What experiences do you have with Small Groups? In your experience what makes a group good?

Summers I spend in a RV park in Michigan in an area called “The Bible Belt of Michigan”, yes! I attend a wonderful Bible study where we start out with praise reports and prayer requests. Then we view a 20-25 minute DVD from the Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan. Then we spend the balance of the hour discussing it. The group has nearly outgrown our park library and gets larger each year. The format is perhaps a little rigid however we stay on topic and get to discuss the film. For two summers I also attended a Bible study at a private home. It was a wonderful group of women but we did seem to go down lots of rabbit holes, my fault as much as anyone else. The woman who held it no longer comes to Michigan during the summers.

Winters I spend in Arizona and for the past several years I attended a Bible study held in a private home. It was a fairly small group of about 14 to 18 people. We sat around the room and could see each other. Perhaps it was too successful as we moved to the church and now sit in pews facing the front. We have many more people and it seem more like another sermon, now where have I heard that?

My favorite Bible study is a small group meeting at a camping site in the desert in a 10’ x 20’ tent. Arizona gets a lot of “winter visitors” so the group starts out small in the fall and grows through the winter. Our leader prepares throughally and has references and references. I keep one of my electronic Bibles on the scripture we are studying and use another electronic Bible for fast look-ups. Our group leader tries to keep the meeting to about one and a half hours.

For me a successful Bible study:

1. Small group

2. Informal setting

3. Stays on topic

4. Leaders who are well prepared and gently controls the flow of the meeting

New York City decided that holding Christian services/ meetings in public schools will no longer be allowed. The church services were held when the schools were closed and I understand that the church paid rent. Shades of things to come?

“Some 35 Ethiopian Christians face deportation from Saudi Arabia for "illicit mingling", the global rights body Human Rights Watch (HRW) says. Police arrested the group - including 29 women - after raiding a prayer meeting in the second city of Jeddah. The women were subjected to strip searches and the men beaten and called "unbelievers", according to HRW.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16808429