Teacher, associate teacher, and class secretary, here are three essential positions for every Small Group Bible study class or group that meets regularly. As your class grows ( or if your class has more than three people in it) you should have a plan of additional positions of responsibility for members. Other positions of leadership include:

• Outreach leader – one who assists the class in continual contact of individuals outside the church. This person should also work with your class Ministry/Missions leader to provide opportunities for class members to be involved in mission projects sponsored by the class or the church designed to make contact and share the gospel with the community outside the church.

• Inreach leader – This person coordinates ministry efforts to the attending members, prospects, and potential members of the class. As the class grows the inreach leader will coordinate the care groups and regular contact of members, prospects, and potential members.

• Prayer coordinator – is responsible to keeping the class informed of prayer needs, requests, and praise reports. This person will also coordinate the prayer time in class.

• Activities coordinator – The right person for this position will enjoy seeking out, calendaring, and planning group activities (monthly preferably) for the class to partake in. These will include 1) social gatherings i.e. picnic in the park or at a member’s home, trips to ball games, game nights, movie outings, and other gatherings members will enjoy, 2) local mission/ministry projects i.e. raking leaves, yard clean up, feeding the homeless, working at food pantry, clothing closet, etc.

• Discipleship coordinator – Small Open Group Bible studies provide an entry level for discipleship. This person will key in on topics of interest briefly discussed in class and research resources for the class to study at a separate gathering or on their own for deeper study in God’s word.

This is only a beginning for areas of responsibility for the small group. I believe everyone in your small group should have an area of responsibility within the group. This builds in ownership and friendly accountability within the group as well as fills a basic human need to feel needed and of value. Everyone, you ask? Yes everyone. I have a list (somewhere) of an area of responsibility for each letter of the alphabet for the small group Bible study unit. That’s 26 in Kentucky and it should be the same for other in the USA at least. I also believe every leader should be apprenticing a future leader as well. That is fifty-two areas of responsibility so you should not run out. If you have that many people in your Bible study, it is no longer a small group. It is a church that needs to implement a small group strategy for Bible study.

Other areas of responsibility can include: greeters, care group leaders, research specialists (ex. people who love music can be asked to bring lyrics or recordings of upcoming topics like grace, faith, etc.), set up and clean up, and my favorite, “The keeper of the Doughnut list.” Who’s bringing doughnuts next week?

An organized class is an effective functioning small group meeting needs and growing in Christ, no matter what day or time of the week they meet.