Online Resources For Small Groups

Friends and Fellow Ministers:

These are fast-moving times for life and ministry during this COVID-19 season. Perhaps, you are wrestling with decisions today about what to do next at your church in our new virtual environments. Solutions seem to be changing by the hour. So, I wanted to make sure you had in hand some go-to sources from LifeWay that offer ongoing help and support for church leaders. These sources are continually being updated to include additional ideas and help, so check back regularly.

Helpful Links and Sources:
lifeway.com/coronavirus – “One-stop” webpage for all things COVID-19, continually being updated
curriculum.lifeway.com  – Free access to the curriculum for all ages (See action steps below.)
lifeway.com/groups – great articles for Bible study group leaders
kenbraddy.com – a daily blog with practical ideas for Bible study leaders
sundayschoolguy.podbean.com – podcasts with Ken Braddy for SS leaders
digitalpass.lifeway.com – Kids at Home resources, now with Preschoolers-At-Home
groupministry.lifeway.com/2020/03/20/free-bible-study-videos-for-quarantined-groups – Free Bible study videos for Socially-Distanced groups
onlinestudy.smallgroup.com – Women’s Online Bible Study Community for free video content

The free curriculum link provides digital resources for all ages (Preschool, Children, Students and Adults) for all three lines of LifeWay Curriculum: Explore the Bible, Bible Studies for Life, and The Gospel Project.

Here are the steps to access the curriculum:

1. Go to curriculum.lifeway.com
2. You will be at the log-in/registration page. This is not a church account, but rather the Log-in ID you use with Digital Pass, Ministry Grid, SmallGroup.com, or Wordsearch Bible. If you don’t have an ID, then just register. It’s free!
3. Once you log-in, if you have never used Ministry Grid before, you will need to “Add a Church.” Check with your team to make sure that no one else has already done this so that you only have one church.
4. After Adding your Church, you will have some new options at the top navigation bar. Click on “Search Curriculum” at the top of the home page.
5. Click on the Curriculum line and age group you want.
6. Click on “Preview Session” for the session you want.
7. You can then share that page with your leaders by “easy link” or by email.
8. And within each session, you can download the files you need to use, or you can share them with your church’s Bible Study leaders through several different methods.

Here is a link for an article from Baptist Press that speaks to some of the same ideas and helps from LifeWay: www.bpnews.net/54507/lifeway-offers-churches-free-digital-giving-plan-curriculum-lowcost-books-discussion-guides

I am praying for great wisdom and strength for you during these challenging days. May God grant you favor in grasping many ministry opportunities in and through your church.

Please let me know if you have any questions about any of this information or if you need further help. I’ll be glad to assist you in any way I can.

Thank you for your partnership in ministry!

This article was written by Michael Gentry of Lifeway Christian Resources.