2012 Living Free Distinguished Ministry Award

On June 18, 2012, Dennis McDonald was awarded the 2012 Living Free Distinguished Ministry Award at Trinity Assembly in Georgetown, Kentucky, by Dr. Jimmy Ray Lee, President Emeritus of Living Free.

Dennis has helped to established Lifeline Connection ministries in Anderson, Harrison, Lee, Marion, Meade, Owsley, Scott and Washington Counties in Kentucky. He is currently mentoring leaders in Woodford County and several other Kentucky counties who have a desire to begin a Lifeline Connection ministry. Lifeline Connection (LC) is a community-based ministry model of Living Free. In LC ministry, multiple churches partner to give hope to those who have life-controlling problems through a structured non-residential program.

In our four part series on Effective Communication in the Small Group, we come to principle number four. This principle relates to the leader’s opinions of the person in the group and/or their situation. Stay clear of opinions and let the Word of God determine answers to questions.

Advice is cheap and sometimes disastrous. If a person specifically asks for advice, be general in your answers. Give them appropriate Scripture references. Each of the Living Free studies provides appropriate passages of Scripture that relate.

In small group ministry, there are people in the group that may dominate the conversation trying to get everyone focused on their problems. We refer to these individuals as EGR’s or “Extra Grace Required” people.

Facilitating sharing in a group may entail quieting the compulsive talker and bringing the silent person into the discussion. The first step in quieting the person who over-talks is to stop encouraging their behavior. This can be done by breaking eye contact with them and by not nodding your head. Eye contact and nodding the head encourages them to keep talking. If this does not work, the next step is to divert the conversation away from the person by means of a question or statement like: “Perhaps someone else would like to share what they have discovered about this” or “While we are on this point, let’s hear from some of the others.” “Can we save your other points until later?” or “You’ve raised a number of interesting points which should keep us busy a good while. Would anyone else like to comment on them?” If all your “hints” are not successful, you may need to speak with the person privately.

The “Extra Grace Required” (EGR) person needs to know that you love them, but that you will not accept their behavior. Encourage them to sit back and listen to others for a few sessions. You may need to have further discussions with this individual outside the framework of the group or refer them to one of the pastors or a counselor.