Using the Small Group Session Toolkit

The Small Group Session Toolkit turns a single study topic or scripture set into a complete facilitation package — a full semester plan, a ready-to-lead session, discussion questions, icebreaker activities, a meeting agenda, a welcome packet, and a host guide — so your leaders can launch and run a small group from one upload. This article walks you through running the toolkit end-to-end.

New to toolkits? Start with What Is a Toolkit in Equip for an overview of how toolkits generate content inside a project.

Before You Begin

To get the best results from the Small Group Session Toolkit, gather the following before you start:

• A project in Equip where the generated content will live.
• A source document that defines the study — for example, a theme, a scripture or Lectionary set, or notes about the group's focus and audience.
• Access to run toolkits within your ministry area.

The quality of your outputs depends on the quality of your source content. If the source is vague, the generated content will be too.

Step 1: Open or Create Your Project

1. From the Equip sidebar, click Projects.
2. Open the project you want to work in, or click New Project and give it a descriptive name.
3. Confirm your project is set to the correct ministry area so the right teammates have access.

Generated toolkit content is automatically saved inside the selected project.

Step 2: Add Your Source Document

The toolkit needs a source document to work from—the content Equip's AI reads to generate each output.

1. Inside your project, click Add Source Content.
2. Upload your file (study theme, scripture set, or group notes) or select existing content from your Content Library.
3. Wait for the upload status to change to Ready.

Tip: A clear, complete source — such as a defined theme with its scripture passages — produces stronger, more consistent sessions than several fragmented notes.

Step 3: Select the Small Group Session Toolkit

1. From your project, click Run a Toolkit.
2. In the Toolkits library, locate Small Group Session — it displays a Default badge.
3. Click the toolkit tile to open the toolkit detail modal and review the tools that will run in sequence.

Step 4: Run the Toolkit

1. In the toolkit detail modal, click Run in Project (or Run in Library).
2. Confirm the source document you added in Step 2.
3. Click Start.

Equip runs each tool in sequence in the background. You can leave the page — progress continues while you work on other things. If a toolkit contains an unavailable tool, it is skipped when the toolkit runs.

You can track progress per tool with the following statuses:

• Queued — waiting to run
• Running — currently generating
• Completed — output is ready
• Failed — can be individually retried without re-running the entire toolkit

Step 5: Review the Generated Outputs

When the toolkit finishes, the generated items appear in your project as Draft content, ready for review. The table below describes the content types confirmed from the sample outputs provided.

#	Content Type	Purpose
1	Semester Plan	A full multi-week curriculum plan — weekly themes, scripture focus, discussion questions, fellowship activities, service projects, and leader check-ins
2	Session (Study)	A complete, ready-to-lead session with big idea, key scripture, icebreaker, scripture reflection, and an Observe–Interpret–Apply discussion framework
3	Discussion Questions	A set of open-ended, scripture-grounded questions for guided group conversation
4	Icebreaker Activities	Warm-up activities that build connection and lead into the session theme
5	Meeting Agenda	A structured agenda with timing for opening, study, discussion, and closing
6	Welcome Packet	A member-facing welcome with expectations, logistics, format, resources, and a first-meeting guide
7	Host Guide	A leader-facing guide covering preparation, hospitality, facilitation, conflict resolution, follow-up, and emergency protocols

Step 6: Edit and Customize Content

Each generated item is a starting point, not a finished piece. Open any output to refine it for your voice and audience.

1. Click any generated item to open it in the rich-text editor.
2. Adjust the wording, tone, and level of detail to suit your group and audience.
3. Fill in the bracketed placeholders (meeting day, time, location, facilitator contact) and add names, dates, and Scripture references.
4. Use the workflow controls to move the item from Draft → Pending Review → Approved → Published as it moves through your team.

Best Practices

• Use one clear study focus per project. A defined theme with its scripture set produces stronger, more consistent sessions than combining several unrelated notes.
• Complete the placeholders before sharing. The Welcome Packet and Host Guide contain bracketed fields (day, time, location, contacts) that must be filled in for members.
• Review sensitive content carefully. Grief-focused studies touch loss and mental health — verify tone and confirm the Host Guide's crisis resources and hotline numbers are current and locally appropriate.
• Review every output before sharing. AI-generated content is a draft — verify scripture citations, names, and dates against your source.
• Retry failed steps individually. If one tool fails, retry just that step rather than re-running the whole toolkit.
• Reuse across the semester. Pair the Semester Plan with a Session, Discussion Questions, and Icebreakers each week, and give leaders the Host Guide and members the Welcome Packet.

Updated July 08, 2026 20:47