Hoboken Grace · Dinner Groups
Everything you need to lead your dinner group through the PAPA Prayer book study.
Pastor Chris recorded a short video about why we're doing this study and how it's going to work with your dinner group. Watch this first. Everything below fills in the details.
People in your dinner group have questions about prayer. Real ones. Why does it feel like nothing is happening? Am I doing this wrong? Does God actually hear me? Most of us have been taught to pray, but no one ever answered the hard questions. We just skipped over them.
The PAPA Prayer by Larry Crabb goes straight at those questions. Within the first few chapters, he names the frustrations most people have carried for years but never said out loud. That's why we don't want anyone to miss this.
We're launching a 5-week book study inside your dinner groups alongside our weekend series "Is Anyone There?" On weekends, we'll be exploring prayer together as a church. Inside your dinner groups, you'll go deeper with this book. The two work hand in hand, but they cover different ground. The discussion questions you receive each week will be based on the book, not the weekend message.
When does the study start? The sooner your dinner group starts reading, the better. Your first book discussion will be the first week of June. Your dinner group will start the study before the weekend series begins so they end at the same time.
How long is it? 5 weeks.
Do my dinner group members need the book? It helps, but if someone doesn't have it yet, they can catch up fast. The chapters are short. Don't let "I don't have the book yet" keep anyone from showing up, especially that first week. The early chapters raise questions that everyone in your dinner group has been asking. Nobody wants to miss that conversation.
Where can people get the book?
If you're at leadership weekend Saturday, copies will be available there too.
Will there be discussion questions and leader materials? Yes. You'll receive discussion questions each week based on the book. We're building context into every set so that even if someone didn't finish reading, they can still be part of the conversation. More details on those coming soon.
The chapters are short and easy to read. The whole book is about 170 pages. Each week runs about 35 pages, roughly 40 minutes of reading. For the full week-by-week schedule, see the timeline.
You know your dinner group. You know what gets them talking and what falls flat. The same principle that applies to our weekly discussion questions applies here: if the conversation is engaging and leading somewhere real, go with it. Don't let a plan kill a good conversation. Your plan should enhance the conversation or correct the direction.
Personalize the questions for your dinner group. Be selective. You don't need to use every question we send. Use the ones that will actually get your people talking.
We'll build context into every set of discussion questions so that everyone who is present can follow along, even if they didn't finish the reading that week. Same approach we take with the weekend message.
Here's a ready-made message you can copy and paste straight into your dinner group chat. Edit it however you want. Make it yours.
This study is set up a little differently than what you're used to. The format is: read the book, discuss it in your dinner group, then hear the weekend message. That's backwards from our usual rhythm where the message comes first. For this series, the book leads.
Discussion questions will be based on the book, not the weekend message. We're building context into every week's questions so that people who didn't finish the reading (or haven't started yet) can still participate in the conversation. No one should feel left out.
You'll receive a new set of questions each week. Check the Discussion Guides page for the latest.
Every dinner group is different. We know that. Some of you are meeting through the summer. Some of you are wrapping up around Father's Day, others at July 4th, and some are going through the end of July. We're not asking you to undo your plans. Every dinner group gets to determine what makes the most sense for them. If your group has a celebration planned, keep it. Your summer plans stay intact.
Even if your dinner group ends before the study does, those members aren't disappearing. They're still part of our church. Reading the book is still good.
We'll provide discussion questions through the end of July, and we'll build context into every set so that everyone who shows up can follow along.
If you're not sure how to structure this for your dinner group, let us know. We'll help you figure out a plan that works.
| Book | The PAPA Prayer by Larry Crabb |
| Length | 5 weeks |
| Reading per week | ~35 pages / ~40 minutes |
| First discussion | First week of June |
| Discussion questions | Sent weekly, based on the book (not weekend messages) |
| Get the book | Paperback · Kindle · Audible · Free on Spotify |
| Full schedule | See the timeline → |
| Questions? | Reach out to Nick |