We're thrilled that you're interested in leading a small group! At Grace, we believe God works through relationships to bring about spiritual growth — and by leading a group, you’ll play an important role in that process! Below, you’ll find answers to some common questions people have about leading a group.

1. WHAT DOES A LEADER DO?

A leader's number one job is to welcome people into the group and make them feel comfortable! We don’t ask small group leaders to be “teachers” -- instead, we provide you and your group with study guides and simply ask you to use the guides to dig deeper into Grace's Sunday messages together.

2. WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR BECOMING A LEADER?

There are only a few requirements. That you are in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, that you commit to attending a training event for "new" leaders and you meet/interview with a Grace staff member who will help you determine your next steps.

3. DO I NEED TO HAVE EXPERIENCE?

Any experience you’ve had leading a group in the past is helpful, but we invite you to sign-up even if this is the first time you would be taking on a leadership role.

4. HOW LONG WILL MY GROUP LAST?

Groups at Grace last up to 2 years. Most go between 12-18 months. However, if your group is starting around one o of our biannual alignment series, those groups last 4-6 weeks.

5. HOW OFTEN WILL WE MEET?

There are groups meet weekly as well as bi-weekly.

6. WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT WILL I HAVE AS A LEADER?

New leaders will participate in group leader training 101 and 201 before their small group begins. At the training, we’ll train, equip, and prepare you for your group launch. You will also be matched up with a Coach, whom you will meet with regularly for support and encouragement along the way.

7. WHERE WILL THE GROUP MEET?

Generally, groups meet wherever the leader lives, but we strongly encourage groups to rotate homes on a monthly basis. If you don’t have space to lead a group where you live, we will do our best to work out a solution by pairing you with someone else who can, or you can plan to hold your group at a coffee shop or other appropriate public place.

8. WHO WILL BE IN MY GROUP?

We encourage diversity in small groups. We think it's best to be linked up with people who are at a different age and stage of life than where you're at. And the greatest limiting factor we've found is the night of the week. So our groups are primarily divided up based on night of the week. We do have a handful of niche groups: single (age-based), women-only, and men-only.

9. HOW WILL PEOPLE JOIN?

There are many ways for people to join a group. The first way is that they are invited by the leader or group members — we believe groups work best when they build on natural relationships that already exist, so if there are people you know (even if they don’t go to Grace) you can invite them to be in your group. The second way people join groups is by selecting one that fits their night of the week preference at one of our connections events, called ConnectNow. These happen twice/year.

10. WILL NEW PEOPLE BE ABLE TO JOIN AT ANY TIME?

During transition periods (between studies or during Christmas/Summer breaks) we encourage groups with open spaces to reach out together to add new members — groups can invite people personally or open the group up for new sign-ups on the website.

11. WHAT ABOUT CHILDCARE?

Each individual group is responsible for deciding how to handle childcare needs. Some groups have homes set up where kids can meet in one area of the house and adults can meet in another. Other groups have another home in the same neighborhood that can host the children. Some parents prefer a babysitter come into their home in order to keep their children on the same normal schedule.

We offer childcare reimbursement. If you're interested in this, please fill out the form here:

We also have a list of Grace middle school, high school, and college students that are willing to hep out with baby sitting. If you'd like a copy of that list, email groups@gcomchurch.com

If you have additional questions about hosting a group you can email groups@gcomchurch.com

Get started as a leader today by filling out the form below.