Chapter 9

Vary the Format

The adult class turned to the Acts account of the apostles' arrest for preaching Christ. As they settled in for the Sunday morning lesson, a policeman in full uniform clipped into the room. He strode solemnly to the front, presented an arrest warrant, handcuffed the teacher, and led him away.

"Would someone please take over?" asked the teacher shakenly as he was taken out. "I don't know when I'll be back."

The teacher had set up this event with a friend to illustrate what it would be like to witness sudden arrest and imprisonment as the apostle's had. The variation from the usual class format was an effective way to capture the members' interest.

As the group leader, your main task is to involve your group in interaction, sharing, and discussion of the Bible study material. These stimulating times will keep your group highly motivated. Even so, it is a good idea to add variety to your meeting.

Try to incorporate at least one of the following ideas every month to further amplify the subject you are studying.

Visual Aids

Many concepts in the Scriptures are illustrated by everyday items. Jesus often referred to His surroundings as an illustration of some spiritual truth. Evidently, many times, these items were within view as He was speaking. We are told in Matthew 18 that Jesus brought a little child and set him in the midst of the disciples and told them they were to be like this little child.

You, too, can use visual aids to help further people's understanding of the Bible. Pictures are helpful, but bringing in an actual item will impress the concept on people's minds more deeply. Here are some ideas that may help stimulate your thinking.

Light a candle and put it in the middle of the group as an illustration of Matthew 5:16
Bring a model ship and point out the size of the rudder and how it is like the tongue (James 3:4,5)
Put a piece of chocolate and a piece of clay under a lamp and leave them for a few minutes to illustrate two reactions—both the hardening and the softening—when people are exposed to the light of the gospel.
Christians are likened to plants in the Scriptures. Bring a plant and put it in the middle of the group and ask the group how they are like the plant.
Lego building blocks or Tinker Toys can be used to illustrate the body being fitly joined together (Ephesians 4:16)

Use your imagination, and undoubtedly you will come up with several visual aids you can use.

Role Playing

Role playing is arranged by asking members of the group to act out different roles in a situation which you describe. Then, without any script, they play the parts assigned to them. For instance, you may ask one person in the group to take the role of a parent and another the role of a 12-year-old boy who has just broken a window while playing ball.

The value of role playing isn't in the acting, but in the insight gained from seeing the situation and discussing what is seen. If people see a real situation where a parent is handling a child unwisely, they probably won't say anything about it. But in a role-playing situation, they'll voice their opinions because it's only "acting." A great deal can be discovered in these situations. Like a mirror, role playing will show people what they're like in a way that they're unable to see without help.

Role playing is also a good way to get some of the quieter members involved in a more active situation. It's amazing how often a person who is normally very quiet will do a good job acting and be rather expressive. However, be sure not to pressure anyone into the situation. It's a good idea to call people you would like to be in a role-playing situation a day or two in advance, tell them what you have in mind, and ask them to participate.

Problem Solving

Many problems that people face in life are not easy to handle. Often, the Scriptures don't seem to have a great deal to say about these situations, and they may not be addressed in your Bible study series. Generally, these are problems that people would like to avoid, but are forced to encounter from time to time.

A friend of a woman in one small group was raped the previous week. This opened the door to a discussion about the whole issue. How to take some preventive measures, how to relate to the person just raped, and God's protective care were all discussed.

There are many kinds of problems for which you can have a problem-solving session. "What to do when you are fired." "What to do about teenage drug usage." "What to do if your boss tells you to record deceptive figures on some form." "What to do if your honest day's work will create problems for everyone else at your job." "What to say to a friend whose loved one has just committed suicide."

Sometimes in a problem-solving session, you can divide your group into two or three smaller groups and ask them to discuss the problem for ten minutes and report their proposed solutions.

Special Reports

Many times, members of your group will sense that a topic has not been discussed in enough depth or that they haven't arrived at a good conclusion. One way of handling this situation is to have a special report. This may be done by one member of the group or by someone outside the group.

Whenever you have a special report, tell the person reporting how long to take in their presentation. Then, allow an appropriate time for questions and answers.

As mentioned before, a good idea for scheduling special reports is to assign them as the last item of the meeting. If you put a report at the beginning, it will tend to drag into the rest of the schedule and keep you from accomplishing some of your other important goals.

Debates

Many people fear the concept of debate because they equate it will heated arguments. A debate is not an argument. It's a presentation of two sides of an issue.

For Christians, many issues don't have two sides. We believe the Bible, and that settles many matters for us. This doesn't mean there are issues that concern us as Christians that can't be debated profitably.

To have a successful debate, you must have good organization. First, find two people who would like to present the two sides of the issue. Then, organize your time similar to the schedule below:

Schedule Minutes

Presentation of first side 5–10

Questions for clarification only 2–4

Presentation of second side 5–10

Questions for clarification only 2–4

Rebuttal from first side 3–6

Rebuttal from second side 3–6

Questions from floor to both 5–10

Don't expect to arrive at a unified conclusion. That isn't the purpose of a debate. A debate is for the presentation of information and conclusions that may not have been previously considered.

As you use these ways to vary the format of your group, remember that discussion should continue as the normal plan, and you shouldn't have so many varieties that you lose the benefits of this constant interaction.

Note: For your next leaders' meeting, bring a visual aid to illustrate your group's current topic of study.

Summary

Use some of the following ideas to help add variety to your small group format:

Visual aids
Role playing
Problem solving
Special reports
Debates

How to Squash Enthusiasm in Your Group

Never add variety. It takes too much time and effort to develop new ideas. Nobody appreciates it anyhow.

Hold a business session each week, carefully following established rules of order.

Resist any attempts to use the ideas of others. This is easily done by assigning a committee to investigate them thoroughly.

Things to do in a leaders' meeting

Have everyone share their visual aid.
Choose one of the other ideas in this chapter and report a plan to use it to vary the format of your next group meeting.