Christ Lutheran Church Small Group Ministry

CELC’s Director of Small Group Ministry, Florence Heacock, has been a member of CELC since 1996. She has served as Sunday School teacher, church council leader, choir, lay minister for church services, stewardship minister, prayer minister, facilitator for small groups, ALPHA Bible study, Celebrate Recovery, and Women's Healing ministry. She has participated in many faith-based and secular ministry leadership forums, including Willow Creek Community Church.

In serving the Lord as Director of Small Group Ministry, I, simultaneously, serve the U. S. House of Representatives as a Journal Clerk. Previous to 1996, served with my South Dakota Senator in the U.S. Senate.

Before moving to Washington, DC, I served the Lord in gerontology/hospice social work. Prior to this, I enjoyed an accounting and office admin. career in private enterprise, medical, and the corporate world.

I graduated from Black Hills State College, Spearfish, SD, with a degree in sociology and gerontology/hospice social work with a minor in business; and a graduate of Central Business College of Denver, CO, with an accounting degree.

God truly blessed me with a marriage to the late Donald L. Heacock. Their daughter, Veronica and her husband, Andrew, have four children. I was raised on a farm in South Dakota, and grew up in a Lutheran mission church her parents assisted in planting. She has lived in several states in America, and worshiped and participated in various faith communities and cultures.

I love being a servant for the Lord!

Making Your Group Real "Friends"
7 principles for deepening small group relationships.
By Brett Eastman, Founder and CEO, Lifetogether

Don't we all long to be a part of something fun, exciting, and life-giving? How can we create a community like this? How can we connect with one another? Here are seven principles to help you CONNECT with the people in your group and to help them connect with one another.

1. Create a one-another community. In the New Testament there are over 50 different references to "one another": love one another, bear one another's burdens, pray for one another, and serve one another are just a few. This can't happen only on Sunday mornings; it needs to happen in other settings, like small groups.

Once you've invited your circle of friends and they show up, remember you don't have to be a Bible scholar to create a one-another community. Your job is to ask the questions, look around the room, and wait for someone to respond. When someone voices a response, affirm them, no matter what they say. Don't feel like you have to answer every one of the questions yourself.

Another way to create a one-another community upfront is to schedule socials and meals together. Pull families together and get to know each other. Schedule casual gatherings, like a pizza dinner, before the meeting starts. During this time, your group has time to check in on prayer requests. Throughout the six weeks, rotate homes, so that people embrace the group as their own.

2. Open your heart. Being authentic lets your group know you don't have it all together either. When we communicate openness, that makes it safer for everybody else to be open as well. It's healthy to say, "You know, good question. I don't know," "I'm not sure," or "I'm lost." When you're authentic, your group will be more authentic.

3. Naturally, group members together for deeper discussion. It's important that every meeting permits discussion time. When your group gets larger than 7, it's more difficult for everyone to share. So break into discussion groups of 3-4 people. The more airtime an individual has leads to greater life application; and that's when you'll see lives transformed.

Also, this allows time for people to share prayer requests. You don't want to get halfway around the room during prayer request time and suddenly say, "Oops, we ran out of time." Break into smaller groups so you have time to share prayer requests pray as well as for one another.

Remember when people feel heard, they feel loved; when they feel loved, they return; and when they return, life transformation happens.

4. Never run from challenges, questions, or even conflict in your group. Remember, the Bible says, "Iron sharpens iron." The group that doesn't have sparks actually doesn't have as much life. Healthy groups have conflict.

There are practical things you can do, however, to ensure that conflict doesn't dominate your small group. First, agree to make a small group covenant. This agreement outlines the ground rules for your group. If you write down your expectations early on, conflict will occur less later on.

Second, facilitate discussion to help evaluate the progress of your group. After a few weeks, assess how things are going and just throw out the questions: "How's it going? What is one thing you like, one thing you think you'd change if you could?" You may want to have them do it on 3X5 cards to make it safer. Issues that arise from these responses are ones to address immediately so controversy doesn't ensue.

5. Encourage shared ownership. When this happens, the group moves from being "your" group to "their" group. Remember to rotate the facilitation of the group at least by the 2nd or 3rd week. Get out your group calendar and record where the group will meet, who will host, who will lead worship, and who will bring refreshments. This will develop ownership on a variety of levels.

Also make sure that each group member has a responsibility. Some people may not be ready to lead worship or plan a ministry project, but everybody can take a responsibility by teaming up and doing something together. It could be planning a social, or following up on absent group members, or participating in a ministry project. Sign them up, pair them up, and follow up. If you don't follow up, it won't happen.

6. Cultivate a group of friends. The Bible says that early believers gathered in temple courts and house to house, week to week. This model ensured members would always connect with one another, even if they missed a meeting at the temple.

Because the early church embraced this model, they added to their numbers daily. Everyone wanted to be a part of the fellowship. Who are you going to add to your circle? If you invite friends to join the group, they'll have a greater tendency to come back themselves because they'll be surrounded by friends.

7. Take time to do life together. Don't miss anniversaries, wedding parties, baby showers, job promotions, and even house closings. Celebrate one another's lives.

A Thanksgiving prayer brings to mind a festive table filled with turkey, cranberries, and other traditional dishes. Families surround the table with mouths watering as young cousins eyeball pumpkin pies with whipped cream. Before the turkey is carved, the family joins hands with heads bowed and offers words of thanks for the meal spread before them.

For a way to express their thankfulness for survival and the first harvest, the deeply religious Pilgrims looked to the Bible. They found the celebrated Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), or Feast of Ingathering. The ingathering of Israelites (delivered from the desert of Sinai and their harvest were celebrated in this feast and is the most joyous of all feasts still today (Leviticus 23).

Another reference to giving thanks is found in the account of ‘setting’ what Samuel called the Ebenezer Stone. This was a memorial to remind them to be grateful for God’s help during an attack from the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:10-12).

Actually, the Bible speaks of giving thanks nearly from cover to cover. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says “No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

All early celebrations had one common theme—God. Thanksgiving was directed toward God, their Creator, Protector, and Provider. They believed that all good things ultimately came from Him as they do today. Other verses that include thanks can be read in Psalm 100:4, Psalm 105:1, and 1 Corinthians 15:57. For more information go to www.allaboutprayer.org.

In giving thanks to God for your “Thanksgiving,” following is a simple children’s prayer:
Thank you God for all that grows,
Thank you for the sky's rainbows,
Thank you for the stars that shine,
Thank you for my family and friends,
Thank you for the moon and sun,
Thank you God for all you've done!

Florence D. Heacock, Minister of Small Groups

Labels: 5 p.m., Posted by Florence 11/1/09