HOST RESPONSIBILITIES

As a LINK Group Host you do much more than just provide a home to meet in! You are a vitally important part of the leadership team. The combination of a committed leader and a committed host (each focusing on their roles within the group) is hard to beat. Here’s a list of some of your responsibilities:

TO PROVIDE A CLEAN, COMFORTABLE HOME ENVIRONMENT

Some Key Questions:

Is my house clean and picked up by meeting time?

A clean living room, kitchen and bathrooms help people relax and feel comfortable in your home.

Do I have enough comfortable chairs?

Hard chairs make for a long meeting! If needed, you can purchase padded folding chairs for a nominal price at a local store.

Do I have enough lighting?

A well lit (not glaring!) room energizes a group, while a dark or dim room de-energizes it. Maybe it’s time to add a lamp to that dark corner!

Is my house free of dog or cat odors?

If you have indoor pets, your house may well have odors that you’ve grown used to. Ask a good friend for an honest evaluation! Also, remember that many people are allergic to dogs or cats. It’s a good idea to ask your group about this at your first meeting. If it’s a problem, you may need to keep your animals out of the house before or during the meeting.

Are my children interrupting the group?

It’s important that children do not interrupt the flow of the meeting, either by coming into the room or by requiring you to leave the meeting. Of course, there will be times when this is unavoidable due to an emergency or special circumstance. But these times should be the exception, not the rule. If children are interrupting or within earshot, the honesty and transparency of the group will suffer.

TO PROVIDE A WARM AND FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT

As part of the leadership team, your job is to help your members feel loved, accepted, and welcome.

This involves things like:

Introducing folks to one another during your first potluck/meeting.

Making sure to talk with and involve the shy or less popular members before and after meetings.

Providing positive feedback and support to various group members during the meetings.

Keeping in touch with group members between meetings.

TO PROVIDE SUPPORT & FEEDBACK FOR THE LEADER

One of the host’s most important jobs is to discuss and evaluate the group with the leader on a regular basis. This often can be done informally after everyone leaves.

Items to discuss include:

What’s going well in the group? What’s not?

Who’s hurting in the group? Who’s growing? How can you help?

Are you dividing your time wisely in the meetings? Are you balance between sharing, study and prayer?

How can you encourage quiet members to share more openly?

Another way to help your leader is to jump start the discussion when it lags.

Sometimes a question will elicit no one response (either because everyone is nervous or because the question was unclear). Whenever this happens, you can help your leader by breaking the ice and answering the question yourself. Or, if the question is unclear, you can ask the leader to rephrase it. This provides a opportunity to regroup and come at the issue from a different angle. Knowing that your hosts will help you out of a jam gives a leader a lot of security.

TO ORGANIZE MEALS FOR MEMBERS IN THE HOSPITAL OR OTHER SPECIAL NEED

One of the host’s most important jobs is to make sure anyone in your group who faces a significant crisis gets the practical support they need.

Host should organize the group to meet practical needs whenever they arise in the group. A common example would be the need for meals during a time of illness or crisis.

TO ORGANIZE WEEKLY REFRESHMENTS AND QUARTERLY POTLUCKS & SOCIALS.

Hosts are responsible to organize the weekly refreshments and/or desserts.

You will also work with your leader to plan at the opening session potluck and at least one social per quarter. Once planned, the host is responsible to organize and oversee the details, for example:

Who will bring what to the potluck?

Making any necessary reservations for the group’s social.

Calling to remind members about an upcoming social.