Small groups are the heart of what we do in Middle School Ministry. When students comes to SHINE! for the first time, they are immediately connected with other students their same grade level and gender, and with a Small Group Leader who is committed to loving, encouraging, and influencing that particular group of students for at least one school year. Most of the time, Small Group Leaders stick with their small group of students for several years – many of them even move up with their students from Children's Ministry or into High School Ministry!

Our Small Group Leaders have two roles:

1. To be a long-term mentor to the students in their small group.
2. To be a long-term partner with the parents of those students.

So while small group time only officially happens on Sunday mornings, there is much more to it than just a brief discussion once a week. Small Group Leaders are passionate about investing in their students' lives, so they will often work to engage with their students during the week, plan special hang-outs for their small group throughout the year, and make efforts to connect with the families of the students in their small group.

In SHINE!, we believe that parents are the greatest influence in the lives of their children – but parents aren't the only positive influence that those children need in their lives. We believe the greatest impact is made in a child's life when that child's parents have other like-minded, Godly adults acting as partners to help them influence and impact their children together. It's the desire of our Small Group Leaders to be some of those partners to the parents of middle school students. 

To get a glimpse of what this partnership might look like, we encourage you to check out the book Parenting Beyond Your Capacity, by Reggie Joiner and Carey Nieuwhof.