Group Ministry Plan

How many distractions do you get per day? Do you write out a schedule for your day and get frustrated when you did not mark off each entry? What about when these leads to lack of accomplishment for the week?   Distractions!

In order to keep our Groups Ministry Team on track, avoiding distractions, we have designed a 2-part Flow Chart (Leadership and Growth) which we refer to each Monday morning.

How are we doing? Where do we need to focus this week? This month? The next semester?

To have a growing ministry a plan has to be designed to help assimilate the people God is sending you. So we have the Growth Flow Chart steps:

Surface: Felt needs or Convenience! How are people finding/inquiring about Groups at our church?
Felt Needs?  Website inquiry?    Plan-a-Visit tab?  Guest card?  Mapping? Neighborhood event?  Personal invite?  Info Card at Connection Booth?

Stick: Relationship! What can we do to help these guests stick in a group?
Coffee with Group representative? Sub-grouping in larger groups? Dinner Groups? D-Groups? Quarterly Parties? Bible engagement/Daily Devotionals?

Stay: Belong! What can we do to help these new Group members stay for the long haul?
Share the load? Host? Co-lead? Prayer leader? Food/menu? Mission work? Location of meetings? Childcare? Communication?

Send: Multiply! What can we do to help this individual and/or Group multiply their ministry, discipleship, group?
Pray for people in group to see lost around them. Help members see their hobbies/sports/passions as new Group opportunities. Send leader? Send member? Attend conference?  Start a Turbo Group? Go on Retreat?

This is not a perfect or complete Flow Chart, but it helps keep us focused on the Growth Ministry Plan for this season in the ministry role he has called our Team to guide.

We would love to learn from you on what your best practices are for staying on track to connecting those God is sending to your church.

Simple Way to add a Co-Leader

Small Groups, or groups with any desire to grow, have to share the load. One of the foundational multiplication processes for group growth is through apprenticing, sharing the load of leadership and learning about leading. However, the word “apprenticing” has lost much of the meaning in daily practices. To be more clear in our training we have now started calling this position Co-leader.

Most Small Group Ministries offer a couple of new group launches each year. These launches are a time for people to sign-up/join a small group for a particular sermon/study series or become part of the group for on-going Bible study. The more new groups a ministry can offer each year, the larger the number of adults that will be in Bible study each year. On average, a new group can add ten new adults to Bible study. If your church is averaging 300 in worship, launching 3 groups may be a great target for January. You could possibly see 30 adults added to Bible study. While that is easy math, finding those leaders can be very time consuming and frustrating. But if your current groups have co-leaders who have been given a chance to lead, learn and pray for their unchurched friends, and desiring to connect those friends in Bible study…tapping them on the shoulder about leading a new group could make the enlistment process a lot more simple.

Our training is much more intentional about the leader enlisting a co-leader during the beginning of our pre-launch training efforts. Just imagine if a potential new group leader walked up to you Sunday and said “I want to start a small group in my neighborhood. I have enlisted 3 other couples who will help start it with me and one of them said they would be my co-leader.” Do you think this would make a difference in our jobs as small group pastors and point people?
Would it make a difference in  our ministries?
Would it make a difference in our neighborhoods?

Building a culture that will make it normal to enlist your own co-leader and a few friends to help you start a group will benefit much more than just your group launch number.

A Simply Way to Add People to New Groups

August has passed. This is one of the key months of the year that most Small Group Ministries try to launch several new small groups and hope to add many new people to Bible study and community. So what do we do now? Among the tasks of getting reporting systems smoothed out and working properly, adding names to the database, visiting groups and meeting with group leaders to solve surprises and hear God stories….we start more groups.

I had rather work in God’s timing than try to convince him to work in mine. By that I mean it is difficult to enlist and train leaders during the summer. But in order to be ready for the August launch that is required. Church-wide series/campaigns are still the best way to connect the most people, and August is the “return to church” season. So we can’t do without the seasonal launch, but I encourage you to not stop there.

This week I met with a guy who feels he needs to start a small group in his neighborhood.  His comments opened with: “You know we wave as we leave in the morning. But we don’t know each other and we live within walking distance of each other.”  Then we discussed the opportunity to start a group and he asked, “When should I start?”  I told him whenever he could have a cookout and invite his neighbors…and his family could be there.(Of course I will get him with other leaders and meet with him for training and support.)

Sometimes, we make starting a group more difficult than it has to be. A simple way to add people to new groups is have the leader invite 4-6 couples they know. Start with a cookout/BBQ/bonfire.  Introduce people to each other, discuss life and family. Talk about the struggles, fears, hopes, excitements and how your faith has helped you through life thus far. Share how getting together is a good thing. Talk about starting a weekly/bi-weekly get-together to discuss these things. Offer invites to individuals/couples to come to your next get-together, date, time, location and what to bring.

These steps could be the first step to starting a new group anytime of the year. I can’t wait to see what God does in my friends neighborhood through his obedience to the call to start a new group.

 

Fresh Views Came in 2018

In April 2018 I changed jobs to become the Adult Groups Minister at Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, TN. A church I have followed and known well over the years, or so I thought. This blog clarifies what Granny told us all many years ago, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.”

I assumed Brentwood to be a very driven church as it ministers in a very driven community. What I discovered: a very encouraging Pastor, church, staff, and attendees. Through my transition of beginning a new role in a new office at a new church I have discovered what I believed to be true not to be the case.  The dress code, the time clock, the performance test, the hurried pace I expected were all proven wrong within the first few weeks. High expectations of quality service, dedication, care, compassion, encouragement, spiritual pursuit, and prayer…of course are at Brentwood Church.

Both my parents passed away over the last 4 months. The members, staff and Pastor have prayed with me, sent cards, flowers, calls, stopped by my office, and forced me to be out of the office more than I could have dreamed.  My grieving has been made easier through the care and compassion of Brentwood Baptist Church! The hurried pace of life is slowed with Soul-Care days, Chapel services, Deacon visits for encouragement and prayer, a nurture team with handwritten cards coming in daily, and flowers being delivered to my office…all contribute to the holistic view of Brentwood’s care and compassion over performance and are supported by statements such as:  “A better Eddie is a better Brentwood.” “If your hurting, we hurt, and you cannot be healthy for the ministry or Kingdom. We are here to help keep your soul focused on Jesus.” “We want you serving out of your overflow relationship and love for Jesus.”

The fresh views a move makes available to you, whether that be a church, a community, or a life-stage change, help paint a clearer picture of the phrase “when you get to know them.” The phrase “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” may apply to your life too.
Have you gotten to know your neighbors?
What about the other parents on the team?
The new guy at work?

I am thankful for Brentwood Baptist, especially during this time in my life and transitions of life. Don’t depend (or wait) on God to move you to a new town, new job, new stage in life to give you fresh views of the life you have. Start today to see your role with a fresh view.

A Baseball Parent’s Perspective

(This is a excerpt from an open letter sent to the parents of Stewarts Creek High School Baseball parents. The responses were so surprising I felt like I should share with a larger audience. Feel free to adapt to your parenting situation.)

Thankful for the Red Hawks baseball family. My son has played on a few different teams in his life, but the ones that had the most impact in preparing him to be a dependable friend and man of character are the teams that were/are more like family.

This is more than “my son making the baseball team”! This is the opportunity to develop future leaders of our community and country. The opportunity to learn how individuals become a team to fight together for a common goal. The opportunity to show our sons how much we love them and are proud of their efforts to go out for something…compete…and make the team. The opportunity to support them in their efforts.

This is an opportunity to influence, at a deep level, our boys one last time…before that dreaded (or longed for…in some cases) graduation day. That day when they will leave the nest and carry our names into the world.

Ask yourself: Have I made my son proud to carry my name? Does he feel I care about him and his desires? Does he know my cheering at the game, working the Concession Stand, driving him around to sell fundraising cards, and buying him a Gatorade…is because I am proud of him? As we kick off the 2016 season Monday night be sure he does.

 

 

How Do You Train Small Group Leaders?

This question comes to our office every month via texts, emails, phone calls or drop in visits.  If you know LifePoint you know that we love to try new things, spend time living in the Research and Development department, and correlate the findings into a plan that we will pilot or beta test. The following list is not all-inclusive or permanent, but some of these practices may help your ministry.

Our Small Group Leaders (SGL) have developed along with LifePoint to the point they are not fearful of or avoid training and development.  We started years ago with the HOST style of leadership where the SGL operated the DVD for the weekly study and kept conversation going around the material presented on that DVD.  We did a poor job training these HOSTs once we had them in place to lead a group and our groups were not producing the disciples we desired.

Leadership Camp (see info-mercial for Leadership Camp) .  We have designed this six-week training on Sunday mornings on most of our campuses throughout the year.  The six weeks include 3-weeks on what it means to be a disciple and 3 weeks on how to lead a small group. If you use the HOST model, please learn from our mistakes.  I would encourage you to design and calendar in a few training sessions before you launch new groups. (Planned by semester)

Huddles: Three times a year I am able to meet with every Small Group leader, whether they lead on or off campus.  This happens via Huddles in my office on Sunday mornings during one of our worship hours.  We invite 8 Leaders, by gender, to come together for an hour, three times a year. Each Huddle has basically 2 questions: how’s your family, how’s your small group. This has been the most productive leadership time for Huddles and Coaches/Directors. (Planned by semester)

SG Luncheons: Three times a year every Small Group Leader and their co-leader are invited to a luncheon right after church services.  Luncheons include stories, giveaways, training principle, vision casting, lunch and free childcare.  We hold these meetings to 1 hour!  (planned one year out)

One-on-one Lunches: I cannot think of one single thing that has helped in leadership development more than a personal lunch with one leader/couple.  This focused time to be transparent, answer questions, deal with issues, etc has really reaped great dividends for our ministry. (Planned weekly)

Weekly Reports: Your Data Base is very important in keeping up with what is going on in the group.  This goes way beyond attendance. We use Church Teams (@churchteams) which automatically sends an email to the Leader or Reporter the day after their scheduled meeting.  It may take a few months to help transition the leader from just attendance mode, but it is worth the effort.  Look for activities, study material, prayer request and then attendance.  Make a mental note and respond to every report with a personal message.  (If you have over 10 groups, you may consider adding a coaching structure to your ministry).

Retreat/Banquet: Leader development & celebration in which we offer skill development for our team as well celebrating the team.  This is usually a special location that our team would not normally go to or a special guest speaker about whom the team would be excited.  (Planned 4-6 months in advance)

What does your leadership development structure look like?
How far out do you plan these opportunities?
Who could help you plan, prepare and carry out one of these (Share the Load)?

Doing Things Right vs Doing the Right Things

As we launch into the fall, many ministries will have their training and kick-off events.  One of the things I have discovered is the heavy emphasis on doing things right and not necessarily doing the right things.  We train on proper procedures, communication, and process.  But we sometimes forget or assume the obvious concerning the bigger picture.

Barna Research has discovered there seems to be a disconnect for most Americans between serving the community and helping individuals find their way to God through Christ.  Ministry related goals–such as teaching the Bible, introducing people to Christ, and bringing people to salvation–are infrequently viewed as a primary ways to serve the community.  Even among many churchgoers, contributing positively to the community is perceived to be the result of offering the right mix of public service programs.

Let me challenge you to consider the right things as you plan on doing things right.  Each of our adult ministries (MOPS, Softball, Fishing, Men’s, Women’s, etc) train to do things right…set up, requests, posters, communication, teaching, etc…but all of them also know the value in knowing about the bigger purpose of LifePoint: Pointing People to a Christ Centered Life.  We include in the design and training of ministries and events on the right things, and for LifePoint that is he Christ Centered Journey.  http://lifepointchurch.org/smyrna-journey

^{“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
Stephen R. Covey}

10 Ways to Live Sent this Summer

10  WAYS to LIVE SENT THIS SUMMER (SEE UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF POST)

This summer LifePoint Church will be encouraging you to Live Sent by being active in your neighborhood.  Here is how my story of living sent began.

I had always looked up to a friend of mine who seemed to know everyone on his street.  He had the ability to connect with people very easily.  He suggested I read Randy Frazee’s book The Connecting Church and that’s when I began to Live Sent as he had been doing. My family and I started getting to know our neighbors. Over the years it has become second nature to not only know my neighbors, share ministry opportunities and do life together with my neighbors, but teach others how easy it is to be a loving neighbor.

Over a three-year period in my previous neighborhood, we saw a man and son baptized, another couple come to Christ, a man far from God cry over his excitement as he was baptized.  A marriage on the rocks was salvaged and became a shining light to others.  We even rallied for service projects for others in the community as well as shared items, recipes and swimming pools.

We hosted a block party, it was a cook-out at the Commons Area.  We just put a flyer on everyone’s door inviting them to the cookout and to bring hotdogs, drinks and ‘fixins’ for their family.  We provided grills and tables. Nearly 100 people attended, met new neighbors and shared life stories about the neighborhood.  We even rented an inflatable for the kids.  We are now planning a July 4th event and possibly a camp-out. (Luke 5:29)

We met new people and started a small group. As we planned this cookout we discovered neighbors who also attended LifePoint church.  We asked them to help with the party and then invited them to join our small group.  It is so much fun to be able to walk to small group.  To see others in your small group on an almost daily basis.  Now when we pray for our neighbors, we actually know their name and some of the issues for which to pray. (Acts 2:42-47)

For some, their neighborhood may be the ball fields, tennis courts, fishing zone, boat, etc; you define your own neighborhood. Begin by walking your neighborhood and praying for homes and families.  Watch for God at work as you begin to build relationships with neighbors.  Here Here are our top 10 ideas on ways to connect with your neighbors this summer. (Acts 1:8)

• June 3 Movie on the Lawn & Walk neighborhood & pray for each home.
• June 10 Host cookout for neighbors, Help neighbor with yard work

• June 17 Dessert Party for neighbors

• June 24 while on vacation “pay it forward” by paying for people behind you
• July 1 4th of July Cookout
• July 8 Give out Capri Suns at pool, host a Block Party

• July 15 Organize summer potluck street parties.
  

• July 22 Have watermelon, coffee or dessert with friends
• July 29 Neighborhood Back-to-school campout, Pray for others in the stands at a sporting event

• August 5 Deliver flowers in pots to friends as prayer notice

Why not help your neighborhood?  The eternal destiny of your neighborhoods can be affected by doing life together.  Now is the time to begin planning your next opportunity by getting a few neighbors together and hosting a cookout or neighborhood project.

For more resources on Living Sent in your neighborhood check out
101 Ways to Reach Your Community, Steve Sjogren
Field Guide to Neighborhood Outreach, Group Publishing

UPDATE:  One family took us seriously!  Sunday’s Live Sent event included a movie by the pool.

I am a SG Leader: Questions

This week’s blog is from a couple who started a Small Group via a Connections class.  Their journey is much like many leaders as they continue to watch for God’s direction as they lead a group.

I have no idea how you evaluate your success as a leader.  For us, it has been a constant evaluation.  Our small group was big, then small, then big then small, see a pattern?  When I was asked to write this blog I pondered these questions:
1. You can’t help but wonder is there some activities that I can do to keep members coming? We did the picnic at the lake… But group members moved and some found other groups they liked to try out or went back to their previous small group.
2. So, then we thought, are we not engaging the small group enough, with the right studies?  We asked for their input on study choices and talked to other group leaders.
3. Then we wondered if we had not mastered the scriptures enough to engage our members?
Well it all began at home for us, our children began seeking God and had many questions, a family member of another belief began placing her practices and beliefs on my children, this of course concerned me.  I did not want my children to be as lost and alone as we were years ago.  My husband began seeking answers in the bible and became over time totally immersed in the word, which was a beautiful transformation from my view.  It took me a little while to come around and surrender my mind, body and soul to Jesus.
When we were all on board we began a Bible study at home, my husband, myself and our 3 children. I guess you could say this was our first small group.  The scripture in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 reviled to us that we needed to share our testimony and surround ourselves with other Christ followers so we began searching for a church.  Instead of walking into several churches we searched online and boy was that scary. When we came to Lifepoint it was at first very overwhelming for us all, and that was just walking through the doors.  Once we got the kids situated and we found our seats and began to listen to the Pastor it was amazing how we discovered that there really are more believers out there!
We walked the halls of the church for a few weeks, dropping our kids off in their departments and attending worship.  Then we meet a kind man with a kind face and a gentle spirit.  He led us to Connections (an on-campus class designed to help new comers get connected with LifePoint and other attenders for the purpose of forming small groups).  We stayed in Connections for about 6 months and in that time we developed relationships with people with whom we just clicked with.  We launched our new small group with a handful of Christ followers that were eager to learn more about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  Our group has met every Sunday since.  I hear many groups that use books and videos for their studies, which is great.  However, we tend to stay focused on one book, the Bible, as our guide and resource.
Our group grew closer together, then one couple left, then another…then new couples came aboard. This just goes to show that whatever walk in life you are in there’s always a place you can come in and continue your journey as a Christ follower.  As disciples of Christ, we continue to love on those that walk in and take their next step towards a Christ Centered Life.   We will always welcome the newcomers and check up on those moving on.  Staying connected on your Christ centered journey is vital.  Our group has learned to help each other on this journey, through the tough times as well as good times.

The questions of evaluation will always be there, but that is not a bad thing.  Continually striving to be the best leader, taking advantage of training, and seeking God’s direction as a leader has helped us answer these three questions.  I pray this story will help you on your journey as a leader.

Connect Event Nets ZERO!

This wasn’t my first rodeo. I had been a couple’s small group leader at Lifepoint Church years ago and decided to take the plunge again. Given the fact that I had done it before, I thought doing it again would be fairly simple. Last time around, there was no training to attend. We just started leading. Honestly, I kind of liked that level of independence.

My wife and I enrolled in Leadership Camp together (she is leading a ladies group) with other prospective small group leaders, some of which had lead before, like me. We went through 6 weeks of structured but informal discussions on the nuances of leading a group. The ages of the attendees ranged from late twenties to sixties. What an incredible experience! Any time you get a chance to discuss scenarios that may come up with others who may or may not have experienced them, take advantage of it. I picked up on a lot of things that helped me today, as well as several things not to do. 🙂

Leadership Camp was finished, and I was fired up about my new small group-to-be. Then Connections Event came along. This event is designed to give people interested in small groups a chance to basically “speed-date” with several small groups. The leaders have tables set up to display their interests and communicate aspects of their group to prospective members like location, age, married or single, kids, is childcare available, etc. I was excited and interested to see who would like to be a part of my new group.

One problem, no one signed up. I netted ZERO!

I was about to be reminded of the fact that God’s timing and mine aren’t always the same. We went almost two months with no one showing real interest. We had a few couples here and there tell church staff they were interested, so staff members passed their information along to me. After phone conversations with 3 or 4 couples……nothing.

I started to question whether God really wanted me to lead a small group. It was something I had prayed about a lot, and felt lead to do it. But now I was second guessing His intentions.

About 2 months after the Connection Event, Eddie sent me one couple, then another, then another. Now we are 3 months after the Event. We have 5 regular couples in our group, ages ranging from early twenties to late thirties. We all have kids ranging from 8 weeks old to 15 years old. We have done two service projects and are 4 chapters into a book study on Psalm 23. We’ve also had a couple social events that have been loads of fun. New friendships are being formed and we are able to support each other when needs arise. We have formed an incredible prayer team for each other, as well.

We have actually had another unchurched couple, who is neighbors with one of our members, show interest in our group and church. This couple has seen our group interact like great friends in social settings, even though we haven’t know each other for more than a couple of months. They say they don’t know what causes that, but they want it. Maybe God delayed our group to meet His timing in their lives.

I’m sure I’m not the only leader out there whose group trajectory hasn’t been quite what they planned. If that is you, be patient. Don’t try to fix it (as so many of us guys tend to do). Leading a group is not a task that you finish, it is a process. Don’t try to do God’s job! Let Him do it through you. His timing surpasses anything we can understand. It’s not His first rodeo either.