In his book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell talks about choice and spaghetti sauce. He says that having too many options almost paralyzes people and inhibits their choosing, rather than making it easier. I don’t know how many types and brands of spaghetti sauce there are, but I do know that there are hundreds, if not thousands of different small group Bible study materials available.
How often do you get together with you small group and wonder what to study next? I know that in my small groups we have spent entire group meetings wading through different options.
One voice that I have really come to appreciate over the last couple years is Mark Howell. Mark founded SmallGroupResources.net, and is the Community Life Pastor at Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park, Illinois. Mark recently shared an older post of his on Facebook about how he recommends choosing curriculum. He lists five helpful things to keep in mind when choosing:
- Keep in mind the skill level of your leader
- Keep in mind the maturity of the members
- Look for a topic that will pique interest of the members
- Look for a six-week study
- Choose a DVD-driven study
Read the whole article here.
How about you? How do you choose what your small group will study together?
Be sure to visit the Small Group Bible Studies playlist on YouTube that has full sessions of our video-based small group studies.
