicity coordinator

If one of the small groups within your church needs to grow (or is ready to divide into one or more new groups), a publicity coordinator can take the lead in spreading the word that new groups are being birthed or that the original group needs replenishing.

8. Apprentice leader(s)

Healthy groups have the goal of growing and expanding. An apprentice leader works alongside the current group leader with an eye toward leading a birthed group or taking over leadership of the "original" group when the current leader moves on.

Of course, they're called small groups for a reason. You don't want them getting too large. So leaders might need one person to tackle multiple roles. And some groups simply don't need every position filled.

Resources: Small Group Ministry in the 21st Century (Group Publishing, Inc.). Also, look for Group's Small Group Leadership Workshop Tour coming to your area this fall. For locations and dates, go to www.group.com/sgl or call 800-888-5991.