CONNECT GROUP
LEADERS TRAINING
CONNECT GROUP LEADER’S TRAINING
CONNECT GROUP VISION
Lifehouse’s vision is to reach people with the life-giving message of Jesus Christ so that all may become His fully devoted followers. This vision is achieved by these four pillars.
Weekend Services — We are here for the lost.
Lifehouse DNA — We provide the opportunity to be planted in God's house for a strong foundation.
Connect Groups (CG) — We believe that real life change happens in the context of relationships.
Dream Team — We empower people to actively live out their God-given purpose.
CONNECT GROUP MISSION
”Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20 NLT
God values people and so do we! The mission is to make disciples and empower them to do the work of the ministry so the body of Christ may be built up.
- Every CG is vital to fulfilling the overall mission and vision of the Church.
- Every CG leader aspires to train and inspire people to grow in their faith.
“Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”
Ephesians 4:12 NLT
STEP ONE
TEACH
& PRAY:
2 KEY ROLES
The main role of a CG leader is to teach and pray. We are called to be shepherds who help CG members become fully dependent on God and dedicated to following Him.
”Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.“
Colossians 2:6-7 NASB2020
1. TEACH
Every scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good.
2 Tim 3:16-17 CEB
Keys to being an inspiring teacher
- God helps us become great teachers
“And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,”
Ephesians 4:11-12 RSV
- Teach with authority (spend time with Jesus)
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Matthew 7:28-29 NIV
The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:13 NLT
- The goal in teaching is simplicity, not complexity
We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.
Colossians 1:28-29 MSG
- The goal is to teach, not counsel. We are not counselors.
Counseling is the work of the Holy Spirit, who speaks to us through the Scriptures.
But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
John 14:26 NLT
2. PRAY
And I always pray for all of you with joy.
Philippians 1:4 ERV
Keys to praying for people
- Be Persistent
Pray frequently and with joy. - Be Brief
Prayer doesn’t need to be long, loud, or eloquent, just heartfelt. - Be Faith-filled
Believe in a great answer to prayer.
- Be Appropriate for the context (usually in a public space)
For example, touching people during prayer may not be necessary, but if the context is grieving a loss or seeking healing, you could ask to place a hand on someone's shoulder or arm. Holding hands in a circle every week might feel comfortable for some but not for others.
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
Ephesians 6:18 NLT
STEP TWO
QUALITIES OF A GREAT CG LEADER
”Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being Lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.“
I Peter 5:2-4 NKJV
1. Be a shepherd! Desire the role, not for personal gain, but because you desire to serve God and people.
2. Be a friend, not a boss. Serve people joyfully.
3. Be committed to being a good example. Represent the House of God (the Church) with Godly values of love, forgiveness, and faith. Model a consistent Christian life in words and actions.
A leader must be well-thought-of, committed to his wife, cool and collected, accessible, and hospitable.
1 Timothy 3:2 MSG
4. Be committed to being a disciple (follower and learner) of Jesus, having a teachable heart.
5. Be a signpost pointing people to Jesus and the Word of God. The goal is not to make people dependent on us (our thinking or advice), but on Jesus and His Word.
6. Be inspiring and positive as you lead. Encourage and believe in the CG members.
7. Be Word-based. Encourage people to make decisions based on God’s Word—walk in the truth. Our role is to share God’s Word and its principles, but never to make decisions for people.
It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
3 John 1:3-4 NIV
KEYS TO HELP PEOPLE GROW
Speak the Truth in Love
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. “He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
Ephesians 4:15-16 NLT
As leaders, be ready to have difficult conversations on difficult topics. We need to be able to speak the truth in the most loving way so people have an opportunity to grow.
Before they become believers
Introduce new people to:
- Yourself (Your story)
- Alpha
- Journaling
- Connect Group
After they become believers
Introduce people to:
- Journaling as a lifestyle
- Connect Group
- How to share their faith
- Generous living
- Serving on the Dream Team (Lifehouse DNA)
- Becoming a leader (Leadership Training)
Help people take responsibility for their own growth
- Offer encouragement alongside biblical truth.
- Understand they are free to make their own decisions and their own mistakes.
- Guard against codependency: set respectful time limits during which people can seek help and prayer. For example, contact leaders within reasonable hours unless it’s an emergency.
- Point people to Jesus by asking, “Have you prayed about this situation? What does the Word of God say about this?” “Let's pray together.” Encourage them to develop their own prayer life, praying for their own needs.
- Refer people to a doctor or professional counseling services when people need more than biblical teaching and prayer.
- Refer outside church for: professional counseling, including suicidal tendencies, depression, and anxiety, medical assistance, or social services (such as women’s refuge in particular for victims of domestic violence as well as homeless shelters).
Lifehouse Assistance (Inside the Church)
Community
- Weekly Sunday services
- Connect Groups
- Communities
- Dream Teams
Growth
- Lifehouse DNA
- Dream Team Training
- CG Leaders Training
- Marriage Preparation
- Marriage Workshops
- Parenting Workshops
- Alpha Course
- Freedom Course
- Strength Course
Practical Care
- New baby gifts
- Prayer
- Referral to professional services outside the church
STEP THREE
TEACHING THE BASICS
Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.
1 Timothy 4:13
Teach the following as a priority:
- Journaling
- Simple Prayer
- Clean Heart
- Baptism
- Sexual Purity
- Serving
- Generous Living
- CG Culture
KEYS TO TEACHING JOURNALING
But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, 'People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Matthew 4:4 NLT
- Journaling is simply building a daily habit of hearing from God through His Word.
Demonstrate how to journal. Journal together walking them through it. Use simple tools.
- The Bible
a) help them download a Bible app.
b) Download the free Lifehouse App or the Blue Book App (more languages to be added).
c)Start in the New Testament book of Mark, “Encouraging Bible Verses” or “My 1st Month of Journaling” from the Blue Book. - Ask God, “What would you say to me today?"
- Journaling can be short, even just 5 minutes a day.
- Focus on applying God’s Word to your life.
- If you miss a day, don’t worry; simply start again the next day.
- We journal from the BIBLE (NOT devotionals, Christian books, blogs or podcasts, etc.)
- After a few weeks, you will notice a theme. This is the key thing God is saying to you.
KEYS TO TEACHING SIMPLE PRAYER
Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.
Philippians 1:3-4 MSG
- Turn your thoughts into prayers. Prayer is easy and accessible to all, anytime and anywhere.
- Prayer is about the heart, not the kind of language you use.
- If you don’t have the chance to pray out loud, you can pray internally.
- Be yourself. Pray in a normal, conversational voice.
- Pray with simple language, as a son or daughter of God.
- God already knows the back story; even “Help!” is a powerful prayer.
- Everyone's prayer is powerful (not just the leader’s prayer).
- It's okay to have your own prayer style, but don't push it onto others.
- You can pray for anything, big or small.
- Always model simple prayer in CG.
KEYS TO TEACHING CLEAN HEART
And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
Ephesians 4:26-27 NLT
- Clean Heart: Embrace forgiveness and release resentment, anger, offense, or
bitterness. - At the end of each day, if any hurts come to mind, just forgive.
Keeping a Clean Heart
1. Forgiving others
- Make a habit of forgiving as needed, when hurt feelings pop up.
- Forgiveness doesn't make what they did okay, but we choose to release them from our hearts and thoughts.
- Forgiveness is a decision, not a feeling.
- You may find yourself angry again after forgiving, but just forgive again, as often as needed.
2. Forgiving yourself
- If God shows you something, attend to it quickly.
- Have confidence that you are forgiven and God is happy with you.
KEYS TO TEACHING BAPTISM
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:19-20 NLT
(See the study in the Blue Book.)
KEYS TO TEACHING SEXUALITY
Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 NLT
(See the studies on sexuality in the Blue Book. Refer people to our Statement of Faith.)
KEYS TO TEACHING SERVING
Serve the Lord with Gladness; Come before his presence with singing”
Psalm 100:2 NKJV
Serve With Gladness
Our goal is to love God and people through our gifts and passions. We are honored to serve on the Dream Team, not because we “have to” but because we want to.
Use Your Gifts to Serve One Another
Whatever your gifts are, use them well to build and serve the body of Christ.
God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
1 Peter 4:10 NLT
Serve The Lord
When we serve others as though we are serving Christ, we can expect a great reward as an inheritance.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24 NIV
KEYS TO TEACHING GENEROUS LIVING
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
Proverbs 3:9-10 NIV
Honoring God With Our Firstfruits (Tithing)
Tithing is bringing to God the first and the best of everything we produce (the firstfruits of our income).
Agricultural communities, like the one in this verse, commonly stored the wealth of produce in barns and vats.
Today people store their wealth in bank accounts, investments, or stocks. God wants to bless what we produce and store through the simple principle of tithing.
God’s Blessing On What We Produce
If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Romans 11:16 NIV
When we set apart the firstfruits of our income for God’s purposes, the Bible tells us that He will bless and multiply what remains with us.
Cheerful Giving
You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
2 Corinthians 9:7 NLT
God loves and rejoices when we give cheerfully. We shouldn’t feel pressured to give, but rather give with a thankful heart and faith-filled expectation that God will generously bless us.
KEYS TO TEACHING CG CULTURE
- Communicate The Purpose of the Group:
- To grow in Jesus and His Word.
- To welcome more people into the group.
- To complete Lifehouse DNA and consider using personal gifts on the Dream Team.
- To share and celebrate journals, good news, and short prayer.
- To work as a team, and help new people feel included.
- To enjoy friendships but also be considerate of friends' and leaders' time boundaries.
- To politely excuse themselves if they can’t attend or are running late to the CG. This is not asking for permission, it's simply nice manners.
- To ask for help when help is needed. Lifehouse Church is committed to offering a Biblical perspective, prayer, and visitation of CG members who request help. If they are ill, housebound, or in hospital, CG leaders can ask for pastoral assistance with visitation.
- To receive Biblical teaching with a thankful heart and take personal responsibility for responding to Biblical principles, understanding that they are free to make their own decision.
- To understand that the CG leader is responsible before God and accountable to the church leadership.
STEP FOUR
CONNECT GROUP RUN SHEET
HOW TO RUN A GREAT CONNECT GROUP
1. Quick good news and Journal Share (15-20)
- Introduce new people to the CG (keep this brief!)
- CG members share:
- Good news from the week (big or small). This is not a ‘bad news’ share, or ‘how my week was’ share.
- Journal: A great rule of thumb is one minute, one scripture.
- If the group is large, break into smaller groups to share good news and journals. This also provides an opportunity to train the next leader.
2. Study (5-10 mins)
- Spend some time around one main thought from the Word of God. (This isn't a long speech by the leader.)
- Prepare good, simple questions around the main thought from the Bible story and verses.
3. Discussion (10-15)
- Ask good questions.
Discussions are more enjoyable when everyone participates. Engage members by asking simple questions, selecting them to read a verse, share a thought, and how the Bible study applies to them. The goal is to help people apply God’s Word to their daily decisions.
4. Prayer (5 mins)
- Prayer for needs. (Large groups can divide into smaller groups.)
- Pray for unreached friends.
5. Results
- The sharing hospitably of all good things.
“And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
Acts 2:46-47 RSV
CONNECT GROUP PRACTISES
BEFORE CONNECT GROUP
Introducing new people to CG
- Identify new potential members and introduce yourself.
- Understand if they are new believers, seekers, or people transferring from other churches.
- If they are transferring from other churches, first introduce them to our Lifehouse DNA. This will help them learn our values and culture.
- After introducing them to Lifehouse DNA, invite them to check out a CG. Offer a trial period so they can see if it’s a match for them.
- If they’re new believers or seekers, invite them to join Alpha Course. They’re welcome to join both
- Alpha and CG, but if they don’t have time for both, Alpha is a good first step.
- Encourage new members to complete Lifehouse DNA, especially if they want to serve on the Dream Team.
- New members attending a service who want to join an Online CG require an in-person or short online meeting before being added to the group. People not attending a service should not be added to CGs. Discuss any unusual cases with your Hub Leader or Campus Pastor.
Prayer
- Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you while picking a study.
- Ask God to speak powerfully to each person there.
- Pray over your CG members.
Bible Study
Choose a study from:
- Lifehouse App (Blue Book) or The Blue Book App: Show members how to download it so they can follow along.
- Recommended Materials (see https://mylifehouse.com/connectgroup/ for a list).
- Message notes (access from https://mylifehouse.com/connectgroup/ ).
YouVersion Bible App: Help members find an appropriate translation for them.
-For YouVersion studies, ask your Campus Pastors for an approval.
DURING CONNECT GROUP
- Bring an atmosphere of faith.
- Be aware of your body language. Smile!
- Be uplifting. You can try: a round of applause for good news, encouragement, high fives, etc.
- Lead the discussion and help each member stay focused throughout.
- Ask members to share thoughts or feelings, but make sure to give clear time guidelines beforehand.
- Be prepared to manage different personalities well. It’s not helpful to let one or two people control the conversation.
AFTER CONNECT GROUP
Report
- Promptly report CG attendance using Planning Center. Please keep your email up to date so you receive the report reminders each week.
- Add new people to the visitors list on the database. When they decide to commit to the CG, move them to the members list.
- Please keep your members list up to date by removing people when they haven’t attended CG for two semesters. Move them to the visitors list if they plan to return to the CG in the future.
- Periodically, Lifehouse admin may update the attendance list. However, CG leaders are free to re-add any members who return to the group.
END OF SEMESTER
The end of the semester is a great time to prepare for the new semester.
- Plan ahead. Who will be in CG? What are the needs?
- Two weeks before the semester is finished, ask CG members if they plan to join the next semester.
- When a group becomes four people or fewer, the Hub leader will talk to the CG leader about trying to either regrow the group, consolidate with another group, or ask the remaining members to join another CG of their choice.
STEP FIVE
THE LEADERSHIP LOOP
AGREEMENT
Having agreement in the following areas will help build a healthy and unified church:
1. Biblical Theology (See our Statement of Faith for insight into our core Biblical values)
2. Lifehouse Distinctives (The way we do it = “Our house”)
Foundations
3. The Big 3 Journaling, Simple prayer, Clean Heart
4. Grace: Living as sons and daughters of God
5. Sexual Purity & Health (See the Statement of Faith)
Discipleship
6. Connect Groups and the Blue Book Studies
7. Dream Teams: Serve the Lord with Gladness
8. Training Leadership from within, maximizing their God-given potential
Missions
9. A Church on Mission: Reaching people, touching nations
10. Contextualized: Biblical truths for today's culture in areas like communion, marriage prep, baptisms
11. Collaboration with various like-minded churches and ministries
Services
12. A church for all generations, especially the next generation
13. Praise and worship music composed within the church
14. Plurality of preachers: a diverse team of preachers and teachers with a consistent message
Governance
15. Financial, legal, and HR excellence
16. Lifehouse DNA
(Is the way we can quickly communicate all of the above to newcomers). Encourage new people to go through Lifehouse DNA, especially those who want to serve or lead with us. We welcome all people, but not everyone will be a match to lead with us. Offer Engagement only when it's proven that there's cultural agreement. Look for agreement in the following areas
- How we do church in general
- How we preach and teach
- How we do CG
- How we do music
- How we do outreach
- How we do Dream Team (serving)
- Our Statement of Faith (theology)
ENGAGEMENT
Only offer engagement at a leadership level if there’s cultural agreement. When offering engagement, make sure to also provide feedback. Engagement is our interaction: learning, worshiping, and serving together.
Train
Train the CG members to become mature, self-feeders of God’s Word, and confident in building the body of Christ.
Multiply
CG leaders should empower others in the group to help carry the leadership responsibilities together. We do that by appointing, equipping, and releasing.
Appoint
- Look for a potential CG leader, even if they’re still not ready to lead yet.
- Pray for God’s direction. (“Never be in a hurry to appoint a leader,” says 1 Timothy 5:22.) Don't be quick to fill empty spots.
- Ask for approval from the Campus Pastor and/or Hub Leader before approaching a prospective CG leader.
- Meet one-on-one to determine their readiness, availability, and capacity to lead.
Equip
Equipping people involves intentional training, constructive feedback, and doing life together.
The steps:
- You Do It. The CG leader carries the primary leadership responsibilities until others in the group can be identified and developed.
- You Do It, They Watch. You model the role and responsibilities, set the standards, and ask them to watch as you lead.
- They Do It, You Watch. Ask them to lead different aspects of the CG, like the good news share, journal share, or prayer, then the Bible study and discussion. Provide feedback, correction, and encouragement. Train them as they lead. Set them up for success!
- They Do It By Themselves. They handle the responsibility on their own. Release them and pray that they’ll be filled with God’s wisdom to lead.
Release
Empower people to passionately and purposefully serve others.
- Give them the role. When they have embraced our culture, proven their character, and have adequate training to lead.
- Give them space. Don’t micromanage their every move. Instead, allow them opportunities to succeed and fail. Provide appropriate feedback for both.
- Give them time. It takes time to learn a new role.
- Give them a second chance. There is a new level of spiritual warfare and growing in maturity that accompanies every new role.
The Results
- Planted and loving the church.
- Numerical, spiritual, and relational growth.
- Consistent attendance by CG members.
- CG members are excited to serve on the Dream Team.
- Continual identification and development of new leaders.
FEEDBACK
Inspect what you expect.
- Lay out expectations and implementation steps upfront.
- Check their effectiveness. Do they lead in alignment with culture, core values, and expectations?
- Check their progress. Are they planning well? Do they respond promptly to instructions or requests?
Always include positive feedback.
- Include areas to improve and grow where needed.
Offer feedback in connection to their role.
- Be available to observe.
- Offer help on how to perform their role or manage people better.
- Always correct personally and promptly.
Correct when conflict arises.
- Address issues prayerfully and personally.
- Help them navigate resolution and be available to participate in the process.
Give an open door of communication.
- Set healthy boundaries for your time and theirs and kindly communicate them. Emergencies are an exception.
STEP SIX
TRAINING
A NEW CG LEADER
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
2 Timothy 2:2 RSV
LAUNCHING PROCESS
A. Talk to the Hub leader first BEFORE approaching a potential next leader.
B. Make sure it’s the right time to launch (the new leader is prepared and the Hub Leader approves the timing).
C. Make sure you have enough consistent members to multiply into two healthy CGs. (That means five to six regular members in each group).
TRAINING & MODELING PROCESS
What to model: Teaching the basics, asking great questions, managing different types of people, using the CG run sheet, and reporting.
Modeling goes like this:
- You model it, they watch. (Explain the ‘whys’ behind what you do.)
- They do it, you watch. (Make it clear you will give them feedback.)
- They do it on their own.
How to Ask Great Questions
3 different types of questions:
- Closed questions ask When, What, Where, and Who? (Usually the answer is “Yes,” “No,” or a simple statement).
- Open questions ask Why? (The person tells us what they think about the content of a study.)
- Wide-open questions ask How? (How do you feel about that? “How” tells us how they feel about the content.) This can lead into prayer and application.
Sample
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
Romans 8:1-2 NLT
Focus:
Grace, Freedom, sonship
Questions:
Closed – Who is this written for? (Believers)
What happened to these believers? (They were set free)
Open – Why did Jesus free them? (He loves them)
Open Wide – How do you think that applies to you? (He loves me)
Conclusion - Prayer and application of God’s Word (Rather than trying to finish the whole study)
Tips:
- Give time limits for each section upfront.
- There’s no such thing as a dumb question.
- Be patient—they can pass if they don’t want to answer or need time to think. If they need time, you can come back to them later.
- If people are shy, use closed questions to help them get used to answering questions.
- You can model short simple answers by asking others to answer first.
How to Manage Different Types of People
- Realize that people are awesome.
- Understand who is talkative and quiet, and learn to manage each type using a mix of question types.
a) Talkative People
Ask talkative people to be fire-starters. They can help break the ice by answering questions first, making it easier for quiet people to follow, “Jenny what do you think about what Mika just said?”
Ask talkative people to help by sticking to time guidelines. “I’m so blessed to have you in our CG, you're a great ice breaker. Could I bounce some questions off you?
Get agreement by explaining your vision, “Please come on the team with me, it’s my goal to help everyone in our CG to have an opportunity to talk. Can you help me with that?” It will be like bouncing a ball from one person to the other.”
b) Quiet People
Ask quiet people to read a Bible verse that’s short and simple.
Start with a closed question, “Is that just for the disciples or is it for everyone?” They answer, “I think it’s for everyone.” You encourage them, “Very good, yes it’s for everyone.” Help them to get some wins. Remember that there’s no such thing as a wrong answer or question. But avoid asking shy people to answer first.
3. Be a team builder and share the CG values with the group (both spiritual and cultural).
Have Goals:
- Facilitate the conversation around the Bible study, giving everyone an opportunity to talk. Encourage members to keep fellowship and catch up for before and after the CG time.
- Identify prayer goals for the semester.
- We want people to go home encouraged and excited to come back next week, because the group was friendly and spiritually nourishing and we stuck to the time. When people go off track, bring them back to the point by saying, “Let’s talk about that after CG.”
THINGS TO NOTE
KEYS TO LEADING IN TODAY’S CULTURE
You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 NLT
LEADING THE WAY IN SOCIAL MEDIA
- Present the church with excellence. As a CG Leader, once you associate yourself with Lifehouse Church, others will too. Be careful to present yourself and the church with integrity.
- Celebrate Jesus more than yourself or social, cultural, or political issues. While what we post may not change the world, Jesus can transform lives.
- Anticipate the impact of your words and images. Our opinions can touch people intellectually, emotionally, and physically. What we wrestle with intellectually, others may feel personally.
- Take responsibility. Always post honest and accurate information or news, and if you make a mistake, be transparent and correct it quickly.
- Give credit. When posting other people’s material, get permission if it’s required, and give credit to the artist or owner. Link to the source where possible.
LEADING THE WAY FOR A HEALTHY SEPARATION BETWEEN BUSINESS AND CHURCH
We desire to create a safe place for people to experience God and church life. People generally expect that the church is NOT a place where business is conducted. We don’t want to create an environment where the motive for building relationships in church is misunderstood to be influenced by business opportunities.
Therefore, here are some helpful tips:
- Conduct business in a manner worthy of our values. Please refrain from selling or promoting products or services within the church. This includes distribution, advertising, invitations, SNS, or using church Line groups, phone contacts list, or emails for the purposes of soliciting business, party-plan selling, multi-level marketing, or network marketing.
- Keep business promotions separate from church and personal promotional posts. Set up a separate social media account for business.
- Personal sales or product deliveries should not be made during church or at church activities. This includes events, Connect Groups, Dream Teams, etc.
- We recommend CG Leaders refrain from seeking professional advice or making business enquiries during church activities. Let church be church.
- Lifehouse Church does not take any responsibility for any business transactions between church members.
- Lifehouse Church will promote certain activities, products, and services within the bounds of the expectations of a church and where they are considered beneficial to members.
LEADING THE WAY IN CONFIDENTIALITY
While confidentiality is important for honest and open relationships, we ask CG leaders to inform Pastoral staff if they have concerns regarding their own safety or well-being or that of other people in the church or community. Please be discreet when sharing information, but never promise members confidentiality.
- Information given in prayer should not be put on social media of any kind, even as encouragement or sympathy. Please ask for permission first.
- The CG Leaders should seek guidance from pastoral staff when faced with ethical dilemmas in regard to people at risk and the law. If there is a risk of harm, either to the person concerned or to others, leaders must consider it their legal duty to break confidence.
