Caroline and Lily's group hit a week when only one person was present. It was time for a reset to the faithful attendance they had all agreed upon. Listen and hear what they did, and also get ten tips for promoting faithful participation in your group.

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Thanks for listening to the Great Groups Podcast. Please visit GreatGroups.org for a list of all our episodes.

We'd love to hear from you! Click here for our contact form.

Jay Gordon is the Small Groups Minister at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Chris Amaro is an IT professional and serves as a Small Group Leader and Elder at Brook Hills.

Lifetime Show Notes

Brook Hills Pages:

• The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
• Small Group Leader Resources Page
• Small Group Discipleship Resources
• Small Groups @ Brook Hills

Join Jay and Chris as we celebrate 150 Episodes, reveal some fun info about the location of our listeners, share some of our favorite podcasts, and discuss some wandering thoughts like Biblical radicalization & personal ministry.

Send us Fan Mail

Thanks for listening to the Great Groups Podcast. Please visit GreatGroups.org for a list of all our episodes.

We'd love to hear from you! Click here for our contact form.

Jay Gordon is the Small Groups Minister at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Chris Amaro is an IT professional and serves as a Small Group Leader and Elder at Brook Hills.

Lifetime Show Notes

Brook Hills Pages:

• The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
• Small Group Leader Resources Page
• Small Group Discipleship Resources
• Small Groups @ Brook Hills

In this episode, Jay and Chris share a couple of their book recommendations before playing a recording of "Pastor Matt's Library" from our Fall Small Group Leader Gathering. Listen in for the first time or for a reminder of some good books you may be interested in reading.

Send a text

Thanks for listening to the Great Groups Podcast. Please visit GreatGroups.org for a list of all our episodes.

We'd love to hear from you! Click here for our contact form.

Jay Gordon is the Small Groups Minister at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Chris Amaro is an IT professional and serves as a Small Group Leader and Elder at Brook Hills.

Lifetime Show Notes

Brook Hills Pages:

• The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
• Small Group Leader Resources Page
• Small Group Discipleship Resources
• Small Groups @ Brook Hills

In this episode, Jay and Chris share a couple of their life hacks before playing a recording from our Fall Small Group Leader Gathering where Pastor Matt and Jay share Life Hacks for Small Group Leaders. Listen in for the first time or for a reminder of some life hacks to make your group leadership more easy and effective.

Send a text

Thanks for listening to the Great Groups Podcast. Please visit GreatGroups.org for a list of all our episodes.

We'd love to hear from you! Click here for our contact form.

Jay Gordon is the Small Groups Minister at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Chris Amaro is an IT professional and serves as a Small Group Leader and Elder at Brook Hills.

Lifetime Show Notes

Brook Hills Pages:

• The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
• Small Group Leader Resources Page
• Small Group Discipleship Resources
• Small Groups @ Brook Hills

In this episode, Jay and Chris talk about getting a strong start to 2026. Listen in and see if you've thought of these ways to start strong.

1. Pray for your group: spiritual maturity, life-giving meetings, and new people.

2. Plan some catch-up time after the holiday break.

3. Remind the group of the mission.

Love Jesus, Grow in Jesus, Make Disciples of Jesus

Group Purposes: Disciple-making, Community & Mission

Long-term: New groups and developing leadership.

4. Establish better rhythms as a leader: Prep time, contacting absentees, sharing group prayer requests, personally praying for group members, etc.

5. Identify areas of improvement for your group. Then, map out the route with specific plans. Seek input from group members, spouse, other leaders.

6. Plan your welcome. Be ready for guests.

Send a text

Thanks for listening to the Great Groups Podcast. Please visit GreatGroups.org for a list of all our episodes.

We'd love to hear from you! Click here for our contact form.

Jay Gordon is the Small Groups Minister at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Chris Amaro is an IT professional and serves as a Small Group Leader and Elder at Brook Hills.

Lifetime Show Notes

Brook Hills Pages:

• The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
• Small Group Leader Resources Page
• Small Group Discipleship Resources
• Small Groups @ Brook Hills

In this episode, Jay and Chris are joined by Laura Chramer offering color commentary as we all discuss a set of questions used to evaluate your group. Jay discovered the questions in an article by Josh Hunt on the Small Group Network. We added a few from the staff and also asked AI, so the list of questions is immense. Don't feel overwhelmed by this. One comment on the podcast is that you'll have a great group if you teach for transformation, build community, and live on mission as a group. If you'd like to look through the questions as you think about the effectiveness of your group, just click the link below.

Small Group Evaluation Questions

Send a text

Thanks for listening to the Great Groups Podcast. Please visit GreatGroups.org for a list of all our episodes.

We'd love to hear from you! Click here for our contact form.

Jay Gordon is the Small Groups Minister at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Chris Amaro is an IT professional and serves as a Small Group Leader and Elder at Brook Hills.

Lifetime Show Notes

Brook Hills Pages:

• The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
• Small Group Leader Resources Page
• Small Group Discipleship Resources
• Small Groups @ Brook Hills

In this episode, Jay and Chris are joined by Laura Chramer offering color commentary as we all discuss a set of questions used to evaluate your group. Jay discovered the questions in an article by Josh Hunt on the Small Group Network. We added a few from the staff and also asked AI, so the list of questions is immense. Don't feel overwhelmed by this. One comment on the podcast is that you'll have a great group if you teach for transformation, build community, and live on mission as a group. If you'd like to look through the questions as you think about the effectiveness of your group, just click the link below.

Small Group Evaluation Questions

Send a text

Thanks for listening to the Great Groups Podcast. Please visit GreatGroups.org for a list of all our episodes.

We'd love to hear from you! Click here for our contact form.

Jay Gordon is the Small Groups Minister at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Chris Amaro is an IT professional and serves as a Small Group Leader and Elder at Brook Hills.

Lifetime Show Notes

Brook Hills Pages:

• The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
• Small Group Leader Resources Page
• Small Group Discipleship Resources
• Small Groups @ Brook Hills

In Today’s Episode:
Jay and Chris sit down with guests John Mark and Keilah Carter to chat about life, leadership, and what’s happening in their Small Group. It’s always fun to hear from fellow leaders—and maybe even steal a few good ideas!

We start by learning about John Mark and Keilah’s backgrounds, work, and hobbies before diving into a rich conversation about their group . Topics include:

• Their current Bible study and favorite resources
• The different roles people play in their group
• How they do community nights and global missions
• Scripture memorization and why it matters
• Group meeting format and use of breakout groups
• Evangelism and sharing their faith
• Group leadership succession and changes

There’s a lot to unpack in this episode—so come join the conversation and get inspired to your own group well!

Send a text

Thanks for listening to the Great Groups Podcast. Please visit GreatGroups.org for a list of all our episodes.

We'd love to hear from you! Click here for our contact form.

Jay Gordon is the Small Groups Minister at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Chris Amaro is an IT professional and serves as a Small Group Leader and Elder at Brook Hills.

Lifetime Show Notes

Brook Hills Pages:

• The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
• Small Group Leader Resources Page
• Small Group Discipleship Resources
• Small Groups @ Brook Hills