The Summer Pause: A Time to Pray and Plan

Pray

Many Coffee Breaks and small group Bible studies begin to wind down at the end of spring and take a pause for the summer months. Summer can be an excellent time to pray and plan for the next ministry season. A number of churches share how intentional sustained prayer by group members and leaders results in new people attending.

• Consider setting up some planned prayer opportunities, perhaps on the morning you normally have Coffee Break.
• Pray for family members, friends, and neighbors whom God might lead to study his word with your group next fall. Perhaps each person who participates could come with a list of names to share.
• Watch how God will answers your requests in the lives of these women.

Plan

Some groups are now beginning to plan what they will study in the fall. As you pray for newcomers, particularly those who have not studied the Bible before, consider how your choice of a study will impact them. Although all Discover Your Bible materials are written with newcomers in mind, some studies connect better to a person new to the Bible. How about studying a gospel or a book like Colossians? Perhaps a separate newcomer's group will be helpful if your other group or groups plan to do a more difficult study like Discover Isaiah or Discover Romans.

• Many groups also dream of being intergenerational. You might ask some young women what will make it easier for them to attend, and then, if possible, implement those changes.
• Consider adjusting your meeting time if it interferes with the time young women pick up their children from pre-k or morning kindergarten.
• One group discovered younger women preferred the Discover Your Bible series to a video format. They wonder if the conversational and participatory format was more appealing. That group now has many younger women attending Coffee Break.  
• Young women often need childcare. Adding childcare is not as difficult as it may seem.

How do you prepare yourself for the next ministry season? Please share your ideas by adding a comment below or email [email protected].