Creating an Environment for Healthy Disciple-making 

Shepherding and leading people isn’t easy. City Group Leaders know this firsthand as they labor to lead a diverse group of people for the purpose of growing with Christ and living as a spiritual family. This is a story of a team of City Group Leaders who learned the importance of  pausing group rhythms in order to see where they are and where God wants them to be.

The Post Grad City Group is made up of a diverse group of singles and couples who are just starting out in their careers or continuing their education in grad school. The people in the group each come from different church backgrounds, from growing up going to church, to Catholic backgrounds, to having no experience in the church until coming to know the Lord. The Post Grad City Group Leaders are quick to recognize the blessing it is to have a diverse group of people and experiences.

The group had developed a rhythm of meeting weekly for a Bible study, but had very little interaction with one another outside of the group. They would finish the study and go their separate ways. There was a desire to be a spiritual family, but it wasn’t happening. It was time to reevaluate the rhythms of the group.

As the Lord would have it, the group was about to experience great change that would eventually help them grow as a spiritual family. The previous City Group Leaders moved out of state and a new team of leaders was raised up to help lead. Just as these new leaders were finding their rhythm, Covid struck and the group dynamics quickly changed. The leadership team knew that fellowship with one another was more important than ever. The group began meeting online, but unfortunately group numbers began to decrease. Once they felt safe meeting in-person again people started to get reconnected, but the leaders were still at a loss of what to do. They had a burden for the people in the group to experience true biblical community, but they were unsure of next steps.

Sometimes City Group Leaders can fall into the trap of believing they need to have all of the right answers or their credibility as a leader will be in question. However, that’s exactly the opposite of what it means to be a good leader. A good City Group Leader is someone who listens and brings others along in the decision making process. By nature, this will bring a City Group together and God will use the unique giftings of the members to help the group grow as a spiritual family.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities,
but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
1 Corinthians 12:4–6

Therefore, rather than overcomplicating things, the Post Grad City Group Leaders simply asked the group what they wanted the future of the group to look like. For the next month the group gathered to pray and ask for God’s guidance. From these meetings new group rhythms began to form and the group was relationally closer than ever before.

The group hopes and prays that through their new rhythms of Bible study and Huddles that they will come to a deeper love of the Lord as they study His Word and pursue intentional relationships where confession, repentance, and encouragement can happen.

This experience has taught the Post Grad City Group Leaders first and foremost that shepherding and leading people isn’t always easy. They realized that rather than arbitrarily doing things they thought would encourage community, there is great value in leading with humility and asking questions to learn more about the spiritual health of the group and making decisions together. And ultimately, the leaders have grown in what it means to bring the group before the Lord and entrust the group to Him to use them for His glory and multiplying disciples.