Small Group Studies

• One Sunday evening each month, the church schedules in-home, small group Bible studies. Families with children drop them off at the church for suitable child-care and activities, allowing the adults to meet together for Bible study. Each couple brings a dish to share and a Bible. After the group makes a trip around the food, the members can sit and fellowship during the meal. Following the meal, they pull out Bibles and study together.
  
  The pastor can prepare a study guide for each monthly group night. The Bible passage could follow along with a sermon series or a specific topic idea. Group facilitators meet together before the study to exchange ideas.
  
  Youth meet separately to share their own Bible study materials. Food and fellowship encourage the kids to come on time and participate.
  
  

Online Groups

• Church members meet together through email to share Bible study. The group facilitator sends out the passage for the week or month and some discussion questions. The group members promise to take time to read the passage and to email their thoughts to the group. The group promises to share prayer needs within the group and to maintain confidentiality with those needs. Once a quarter, or more often if possible, the group gets together for a fellowship dinner and in-person Bible study.
  
  

Segregated Groups

• One Saturday morning each month, group members gather to study the Bible with members of the same gender. For example, the men might gather on the second Saturday and women on the third Saturday. Each group might choose Bible study materials geared to the gender of the group, such as Liz Curtis Higgs' "Bad Girls of the Bible" for women, or "Seven Questions of a Promise Keeper" by Tom Fortson for men.
  
  The church provides child care during the Bible study. Each group can divide into smaller groups after the study to share prayer needs in a smaller, more intimate group.
  
  

Church Family Night

• Members gather at the church to spend the first 30-45 minutes together in Bible study. Children and youth have their own Bible study time in age-segregated groups. The Bible study could use material similar to that used in Sunday school, or it could follow the material in a Bible study devotional book such as Oswald Chamber's "My Utmost for His Highest" or "Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God" by King and Blackaby.
  
  After the Bible study, everyone meets together in the fellowship hall to share a covered dish meal. After the meal, families might watch a movie, play games or do something else enjoyable. Children and teenagers can participate in large group activities with thei parents, or return to their groups for age-appropriate activities.