Here are some points to keep in mind as you lead your Covenant Discipleship group:

• The meeting is a process of question and answer that gives the leader a directive role.
• No permanent leader. Everyone takes turns from week to week. If someone is not comfortable or ready to lead, that's OK. Let him or her pass until he or she is ready.
• The leader begins with prayer. A good resource for opening prayers is Praying in the Wesleyan Spirit: 52 Prayers for Today by Paul Chilcote (Upper Room Books). The prayer invokes the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit and centers the group in Christ and his love.
• One-hour meetings. One of the important tasks of leadership is minding the time. This means that the leader needs to move the conversation along so that no one monopolizes the group's time. One gentle way to assure that everyone gets equal time for sharing is to use a small two-minute hourglass. Turn it over as each person begins.
• The covenant is the agenda. The leader begins with himself or herself and then moves to the next person asking, "How did you do with [this part of the covenant] this week?"
• Over time the group develops an atmosphere of trust and sharing. This is both a blessing and a danger to the group. It is a blessing because the depth of sharing becomes very rich and genuine. It is a danger because the sharing can become the agenda rather than accountability for what you are doing to witness to Jesus Christ in the world.
• Focus on the aspects of your discipleship that can be helpful to the other members. One of the most important functions of our accountability is for building up the group. This means (1) we share only those things we have done or not done in light of the group's covenant and (2) we try to share what we have or have not done in a way that will help at least one other person in the group.
• Confidentiality is essential for building trust. Anything shared in the group stays with the group.

For more details on the group meeting and how to lead, see pages 42-47 of Guide for Covenant Discipleship Groups by Gayle Turner Watson.