Charing a Focus Group Discussion

Disclaimer: This is only a description / tips to chairing role, so don't be restricted to the form but allow the Holy Spirit to free flow. And allow discernment of Gods leading in chairing :)

Chairing

It is a honor, privilege and responsibility to take the role as chairperson since the first meeting point with members and visitors is the chairperson. So the chairperson should be welcoming and joyful, have a good life example, so that we can be good ambassadors for Christ . Therefore the role should not be taken lightly and we should prepare as much as we can and leave the rest up to God.

Preparation of the heart is needed in the week leading into the role, as we must ask God to forgive us if we have done anything wrong, get into his word, pray and seek for God's anointing. The heart attitude and our countenance needs to be consistent with God even though we may go through difficult situation that week. Because we know that our God is sovereign and guides in times of trouble, and provides in times of need, heals the sick and sets the bondage free.

Another thing to take note of is that the chair person should know the roles of other people in the group for the week that they are leading (speak to Facilitator for info of roles). And make sure that everyone is prepared and know what they are suppose to do on the day of group discussion. This can be done through emailing respective people and ensuring they are prepared. Another email that is needed is to inform members and visitors of the venue and time, perhaps include the word of God to uplift people during the week and perhaps encourage members to bring friends to small group.

On the day, pray before starting and commit the rest into Gods hand. Below is somewhat a format that I think is quite good for university students.

4:00-4:15 Chairperson to welcome visitors and members, get people mingling and comfortable
4:30-4:40 Ice breaker, can be showing a short video, a role play, a game or anything that helps people feel comfortable to be themselves. "Opening the door to their hearts"
4:40-5:00 Praise and worship time where chair person can either share short message before, in free worship, or at the end with prayer. If there is a word from members, they should normally speak to chairperson before sharing but as a small group, it is more flexible. Hence when someone shares word of encouragement: (1) re-affirm the word that person shares if it speaks to you by summarizing it and asking people if they want to respond (2) if the word may be misleading or not full, correct it so misunderstanding is not there in a appropriate way. This part is to "soften and prepare the heart" of people to receive the word
5:00-5:10 Announcement, testimony, "Connect journal" sharing, news, and get ready for discussion; buffer time
5:10-6:15 Discussion time where it is passed onto the discussion leader gracefully. This time is for the "word to fall on peoples heart".
6:15 -> If there are events such as dinner, invite and encourage people to join, for those who are seeking more, can stay back and share more. For those who are leaving, remember to get the contact or ask member to help get contact of visitor. If it was a larger group for discussion broken down to smaller maybe its good to come together again and do something together to end the night. This is only a suggestion to create unity and flow, can be thruogh another worship song or prayer.

With all that is said, its not meant to be rigid or strict but to allow the flow of the night to be more smooth. Try avoiding using statements such as "now this is the time for games" etc because it does not build continuity and becomes formal. Be creative and personalize the style and the best way to learn is on hands experience. So feel free to ask question as well as for feedback :)

Chair Person in Caregroup

One year ago, I wrote a description on the role of a chairperson in small group discussion. Here it is....

Taking note of the chairperson on Sunday service, you will notice how the chair person keeps watch of the time and moves "items" such as testimony, announcements, communion, prayers, and welcomes for dinner in a short and clear way. The chair person needs to makes sure people who are on duty know their roles and are prepared. And that everyone is comfortable and the environment is conducive for Holy Spirit to act upon. Importantly the role of a chairperson represents the church and directs the church members according to the holy spirit.

Similarly, the chair person in caregroup welcomes the members and visitors with excitement and joy. If a visitor comes, the chairperson should get to know them and introduce visitor to the group. Chairperson normally guides "discussion items" during the course of the night and control the time and "content" in a way. Some people like to talk very long and far off from subject so chairperson needs to know when to step in and take control of conversation again in a polite way. Hm, another thing is, chairperson writes the weekly email to send out to visitors and members to inform them where the meeting place is and what time and a word of encouragement during the week, hopefully it is written early in week, so that people are prepared and they can encourage to invite their friends to caregroup, so that one more soul is saved!


Young Professional time format:
6:30-6:45 We know people are sometimes late so allow some buffer time, chairperson welcomes and introduces new visitors. This is a time that he/she connects visitors to members so that they know each other and exchange contacts later on.
6:45-7:30 Dinner time is when chairperson plays host, prays over meal and entertain people with light discussion, and ask people about their week.
7:30-7:40 Games can be nominated by chairperson to someone else to take responsibility (sometimes dont need game, its just ice breaker)
7:40-8:00 Praise and worship, can share a word of encouragement during this time, end with prayer and ask people to take a seat.
8:00-8:05 communion nominated again by chair person who he/she can do it.
8:05-8:20 chairperson ask if people have testimony or word of encouragement, normally chairperson would ask someone the week before to prepare some sharing.
8:20-8:30 Updates and announcement and some buffer time here
8:30-9:30 Hand over to discussion leader gracefully

This is a rough guideline that the chairperson needs to keep in mind and not be to rigid on but to ensure that it does not go over time as some may work the next day or may be late to go home. It is up to chairperson to deem what is appropriate to do as he is the person organizing how small group discussion will be ran.

Keep in mind that the role of chairperson in caregroup is more a transparent role, that is let the people who are in charge of e.g. worship, games, connect journal know when to start and end (dont have to be formal and say "this is the time for worship", or this is time for games, can just give them a signal). Normally during worship chair-person may share Gods word if God speaks to them. In church, not everyone is able to share in front of the church, so the chair person will act as filter, as in do not let some stranger speak and distort the truth to the rest of the members. (in cg however, most are members, so as long as the word is encouraging its good). Re-affirm person who shares a word of God if its appropriate.

Some note to take:
- prepare your heart days in advance so that Holy Spirit can work through us. This may be asking forgiveness, getting into the word of God, and praying
-Have a clear time format and make sure that everyone knows their roles before the meeting
-Chair person can add and remove parts of the format depending on time and people at present

That is all from the top of my head. So yeah if you have any questions, let me know :)