Prepping for Your First CoreGroup Meeting

The first meeting of any CoreGroup is a wonderful mix of excitement, nervousness, and potentially awkward pauses. Don’t worry, all of those things are normal. Just like with most new things, creating group chemistry takes time. You probably won’t leave this first meeting as instant best friends, but this is an opportunity to start the year off on the right foot.

With that in mind, there are some things you can do to prepare for a great first meeting.

1. First, send out a couple of reminders before your meeting. Share your excitement about your upcoming gathering and make sure the details are clearly stated. When will you meet? What’s the address or Zoom meeting link? Are there any special instructions you should include? (I always included a picture of my cat in my emails for both the allergies and the cuteness.) Finally, how do you plan to address COVID concerns?
2. Second, think about snacks. What you do for your first meeting will likely set a precedent for the future. Purchasing or preparing some kind of snack can be a great way to make people feel at home in your group. This is also a great role to share among members of the group throughout the year.
3. Prepare your meeting space. If you are meeting in a community location, like a coffee shop, this will be easy. Scope it out and make sure you have enough seats for the number of people you are expecting. If you are hosting the group in your home you’ll want to put in a bit more effort, but perfection is not the goal here. Tidying up your space is a good idea. Do what you can to create a space that is welcoming, comfortable, and authentic.
4. Finally, take some time to look over your curriculum. To get the conversation started, it is helpful to know where the conversation is going. You might not use all of the material provided in a lesson, but you don’t want to have to make those decisions on the fly.

Hopefully these simple tips will give you some ways to channel your nervous energy and prepare for your first meeting. A well prepared Leader is a major asset to any CoreGroup. At the same time, we believe that a lot of what happens within a CoreGroup meeting is beyond our control. So, I hope you spend some time turning your first meeting over to God. Spend some time in prayer before the big day and rest in the knowledge that when God’s people gather together God’s spirit is there with them.