Run this in your church

What you need to get started

Not much. A room, a Bible, and printed lesson transcripts and student worksheets for everyone coming. If you have a screen, the PowerPoint presentation is available to download. Teaching notes and answer keys for each lesson are on the Grounded leader notes page.

How much preparation this takes

Pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Read the lesson through. Pray more. The lesson transcript is written the way you would teach it, so you are not translating anything. Mark two or three places where you want to stop and ask the room a question. Do not try to memorize it.

When someone asks a question you cannot answer

Admit it when you do not know the answer. Write down the question and bring an answer back the following week. New believers can tell instantly when someone is bluffing, and admitting the limit of what you know builds more trust than having an answer for everything. Nobody in the room expects you to be a scholar. They expect you to be honest. Be honest.

I also found that creating a free email account for the class is very helpful. You can offer this to students to ask questions that they may not feel comfortable asking in class. Use discernment. You may want to answer some questions in person. If that happens, simply reply with, “I would love to discuss this with you in person. Let’s get coffee and meet before class next week.”

When the group falls behind

It happens sometimes. A good question opens and takes twenty minutes, and you are only halfway through the lesson. Let it. The discussion is usually worth more than finishing the material on time. Pick up where you left off next week. Ten lessons turning into twelve weeks is not a failure.

When someone stops coming

Call them. Not a group text, a phone call, and not to guilt them. People drop off for ordinary reasons: work, a sick kid, embarrassment about missing two weeks in a row. Most will come back if one person notices they were gone and says so plainly. If you offer the class more than once a year, they can always come back for the next round.

Leading people at different starting points

You will usually have a mix of people in the room. Someone who got saved last month, and someone who has been in church for thirty years and never had anyone explain this. Teach the newest person. The longtime Christians almost always tell you afterward that they needed the basics more than they expected.

What happens after lesson ten

Do not let it just end. Close the last session by asking each person what they want to do next. Some will want to keep meeting. Some will be ready to lead a group of their own, and that is the point. The Recommendations page has a short list of books worth putting in their hands. Rooted, the second track, is in progress.

We are implementing a mentorship program for everyone who comes through the class. Do not wait until the end of the ten-week class to offer this. This will require some planning and recruitment before the class begins. Pray for mature believers to walk alongside the students. They can be there to encourage the students, pray with them, and answer questions throughout the week as each lesson is being taught. When the student has a mentor, they are not walking through this alone. They will face spiritual warfare throughout these ten lessons. It is vital that they are connected to another believer who can help them along the way. They will need it.