{page_heading}

Six Steps to Starting a Group

1. Develop Your Leadership Qualities

Taking on leadership responsibility is exactly that, a responsibility. Below are three essential leadership qualities for leading a Group at Trinity.

• Connected with Jesus: Sounds a little bit obvious, but you cant lead people into a deeper relationship with Jesus, unless you moving that way yourself. You’ll need to be actively and intentionally and passionately following and worshipping Jesus yourself.
• Character Like Jesus: You need to be committed to growing a Christ-like character, acting humbly, serving willingly, showing loyalty, and displaying accountability to others. No-one is perfect but as a leader you need to be teachable and willing to learn and believe in the Bible and what God says about Himself and you.
• Committed to Trinity: We hope you love being part of the Trinity Family and as a leader you’ll need to be setting an example for others in Trinity in Serving, Praying, Attending and Giving. You’ll also need to have been attending Trinity regularly for the past six months.

Highlighting these areas will we hope, call you into deeper discipleship and more effective leadership. If you have any questions or things you want to talk through please feel free to contact the team on grouplife@trinitylondon.org

Six Steps to Starting a Group

2. Develop a Vision

Here are 2 ways to help you develop a vision for a Group.

• Ask yourself, a) “What is God saying to me?” b) “What am I willing to do about it?” It’s a good way of seeing what passions God has placed on your heart. Asking this frequently helps us to stay connected with what God is calling you to do.
• “People, Places, Passions & Publications.” God often directs us into leading in areas that we already have a high degree of commitment or ownership.
  • People: Are there particular groups of people that you feel drawn to or have a natural affinity with? We have seen Groups that have gathered students, young people, musicians, school teachers, people from other nations, or connected with Refugees, sex workers, the homeless, a football club, prisons, the elderly. There are also Groups built around honouring particular people in the community such as single mums/probation workers/traffic wardens!
  • Places: Are there particular neighbourhoods, streets or areas that you have a heart for? There are many examples of groups of people who have a commitment to a particular location or community or pub or café!
  • Passions: Are there particular things you feel passionate about and love doing? Sport, Quiz nights, Board Games, Technology, Cycling, Running, Craft, Baking, Music, Board Games…
  • Publications or Courses: Many groups are built around studying a book (such as Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life”) or a book from the Bible or doing a course together such as the Alpha Course or the Marriage Course.

Six Steps to Starting a Group

3. Submit a Vision

Once you have read these pages and have an idea of the Group you would like to lead, fill in the “Start a Group” form at the end of this page which will help you get some clarity on what your Group will look like.

Six Steps to Starting a Group

4. Form a Leadership team

Our groups are built around a leader who builds a team around a vision. We believe this is an important way of making sure our groups stay healthy!
However we believe it is biblical to be together and to go together. It is therefore important to have at least one other person to lead with you. We would call this person a co-leader or co-leaders.
The Bible teaches us that we are a body needing each other and bringing the best out of each other. It teaches us that we all have different gifts and working together will see us being more fruitful.
For this reason we don’t have any Groups led by only one person.

Six Steps to Starting a Group

5.Understand and lead with an “Up – In – Out” pattern

To make sure all of our groups are healthy we want all Trinity Groups to have a rhythm of:

• Up (Connecting, enjoying and encountering God)
• In (developing a Christ-like character and allowing our new identity in Christ to transform our thinking and behaviour)
• Out (Being on a mission together to reach the world around us, multiply disciples and see God’s kingdom increase)

Having a rhythm also helps us disciple one another and develop as Jesus developed his disciples.

Six Steps to Starting a Group

6. Gathering a group

Once you’ve submitted the vision for your Group through the website and talked it through with the Group Life Coordinator you need to start gathering a group for your launch.
All groups run for a term, and start after a “Two Week Sign-Up Window” at the beginning of each term. All Groups will be listed on the website, where people can Sign up to join groups but if you don’t speak to people about your group and get them in you might struggle to get the group off the ground.
People will join your group for one of a few reasons; they love the vision or the group and want to contribute to it, they love you and want to join whatever you are doing or they have nothing better to do but want to be part of something!