Mark's Blog

Alignment

The concept of an alignment, or a church-wide campaign, (the combination of a weekend message series and a small group curriculum) is probably the most important spiritual growth development in the last hundred years.  Preaching in series allows an idea to be fully developed.  Adding the element of a small group study that complements the weekend teaching allows your members to be encouraged to find a group that's using the curriculum that goes along with what we're learning.  That is a huge advantage!  Why?  Read on...

What most people need is a way to take a baby step in the right direction.  You're not asking them for a lifetime commitment.  You're only asking for a six-week commitment.  Six weeks is short enough to encourage people to try it.  It's a reasonable commitment for most people.  A month and a half.  "I can do anything for six weeks."  At the same time, six weeks is long enough to begin to establish connective tissue.  It's a great toe-in-the-water experience.

Secret Ingredient:

Be sure and give your new groups a study to do next in about their third or fourth week.  Don't wait until they finish the alignment.  Begin to promote what's next by week three or four because that's when they'll start talking about how quickly the six weeks is going by.   You can begin to promote the next study two ways.  First, have your senior pastor hold up a copy of the next curriculum and say something like, "Many of you have been asking what we'll do after..."  Second, be sure and put copies of the next curriculum at the small group table.

HOST: What Does It Mean?

You've probably heard of "hosting" a group.  But what does it mean to be a host?  Is there a difference between a host and a leader?  Is it just another name for a leader?  If I'm a host, will you provide the teacher?   These are questions that are asked all the time.  ALL the time.  You may have your own answers...but let me give you some of the defining ideas of the host strategy (and what it means to host a group).

The HOST Concept: The first thing you need to know is that the idea of H.O.S.T. makes it possible for ordinary people to lead a small group.   By that I mean that we're almost always talking about using a DVD or video-based small group study, bringing the teaching into the group via the television, and allowing the Host to do just that.  In fact, the HOST acrostic stands for:

• Heart for your community (or your church)
• Willing to Open your home for six weeks (or the length of the study)
• Serve a few simple refreshments
• Tell a few of your friends (in the beginning the T stood for "Turn on your VCR")

This is very important to the idea.  You're not recruiting teachers or leaders.  You really are simply inviting people to open up their homes, serve some coffee and dessert, and tell (invite) a few of their friends.  That is a ground-breaking concept and allows many more people, ordinary people, the chance to include friends, family, neighbors and co-workers.

Will a "leader" or "teacher" be provided?  No.  Using a DVD-driven curriculum allows a group to begin without a teacher.  In addition to a warm invitation and spirit of hospitality, only very basic facilitation skills are needed.  Sometimes you will have the opportunity to match someone with an interest in leading with someone who has an open home, but that is not normally how the concept works. 

When is HOST strategy used?  The idea of hosting a group came into being as part of Saddleback's 40 Days of Purpose campaign.  The HOST strategy can be very effective when used as part of a church-wide campaign (an alignment of weekend message series and small group curriculum).  As part of the build-up to the campaign, HOSTs can be recruited who will commit to opening up their home for the six weeks of the series/study and invite a few friends.

Who can be a HOST?  Every church makes this decision based on a number of factors.  The culture of the individual congregation, available coaching for new hosts, even the topic of study are all relevant.  Some churches may decide that only members may host a group.  Other churches may decide that you must attend an orientation to qualify, but will only allow members to advertise their group on the web or in the lobby.  Still others will simply require that you use the provided materials and invite your own group members.

What kind of training is required?   Again, this varies from one church to the next.  The most effective strategy seems to be to require attendance at a brief orientation (1 to 2 hours max) combined with connection to a coach who will serve as a liaison for at least the period of the campaign.  Many churches are also finding that a decentralized mid-series huddle in the home of the coach is a very effective additional opportunity to encourage the host.

What happens when the six-week commitment ends?  With a good experience, many of the new groups will decide to continue.  Hosts are reminded in the orientation that they've made a six-week commitment and that their commitment is making it possible to launch many new small groups.  They're often encouraged to be open to the possibility that the group may be such a good experience that they would choose to continue...but there's no pressure to do that.

What is the biggest advantage of the HOST strategy?  The HOST strategy is a proven method of getting the largest number of new leaders in the game and unconnected people in a small group.  It is not problem-free, but it is a great solution when a church needs to connect a large percentage of their members and attendees.     

Concentric Circles

I've found the concentric circle idea to be very helpful in explaining a number of small group related concepts.  Here's my own version.  You can see a more official version over at the Purpose Driven site.

Basic idea?  The largest circle represents the community you're in.  They are who you're trying to reach.  The crowd represents the group that considers your church to be their church.  They may not come all the time, but if asked where they go to church they name your church.  The congregation represents the group that are actually members of your church.  They attend more frequently.  Committed is a step towards greater commitment.  They're serving in some way.  Core is the most committed bunch you've got.  Serving.  Giving.  Leading in some way.

How does this play into small group ministry?  Here are a just few ideas:

1. Most churches are attempting a version of core to crowd small group ministry.  By that I mean that in order to lead a group you're recruited and selected for leadership training based on already being known and involved.  Consequence?  It severely impacts the ability of the group to reach and connect beyond the congregation.
2. Since the community is more likely to walk across the cul-de-sac than come into your auditorium it makes sense to find ways to help them connect in community before they attend your service.
3. The deeper a person's commitment to your church (core and committed) the less likely they are to have deep friendships with people who are in the community.  While there are exceptions, this is generally true.  As a result, if the most likely accepted invitation to a small group is made by a friend, it makes sense to help your congregation and crowd invite the community.

The Easy/Hard Continuum

All topics are not created equally.  Know what I mean?  Whether you're talking about a weekend message series or small group curriculum, the topic you choose determines some things right away.  If you think about it, you can see that certain topics would have great appeal to your church members but might repel their neighbors.  Other topics might be very appealing to seekers but seem too simple for long-term believers.  With me?

So the question is, "How do you determine what topic makes the most sense when you're designing an alignment?"  I've found what I call the Easy/Hard Continuum a good way to understand the challenge.

What's it mean?  A topic that  belongs on the "easy" end is one that would be easy to invite my neighbor to talk about (whether it's a weekend message series or a small group study).  Think 40 Days of Purpose.  At its peak it was easy to invite your neighbor because everyone had heard about the Purpose Driven Life.  Right?  Other topics on the easy end might be stress, relationships, marriage, etc.  You get the idea.

What about the "hard" end?  Do a six-week series on hell or judgment and see how easy it is to get your members inviting their friends.  That is why it's called the "hard" end of the continuum.

What can you learn?  If you're putting together an all-church alignment and you want your members to invite their friends...better choose from the "easy" end.  You're leaving a lot on the table if you don't.  For more on this see my post on exponential outreach.  On the other hand, if you're trying to deepen your members or lead them through a capital campaign...ok to go with a series that is a little harder.  Let's be clear though, it doesn't make sense to overlook this important understanding.

Span of Care

"Span of care" is a term used to describe the number of people being cared for by someone.  In Prepare Your Church for the Future Carl George proposed that while everyone needs to be cared for by someone, no one ought to be taking care of more than about ten.  Looking at Exodus 18:13-25, George concluded that this would provide the maximum number of people any one person could realistically care for.  He actually went on to say "research shows that ten people is usually too great a number for one person to nurture p. 125)."

What is the significance of span of care?  There are several important elements:

• It is a reminder that one person can't possibly care for more than 10 small group leaders.
• It can help determine the number of coaches (or Community Leaders) you must have in order to adequately care for your small group leaders.
• It can force ministry leaders to be on the lookout for the next wave of "leaders of leaders."