Mark's Blog

How to Use Special Days to Launch Groups

If you’re like most churches you’re now convinced that an annual church-wide campaign (an alignment) is a great way to help start new small groups.  That jury is already in.

The question most are asking is what’s the best way to start groups the rest of the year?  The answer?  Any way you can...but there is another little known and way underused strategy that is so simple and yet sooooo effective.

What’s the strategy? Use special days like Mother’s Day and Fathers Day to jump start small groups.  It’s not even very hard.  Take a little preparation.  Add a decision or two.  Throw in a couple weeks’ of promotion.  Make a quality “ask” and you’ve got the toe-in-the-water experience that many people need to take the first step.  Why wait until September?  Here’s what to do to use this strategy and launch groups on Father’s Day:

First, make a decision. You can use Father’s Day to launch men’s small groups.  Or you can use the day to launch couples’ or mixed groups.  More on that in a minute.  For now, just figure out which of the two you’d like to start.

Second, choose a plug-and-play curriculum for your new groups.  It’s very helpful to select a DVD-driven study for these toe-in-the-water groups.  There are some really good studies out there.  I’ve got some suggestions right here.  Don’t overcomplicate this step.  The key is to choose a curriculum that is easy to use on a topic that the group you’re targeting will be interested in.

Third, start promoting the opportunity a week before Father’s Day.  This year Father’s Day is on June 15th.  Provide an insert in your bulletin to take sign-ups to come to a connecting event the week after Father’s Day. 

Fourth, on Father’s Day continue your promotion of the event but add this detail.  Have your pastor refer to the power of being in a small group in the message.  A simple story or an illustration.  Have the men take out the insert.  “If you’re not in a small group and you’re ready to take this step you can join us at the connection on Sunday, June 22nd.  Just fill out this insert and drop it in the offering at the end of today’s service.”

Fifth, send a reminder letter (and email) to all of the sign-ups on Monday, June 16th. Call all of the sign-ups on Saturday, June 21st.

Last, host a small group connection on Sunday, June 22nd.  This step can be as easy as pre-selecting a few leaders who will help get the groups off to a good start or you can do a real connection and identify new leaders right there on the spot.  Either way, or anywhere in between, you’ll end up with a great opportunity to help a wave of people take first steps in getting connected in a small group!

Determining Who Can Lead

Regardless of the method you use to launch a small group (Connection, HOST, apprentice or plain old fashioned recruiting), determining who can lead is a prerequisite.   Some churches are uncomfortable allowing non-members to lead a small group.  Some are much less restrictive, allowing anyone to pick up the material and invite friends.  Still others determine to allow anyone to lead a test-drive group but to require membership to be listed on the website.

One of the assumptions that I have about strategy is that there is no problem-free solution to anything.  In fact, I've found that the pursuit of problem-free is at the root of most ministry delay.  No matter which strategy you choose, it just comes with a set of problems.  All we can do is choose the set of problems we'd rather have.

When it comes to determining who can lead a group, there is no problem-free solution.  If you require your small group leaders to be members it gives you some control over who leads...but it narrows the field.  There is an advantage to allowing non-members to lead (it widens the field, may have more access to other non-members) but it comes with some risk and less control.  You can mitigate the risk by requiring certain things in order to be listed on the website (membership, connected with a coach, attend the leader orientation and training).

A key question in determining who can lead is where will the group's members come from?  You may want more control if the members of a group come from a sign-up process or a result of a website list of small groups.  On the other hand, if a group's members are a result of the personal invitation of the leader...the argument can be made for less control.

The key is that every church must make a decision about who can lead and then design the process accordingly.

How to Launch Groups Using a Small Group Connection: Preparation

While there's no question that using a church-wide campaign (an alignment) is the most effective way to launch small groups, there are other strategies that can add variety and catch a different group (or interest people at a time in the year when an alignment doesn't make as much sense).  One of the most effective ways of launching groups is a Small Group Connection.

A small group connection is a powerful strategy that does two very good things.  First, it can help a large number of unconnected people to take the critical first step of trying a group.  Sometimes just taking a "test-drive" is all they need to do.  Second, unlike any other strategy, a small group connection helps identify leaders when you didn't think you had any.  If you're like most of us, the toughest part of small group ministry is finding good leaders.  A well planned and executed connection isn't rocket science, but it will find leaders (sometimes better leaders than you already have).  That is huge!

Pulling off a connection is a three step process (Preparation, Execution, and Follow-Up).  What are the keys to good preparation?  Here they are:

1. Promotion: Be sure and begin promoting the connection 2 to 3 weeks in advance.  Unconnected people are rarely weekly attendees.  If you want to get their attention, you'll need to promote the event 2 or 3 weeks in a row (in part because they'll only be there 1 or 2 or the 3 weeks).  The best way to promote the connection is to use the sermon to talk about the power of being connected and then refer to the connection event as an action step.  It's great to also give an announcement and feature it on the website and newsletter, but the key to great promotion is to do it in the message.  For supercharged promotion, prepare a video of a testimony (or do it live) of someone who has been powerfully impacted by being in a small group.  You'll find the questions to use in the video right here.
2. Taking sign-ups: This is one of the rare times when I encourage the use of a sign-up form.  Use a distinctive color.  Provide a place for people to fill in their name, address, best phone, best email and the kind of groups they're looking for (this last one is optional, but if allowing them to check interest in couples, singles, men's or women's gives you a little info that can help you prepare).
3. Getting Attendance at the Connection: Although you've taken sign-ups for the connection, you'll get the best response when you send a letter from the senior pastor acknowledging the sign-up with specifics about the event (day and time, room it is in, childcare instructions, etc.).  Following up the letter with an email and then a phone call the day before is not overkill.  Friendly persistence will help the largest number attend.  My experience has always been that a letter, plus an email, followed by a phone call on the day before and a final announcement on the day of the connection leads to attendance equal to the sign-up.   Walk-ins will make up the difference.
4. Day and time for a connection: Part of ensuring the best attendance is choosing the best time for the connection.  When is the best time for a connection?   Right after (or during) a service.  Make it convenient.  Hold the connection when people are already there!  Do it in an easy room to get to.  Be sure and provide childcare.  Train your childcare team to ask everyone, "Are you staying for the connection?"  Use good, clear signage.
5. Choose a small group study that is easy to use: There are plenty of good, just-add-water small group studies.  Preferably a DVD-driven study.  6 weeks is the right length.  Find one on a topic that normal people would like to know more about (You'll find a listing of potential studies right here).
6. Recruit and train plenty of help: One key to a smooth process is to have plenty of people on hand to greet attendees, help them get started, and help them finish well.  I've found it is a great advantage to have a monitor for each table (I'll be covering the specifics of what happens at the connection in part two of this series).

The idea of a small group connection may seem like way too much detail.  Believe me, I've been doing this a long time and I haven't found anything that does a better job of connecting the people who want to be in a small group and finding leaders when you didn't know you had any.

Watch for upcoming posts about how to pull off a great small group connection and how to follow-up on a small group connection.  If you haven't signed up to get my updates you can do that by clicking RIGHT HERE.

How to Develop Video or Live Testimony That Recruits Leaders or Members

When it comes to promoting small group ministry opportunities nothing comes close to the power of personal testimony (live or video).  While that statement might not be a mystery, in practice most of us end up doing the least effective thing instead.  In the great hierarchy of marketing effectiveness the least effective is print (I've lumped all print together: bulletins, newsletters, e-newsletters, website).  Only slightly better is verbal announcement supported by a handout.  Still better is for the senior pastor to talk about the opportunity as part of the message.  And the most effective method is for the pastor to refer to a video or introduce a live testimony.

How can you develop video or live testimony that recruits members or leaders? It's really pretty simple.
Recruit people for the video (or live testimony) with compelling answers to the following questions:

1. What were you afraid of when you were considering joining a small group?
2. What do you sense God has done in your life as a result of being in the small group?
3. What would you say to the people who are still thinking about whether they should join a group?

If you're making the video to recruit leaders (HOSTs), you can make a very simple tweak:

1. What were you afraid of when you were considering hosting a small group?
2. What do you sense God has done in your group?
3. What would you say to the people who are still thinking about whether they should host a group?

Here are some additional keys:

• The testimony (video or live) should be about 2 1/2 minutes.  If it is video it is best to string together 10 to 12 short clips.  The creative use of a soundtrack and graphics can really be effective.
• Let the video only show the interviewee (not the interviewer).  Have the interviewees answer with a form of the question.  For example, "When I was thinking about hosting a group, I was afraid because I didn't know much about the Bible."
• Don't be afraid to yell "Cut!" and ask the question again or ask the interviewee to shorten it up.  It is much more compelling when the the video is tighter.  Long answers are death.  Keep it short.
• If the testimony is written have them practice reading it.  The key is "once more with feeling!"

What Have You Got Planned This Summer?

You've worked hard to help jump start some new small groups in 2008. Don't let the death valley days of summer get the best of them! Instead, take advantage of some simple strategies to help them thrive!  What can you do to help them?  Read on!

First, now is the time to build in the expectation that there are things they can do to stay connected over the summer.  Some of your newest small groups naturally expect that they'll be taking the summer off.  It may even have been part of your formal strategy!  But it doesn't have to be that way.  Why not give them the chance to stay together if they can?

Second, you can help them by leading them to proactively develop a plan for the summer...before they get to the summer!  Often small groups will be so busy dealing with the weekly challenge of getting together that they don't take time for details.  If you've got it on your radar now to be sure it gets on your small group leaders' radar in early May will help ensure that your groups have a chance in May to pull out their calendars and plan the summer.

Third, help your groups plan for the summer by giving a list of ideas.  There's so much they can do and have a great time while connecting.  Giving them a simple list of ideas will make a big difference.  Need some help coming up with your own list?  Here's mine.  It's a PDF form, but feel free to take the idea and develop your own!

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.     

But We Have Adult Sunday School!

I'm frequently asked what should be done to launch small groups in churches where there is an existing adult Sunday school program.  Is it an issue?  Yes.  Does it complicate the project?  Only slightly.  Is there a solution?  Yes.

Here is my prescription:

1. You'll need to gather some important information.  Three questions.  (1) What is your average adult worship service attendance?  What was your Easter adult worship service attendance?  What is your average attendance in your adult Sunday School?  Why these three questions?  They should give you an idea about the percentage of your adults that are NOT connected to an adult Sunday School class.
2. Survey your adult Sunday school department or class leadership to find out a very specific detail.  Here is the question: Who was the last person who became a regular attendee in your class who didn't come straight from another Sunday school class somewhere else?  Why ask this question?  Adults who are not currently giving you 2 1/2 to 3 hours on Sunday are very unlikely to begin.  I've been asking this question for the last 4 years and have yet to discover a single person who began attending a Sunday school class once they were already an adult.  At the same time, across the country there is increasing evidence that a neighbor is much more likely to walk across the street to come to a group meeting in your home than to walk into an unknown lobby in an auditorium.
3. Recognize that in order to engage the unconnected members and attendees in your congregation you will need to try a new thing.  Two important quotes illustrate this point:

"Your ministry is perfectly designed to give you the results you are currently getting."  Andy Stanley  (If you're only engaging 50% of your adults right now...more of the same will not get the unconnected into the game.)

"The significant problems we face won't be solved by the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."  Albert Einstein  (Moving to a new place will require doing new things.)

Is this a pain-free prescription?  No.  However, if you believe that life-on-life is where life-change happens...reluctance to help the unconnected for fear of upsetting the status quo is irresponsible.

Not Just a Holy Huddle

What does a healthy small group look like in your small group system?  One that meets regularly?  Maybe a small group that invites new people?  Or how about one that practices the "one-anothers"...on one another?  What does a small group need to be like to be an example of a healthy group?

This is a fair question and an important one, don't you think?  After all, we're not just hoping for people who get together regularly for cookies and milk...right?  So what does a group need to be like to be a healthy small group?  Or put another way, what is a "win" for each of our small groups?  You've probably asked yourself this question.  Maybe more than once!  Let's take a crack at the beginnings of an answer.

Some of us would say that a healthy small group is one that balances the purposes.  Now, your first reaction might be, "We're not purpose-driven."  That's ok, it still applies.  Just follow along.  What we're saying is that a healthy small group does more than connect for fellowship and study for discipleship.  Balancing the purposes means that they would also serve together somehow (ministry), worship together, and share their life mission (evangelism).

So far so good?  More than learning about the Bible while developing good connections with a few others.  There is a missional component to what we're doing.

How do we know if it's happening?  Is it enough to proclaim the need for that?  Not very often.  In fact, expecting a group to drift into a more intentional form is contrary to the way we're wired.  The truth is that left to ourselves most of us will become less intentional over time.  Just the outworking of the third law of thermodynamics.  Things wind down and entropy unless we're intentionally working at them.

In some ways "balancing the purposes" might have a lot in common with the way a tire is balanced.  A little bit of weight is added to the part of the tire that needs it in order to counter the part that is naturally weak.  What's that look like in a group?  If you find yourself doing fellowship and discipleship with ease and nothing else (like most of us) you may need to give your group some intentional exercise in the purposes that are a little more difficult.  For example, if your group needs some baby steps in the area of evangelism or ministry an opportunity to serve can be provided.

I love what LifeChurch.tv has developed and implemented in their small group system.  Not enough to meet regularly.  Every group is challenged to take on a micro-mission, serving in some way in a local mission project.  What's a micro-mission?  Could be as simple as a church-planned block party.  Could be an opportunity to collect or provide "lifepacks" (school supplies) for school children who don't have what they need.  See the intentionality?  Rather than leave it to chance they're giving their groups a way to participate that is easy, obvious, and strategic (in a novel, think steps not programs kind of way).

Sound workable so far?  Here is an important key.  LifeChurch.tv is measuring two things: (1) the total number of small groups and (2) the number of groups participating in a micro-mission.  What's a win for a group?  Participate in a micro-mission.

Could you do a similar thing?  Could you come up with a way to help your groups balance the purposes?

 

4 Keys to Launching Healthy Small Groups

There are four essential ingredients to a preliminary discussion about launching healthy small groups off an event (like Easter).  They may sound oversimplified...but these are the keys:

• Begin with the end in mind
• Recruit a solid hundred-fold team to a 10 to 13 week commitment
• Choose a curriculum that is easy to use
• Give every new small group something to do next that is similar in kind...by week 4

If you're joining us for today's teleconference, here are the links I mention:

• Circle and Square
• Easy/Hard Continuum
• How to Build an Effective Coaching Structure
• Launching a Healthy Small Group Ministry

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.

How Healthy Are Your Newest Groups?

New small groups are like babies.  They need certain things in order to survive.  There are also simple things you can look for to determine their level of health.

Human babies are evaluated on five simple criteria on a scale from 0 to 2 to determine health.  Appearance (skin color), Pulse (heart rate), Grimace (reflex irritability, Activity (muscle tone), and Respiration (breathing).  Often called an APGAR test for short. Every baby is given the test within minutes of birth. Why? The beginning moments in a baby’s life are fragile and every precaution is taken to ensure that they get what they need.

Your baby groups have survival needs to. Here are five simple criteria you can use to determine the health of your baby groups:

BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER: My recommendation is that you develop a quick way of evaluating your new groups based on each of the five criteria. Don’t make it complicated. A simple checklist will do. Then you’ll have an easy way of paying attention to vital signs.

NOW, BACK TO THE ARTICLE:

The first criterion has to do with the qualities of the leader. Many times the acronym F.A.T. is used to evaluate this essential piece. Are they faithful? As I often say, launching a new small group is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. Feels like a sprint in the first hundred yards. That’s only the start of the race. What happens 6 to 12 weeks into the life of a new group is important, but it’s only the start. Is the new leader faithful to do the minimum things that must be done?

Next, are they available? It’s one thing to commit to opening your home for six weeks. It’s another thing to actually follow through and call a hurting group member the next day. Part of what makes a healthy small group is that it is more than a 90 minute experience. It’s becoming part of a body. That requires availability.

Last, are they teachable? It will not be unusual for an expert in small group leadership to offer to lead a group. Teachability is not a nice extra thing to have. The absence of teachability should scream code blue.

Admittedly, how leaders are selected in your church will determine how much is already known. For example, when you’ve identified a new leader based on an existing relationship, such as an apprentice, you’ll already know them well. On the other hand, when you’ve taken volunteers, as in the HOST method, or the group has chosen their own leader, as in the Connection method, you may only have the beginnings of a relationship with them. Evaluating each of your leaders on this criterion, even in their first few weeks, will help you ensure the health of your newest groups.

A second very important criterion is a meaningful connection with a coach or a mentor. Meaningful is the key. An “accounting” approach is not the idea. Simply assigning a “coach” to a “leader” will not do the trick. Meaning is not immediate, but with the right approach can be developed in most cases.

A meaningful connection between coach and leader has proven to be both a very difficult thing to ensure and an essential ingredient of survival for most new groups. “Difficult to ensure” because it often requires a kind of arbitrary assignment (you have three coaches and 15 new groups so you sort of “deal out” five group leaders to each coach). That only occasionally leads to meaningful connection. “Essential ingredient” because without a coach or a mentor you’re asking the new leader to survive based only on what the group provides in a kind of mutual care format (a kind of “we all care for each” arrangement).

Can a new group survive without a meaningful connection with a coach or mentor? Some do, but it requires a much higher degree of self-reliance on the part of the leader, making it much less likely that you’ll find the leaders you need. You can recruit leaders much more broadly if you’re able to deliver this kind of coaching. Looking for help recruiting and developing a coaching team that works? Take advantage of our upcoming short-course Building An Effective Coaching Structure.

A third criterion has to do with the size of the group. While there isn’t any absolute formula (I’ve seen some great groups with 3 or 4 men and some really vital groups with as many as 16 to 20), it’s tough for many groups to survive without 8 to 10 active members. For a group to feel like a group, they need to be able to meet even if the Smiths are out of town. If you’ve got two or three couples it only takes one unforeseen circumstance to keep the group from meeting. If you’ve got eight to ten people, a couple folks can miss and the meeting goes right on as planned.

A fourth criterion for baby group survival is that their next curriculum has been chosen and that it is similar in kind. This may seem to be a trivial thing, but don’t leave it to chance. Start talking about what’s next no later than week four of the initial curriculum. Let your coaching solution get the word to your new leaders. The same week have your Senior Pastor mention the next curriculum from the pulpit if possible.

Why not let the group decide? New groups can wait a few more weeks before they add the pressure of working through which study gets chosen and which doesn’t.

It’s also very important to make sure that the next study is “similar in kind” to the launching study. Groups that attempt to go straight from a “just-add-water” DVD-driven curriculum to a study that requires more leader preparation will quickly find themselves in over their heads. Better to be more directive in the infant stage to ensure survival.

The fifth criterion is an understanding of the upcoming calendar. A fast approaching natural barrier to community (like summer vacation or the Thanksgiving/Christmas, New Year’s holidays) can be a very difficult challenge for new groups. Help your newest groups make it through these natural barriers by being proactive. A Christmas party or a summertime strategy that incorporates a fun get-together every few weeks can make a real difference in the health and viability of new groups.

 What to do now? Pull out your list of new small groups and make a few notes on each one based on these five criteria. How do they look? What might you need to do in order to help them make it through their infant stage? Not sure? Take advantage of our FREE Small Group Ministry Assessment.  Email Us or call to get started 888-438-9515, ext. 801.  Be sure and mention our FREE Small Group Ministry Assessment.

An Early Easter = Great Opportunity!

Have you taken a look at your calendar yet?  Easter is very early this year.  March 23.  That's important for two reasons.  First, it's only 5 weeks away!  But I'm sure you knew that already.  The second reason that's important is that an early Easter leaves almost 10 weeks before summer hits...and that is huge from a "launching small groups" perspective.

Quick lesson in small group theory?  The two best times to launch small groups are late September/early October and late January/early February.  Why?  That gives your new groups a longer run before they hit the perilous holiday season or the dog days of summer.  Both of those seasons are tough on newly connected small groups.  In the case of a new group, absence does not make the heart grow fonder.   On the other hand, groups that have been together longer than about 12 weeks (or two six-week series) have developed enough connective tissue to be more likely to want to get back together.

What's the moral of that story?  The longer a group's been together when they hit an extended stretch of not meeting, the more likely they are to miss their group members and to want to get started meeting again!

Enough theory.  Now back to Easter.

An early Easter gives you a chance to prepare to launch some new small groups.  You've got 5 weeks to work in planning and promotion.  It also gives you 10 weeks after Easter to get groups almost to the 12 week threshold.  A little bit of strategy in the last week or two and you can help them meet enough over the summer to stay connected.  It's a beautiful thing!

Launching Healthy Small Groups

Need a little help developing the plan?  Let us help you!  Join us on Wednesday, February 27th at 10:00 am (PST), 1:00 pm (EST) for Take Advantage of Easter, a FREE introduction to our telecoaching services.  You will learn:

• 4 Keys to Launching Healthy Small Groups
• How to develop the launch timeline

Click Here  to take advantage of this FREE offer and sign up.  Space is limited.  Don't miss out!

How to Build an Effective Coaching Structure, Part One

Building an effective coaching structure is one of the great challenges of small group ministry. Every church wrestles with it. And I mean every church. I’ve not found a church yet that really has it figured out. They may have a solution that works for them…but it’s not a problem-free solution. It’s just the best they can come up with right now.

Open the floor for questions at any small group conference and questions about coaching are always among the first to be asked.

• “Where do you find good coaching candidates?”
• “How do you introduce coaching to an existing small group ministry?”
• “What do I do if my small group leaders don’t want a coach?”
• “What does a coach do?”

Good questions. Great questions! Maybe you’ve asked them. They really are good questions. So good that I’ve decided to begin a series that will answer them one at a time. We’re also launching a new four-week coaching mini-program called Building an Effective Coaching Structure, designed to help churches take this important step.

First “What” Then “Who”
With apologies to Jim Collins, you’ve got to start with the question, “What do you want your coaches to do?” Admittedly, there is a great temptation to start with the question: “Where do you find good coaching candidates?” That is a question that many churches struggle with and it is a key question. But before you tackle it, I think you have to start with a very clear understanding of what you want your coaches to do. In other words, before you can think about the “who” question, you better spend some time thinking about the “what”. So, what do you want your coaches to do?

Let’s acknowledge right away that a few minutes with a blank sheet of paper could produce a fairly complete job description. You might already have one! Maybe it includes things like: encourage leaders, visit their groups, keep track of what’s happening in groups, help with problem-solving, train leaders, mentor leaders, serve as a link between staff and small group leaders. You could easily end up with a one or two page job description. But would that help you find good coaching candidates?

It might…but truthfully, sometimes it might make it a little harder. I actually think a one liner might get you closer to the essence. Clarifying what a win is for each of your coaches in a single sentence may seem like a minor thing. In fact, it’s a huge thing. I love what Andy Stanley says about the importance of clarifying the win in his book The 7 Practices of Effective Ministry. He says when it comes to staff expectations you ought to be able to boil down a job description to a one sentence version.

So here’s the question: “How would you summarize the role of a coach…in a single sentence?”

Single Sentence Job Description for a Coach

Here’s mine for a small group coach: “A Small Group Coach needs to do to and for their small group leaders whatever you want small group leaders to do to and for their members.”

Need a translation? If you want your small group leaders to be praying for their members…you better have someone doing that for your leaders. If you want your small group leaders to help their members grow spiritually, and you believe that people can only give away what they’ve personally experienced…then someone better be building into the individual lives of your small group leaders. If you want your small group leaders to help their members take spiritual next steps…then you better have someone helping your leaders take spiritual next steps.

“A Small Group Coach needs to do to and for their small group leaders whatever you want small group leaders to do to and for their members.”

Think about that statement. The “what” question is the essence of the job description, and “what” comes before “who”. So if we’re clear on what a coach needs to do, we can move on to where do you find good coaching candidates because that is another way of asking the “who” question.

After What, Then Who

So once you’ve developed your own one sentence way of talking about what a coach needs to do you’re ready to start thinking about “who”. And before we go any further I need to make sure that we’re on the same page about a key concept. Here the short version: Wishful thinking won’t get the job done.

Here’s the long version: Only the right people are legitimate candidates for the coaching role. Recruiting the right people will require sacrifice. You will be tempted to compromise by filling the position with warm and willing instead of hot and qualified. Wishful thinking won’t get the job done.

Let’s break that down:

Only the right people are legitimate candidates for the coaching role. Clearly they must be able to do the “to and for their leaders” part. If they don’t have that capability, you’re not talking with the right people. You need to be able to envision them actually having that kind of relationship with the small group leaders in your system. Can you see it?

Recruiting the right people will require sacrifice. Serving is a zero sum game. In other words, we all have a finite amount of time and energy. If you find a potential coach, but they’re already serving in another ministry, they may not have time to wear two hats. In fact, if you’re really serious about the importance of your small group ministry, the coaching role will need to be the biggest hat they have on. Moving to a different seat on the bus always means getting up out of the seat you’re in right now. Feel the tension?

You will be tempted to compromise by filling the position with warm and willing instead of hot and qualified. It will seem easier. The leaders of other ministries won’t feel threatened. You will feel like you’re helping more people get in the ministry game. If you want the right people you will have to resist this temptation. Warm and willing might seem good enough…but it isn’t.  Only hot and qualified delivers.

Wishful thinking won’t get the job done. You’ve been given the assignment. Build a small group system that where no one stand alone. Help us become a church of small groups. Lead us to become the kind of church where people organically connected in community. Don’t miss this point. Wishful thinking won’t get the job done. If you want to go to any of these places…you’ll need a coaching system that finds a way “to do to and for their small group leaders whatever you want small group leaders to do to and for their members.”

The Four Keys of an Effective Coaching System

I'm frequently asked what can be done to improve the coaching in a small group ministry.  Going back at least as far as Carl George's Prepare Your Church for the Future, it's been proposed that Jethro had it right and for Moses to try and take care of all of the people himself was crazy (see Exodus 18:13-25).  From that key passage the important concept of "span of care" developed and with that understanding you can see why building a coaching structure is seen as crucial.  So how can we improve what we have?  Several ideas:

• First, you need to have the right people in the role.  Can't be someone who simply likes the title.  Has to be someone who is a leader.  If you want them to have any chance of influencing your small group leaders there's no getting around this part of the job description.  And don't be fooled here.  Having the wrong person is worse than not having anyone.  They've also got to want to invest their time in this role.  You're looking for actual commitment.  Not words only.
• Second, try people out in the role BEFORE you give them the title!  Do this wherever possible.  Take someone you think would make a good one and ask them to invest in a new small group leader or two.  Easy to pull them in on this idea.  Give it a time limit.  "Would you help me for the next 8 weeks?  Just need you to help these new small group leaders get off to a good start."  Then you model for them what to do.  If they do it and if they're both fruitful and fulfilled doing it...then sit down with them and formally recruit them to the role.
• Third, when you recruit them, use an actual job description.  Don't minimize what you need from them.  Don't downplay how much time you think it will take.  Be honest and ask for their commitment.
• Last, add this ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT: If you want your coaches to invest in the small group leaders they're assigned to you must be giving to them what you want them to give their leaders...and nothing less.

What's wrong with your coaching structure?  Simple, it won't work unless you're applying the four keys of building an effective coaching structure.

Leadership Structure

"How can I take care of my small group leaders?"  Ever asked that one?  You're not alone!

There are at least two main schools of thought on this subject as I write.   Neither solution is problem-free.  But since there is no problem-free, it's simply a matter of choosing the set of problems/issues you'd rather have.  Take a look:   

(1) Faithful practitioners of the metachurch model of small groups would install a layer of care and coaching that would consist of a coach for every 5 small group leaders.  The role of the coach would be designed to provide a frequent point of contact for each of their small group leaders.   In well implemented systems the coach would serve as a mentor/discipler for each of their small group leaders.  Rather than simply checking in on the leader, the coach would primarily be a kind of spiritual encourager...much as you'd hope your small group leaders would be to their members.  Larger ministries would install a layer of leadership often called a Community Leader (or Division Leader) who would care for the coaches.  In some cases this would be a staff person.  Willow Creek's early implementation used a full-time Division Leader for every 10 coaches.

Issues: Finding the kind of person who will commit to investing their time as a coach is one part of the challenge.  Even tougher?  The arbitrary assignment of a small group leader to a coach is problematic.  This is especially true when the assignment is attempted after the small group has been in existence for longer than about 3 months.  If they've made it this long without your help...they will almost always resist the idea that they need what you're offering.  Works much better when the assignment is made at the very beginning or where there is an existing relationship that has a mentoring quality.

(2) An alternative being attempted in some larger ministries is to eliminate the coaching layer and depend on Community Leaders to provide mentoring and care for small group leaders.  North Point is an example of this strategy, using a full-time Community Leader for every 60 to 75 small groups.  An alternative is being implemented at Saddleback where a part-time Community Leader is expected to provide a similar level of care to a smaller number of leaders.

Issues: To say nothing of the degree of difficulty of budgeting for this salary, it assumes that an ordinary person (not a vocational minister) can't have the skill sets or gift mixes necessary to serve in this capacity.  The one thing they don't have is the time to care for 60 to 75.  Can they take care of a smaller number?  Absolutely!

Secrets of a Successful Small Group Launch

Want the scoop on how to launch small groups? Who doesn’t! After all, groups do more than provide the “optimal environment for life-change.” They also provide a very effective delivery system for ministry and mission.

So then the question might be, “How can you get groups going in a way that has the best chance of succeeding?”

And let’s come right out and say that there are lots of ways to get small groups going. But that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about getting them going in a way that has the best chance of succeeding…in a big way.

So how will we do it? First, a disclaimer: In order for this strategy to work, your pastor’s commitment is absolutely essential. No getting around it. Without your senior pastor’s buy-in this plan is not effective. With that understanding, here are the five steps to a successful small group launch.

Step One: Schedule a weekend message series that passes the following tests:

• At a strategic time (late January/early February, post-Easter, late September/early October).
• On the right subject (a topic that is genuinely easy to invite friends to attend).
• For the right length (Six weeks is just right).

Step Two: Align a small group curriculum with your upcoming weekend message series that passes the following tests:

• Curriculum is a “good-enough” match to the weekend series. If 40 Days of Purpose was a “one-for-one” match, this has to be at least thematically aligned.
• Easy to use. Preferably a DVD-driven study that only requires an open home and someone to push play.

Step Three: Ask your members (and regular attendees) to consider opening their home to host a group. If you’ve met the conditions of Step 1 and 2 they should be open to the idea. When you ask them follow these guidelines.

• Ask them in the context of a sermon, NOT an announcement. 
• Put together two or three sermons that talk about God’s heart for unconnected people (Matthew    9:36, 2 Kings 7:3-9, etc.). Use these messages as an opportunity to invite your congregation to open up their homes and host a group.
• Give your congregation a way to respond to the invitation in the service (an insert to be filled      out is the best way).

Step Four: Provide an adequate level of coaching for your newest leaders and begin as soon as they respond.

• Invite them to attend an orientation where they can learn about what they volunteered to do.
• Connect them with a coach at the orientation.
• Use the coaches to establish and maintain weekly contact with every host.

Step 5: Give your new groups something to do next that is similar in kind.

• You’ve invited your congregation to “just open their home” and provided a curriculum that is      easy to use. What you give them to do next must have a very similar degree of difficulty.
• Let your new leaders know what is next by week three of their first study.
• Give any preexisting small group leaders the option to go back to their previously scheduled programming.

Ready to launch small groups in a way that has the best chance of succeeding…in a big way? Just follow the five steps.  If you need more help, you may want to check out our new coaching module: Launching a Healthy Small Group Ministry.   

Essential Ingredients

In today's post, Craig Groeschel points us to the fact that people stay at small churches for two reasons: they feel needed and known.  Also, people leave large churches (in spite of all the reasons that attract them) for two reasons: they don't feel needed or known.

Hmmmmm.

Here's a drawing I often use to describe the situation.  The circle represents your total congregation.  The square, those who are connected in the sense that Groeschel talks about.  What needs to happen?  Figure out a way to help more people get into the square!

Exponential Outreach

Does who you invite to host a small group make a difference?  Clearly.  I've included a diagram that I hope will help you think through the question.  Take a look: 

 

Here's how to read it.  First, the circle represents your Easter or Christmas Eve attendance.  Most places that is the best attended service all year.  Even if you're not a big outreach church, you'll still have 130% of your average weekend.  If outreach is big for you, you'll have much higher.  The other thing the circle represents is all (or at least more) of the adults that might be in your auditorium over the course of an average month.  If you're like most of us, your people aren't there every Sunday.  They come 2 or 3 times a month.

Second, the square represents all the people who are connected at your church.  That is, the ones who are already in a small group, a Sunday school class, serving in a ministry, etc.

In the example, there are 2000 adults in the Easter services and there are 500 adults who are connected.  We don't know how many adults are there on average, but say lets say there are 1400.

Now, think about what happens when you invite someone from inside the square (connected) to host a small group.  If you ask them to invite their friends...who would they invite?  People from inside the square, right?  Isn't that who their friends probably are?  Other people from inside the square?

What if you invite the people who are barely connected to host a small group?  Who are they likely to invite?  Other people in the circle?  I think it actually would be people outside the circle!  Think about that!  What if everyone you asked to host a group invited 8 of their friends to join the study?  And what if those 8 came from outside the circle?  Oh, you'd have all kinds of problems.  But they'd be really good problems!