Discipleship Groups
GROUPS | DISCIPLESHIP GROUPS
Small, Rooted, and Focused Groups are tied to northway.org/groups. Any changes to the Small Group Finder can be done through Ministry Platform > Groups.
GROUP INQUIRIES
Under People Lists > Group Inquiries you can see people who’ve inquired about groups https://my.northway.org/mp/315
When someone inquires about a group, they receive an automated email letting them know the leader(s) will be in touch. When you receive the auto notification, you can email the leader to remind them to follow up (sometimes the auto emails go into leaders spam, so it’s good to remind them).
SEEING A LIST OF YOUR GROUPS
In Ministry Platform > Groups, there is a view for each campus called “Current Small Groups – [campus]. This is a quick view to see all your groups and their info.
To pull an excel list of all those groups,
- select the view for your campus
- check the boxes for the groups you want to export (or click the box in the bottom left to export all
- if a box pops up, make sure to click “start new selection!”
- click Actions > Export
- this will download an excel version
CREATING A NEW DSHIP GROUP
Open up one of your existing/current groups of the same category (Small, Rooted, or Focused).
Click Actions > Copy to copy. In the box that pops up, click “copy attached files”.
If you’re copying a group that will have the same participants (ex: a Rooted Grp becoming a Small Grp, select “Participants” under Copy Sub Page Data)
Under Small Group Information, make sure all of the info is correct (day/time/location/etc). See end of this doc for details on these questions. You can click “Edit Record” at the top of the page to change any of these items.
I would not recommend putting a group capacity. I would close groups as leaders tell you they are full.
UPDATING THE GROUP ROSTER (MEMBERS + LEADERS)
ADDING: Click on the Group and then within the Group, click on the Participants tab.
Click Actions > Add Participants
In the box that pops up, click the magnifying glass next to “Participant” to select the person/people you are adding.
Under Group Role, select either Group Leader or Group Member.
For Start Date – put today’s date (or the date they are beginning that role)
Click Add
***IMPORTANT NOTE - If someone was a group member + is stepping into leading the group, END DATE their Group Member record (see below) and then ADD them as a Group Leader. This allows us to maintain the record of their membership and then has the correct date for when they started leading.
TAKING SOMEONE OFF THE ROSTER
If someone is NO LONGER in the Group, within the Participant tab of the group, click on their name. Then click “Edit Record”
Under “End Date” put today’s date (or if you know the date they left the group, put that). Then click SAVE.
EDITING THE SG FINDER / INFO ON THE GROUPS SECTION
Group Focus: either Small, Rooted, or Focused
Group is Full is whether the group should show on the Small Group Finder or not
- Yes = Group is full and will not show on Group Finder
- No = Group is still accepting more people (and will show on Finder)
Group Gender: Men, Women, or Co-Ed
Life Stage: the stage of life for the Small Group
Meeting Day: Day of week the group meets
Meeting Time: Time of day
Offsite Meeting Address: City/State/Zip for where the group is meeting if not at the church. When selecting the address, do not select the leaders full address. Select an address with “,” or “.” as the street name.
Meets Online: Yes or No re: if it’s a virtual group
Child Friendly: Not necessarily that they offer childcare, but can be that kids can attend during group time. If this is “yes” I’d recommend including more info re: what is offered in the description for the group.
Accessible: Not necessarily that it is wheelchair accessible, but is relatively easy to get into the meeting space (minimal stairs, etc).
Descended From: This is optional. You can use this to track when a group turns into another group (for ex: when a small group becomes a Rooted grp, copy the Rooted group and you can list the new SG as “descended from” the SG
Notes-Staff Use Only: You can keep track of info here that helps you keep notes about the group.
Completed Rooted: Optional - Use this if you find it helpful to track.
Reason Ended: I would use “Staff Notes for this”
Available Online: This is tying to the Portal, not the website. Do not edit this!