08: Online Groups Are The Spark

Online Small Groups are a tremendous way to get people to engage in your digital community. In this video, I explain what small group ministry is about, how large online groups can be used to start small online groups, share four principles to online groups, and what a typical online group meeting looks like from start to finish. Watch this video to learn more!

The Early Church Model was Small Groups in Acts/2:42-47 & 5:42 & Paul & other Apostles confirms it in follow up letters:

“Apostle teaching” - Discipleship
- Ephesians
“House” - Fellowship
- 1 & 2 Corinthians
“All things in common” - Ministry
- James
“Temple courts” - Worship
- Philippians
“Add to their numbers” - Evangelism
- Romans

Large Online Groups Are Easy Way to Launch Online Groups:

Invite a large amount of people to be part of the group, which you lead
Create private Facebook Group (home base) for those part of the online group
Meet weekly at same time on Zoom (meeting space)
Use Zoom's Breakout Room feature to get into smaller groups of 3-5 people (How to US Zoom Breakout Rooms)
Engage throughout the week in Facebook Group
After the completion of the study encourage people to continue on in their small groups
Capture one story from your large online group to launch more groups

The 4 P’s of Online Groups

Programing: on-demand individually or real-time as group (Synchronous or Asynchronous)
Platform: people are opinionated with technology
Process: text > audio > video > face to face
Places: two ways an online small group interacts:
1. Home Base: Facebook group, text thread or WhatsApp
2. Meeting Space: Zoom.us, Skype, or Google Hangout

What A Typical Online Group Looks Like: