John Atkinson is the discipleship pastor and home-teams director for Bay Area Fellowship in Corpus Christi, Texas. He is co-author ofGo Big with Small Groups.
Building Small Groups: Can you give us a brief summary of your experience with re-launching a small-groups ministry?
Ask these questions to get a grasp of the vitality of your congregation's group life.
Jeff Weber
I smiled a few weeks ago as I read a framed quote on a pastor's desk: "Ministry is hard work—get over it." I'm always a bit leery when someone wants to make simple the difficult task of fostering community in the body of Christ. While this happens in many areas of ministry, one of the most critical areas of small-group development that people often oversimplify is health assessment.
Five key evaluation questions to ask at the end of a home group meeting.
Michael C. Mack
When you conclude your Home Group, how do you know whether you have been successful? What is the standard of measurement? What are the primary objectives?
Five Key Evaluation Questions:
1) Did Caring Occur?
Would people say that you were more concerned about the people in the group than any other issues of the evening?
2) Are Lives Being Transformed?
The Home Group is the best environment for life transformation ...
In your journey to become a cell group, it's helpful to measure the steps you've taken.
Jay Firebaugh
An old proverb states that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step! Often when it comes to accomplishing cell / small group-based ministry in our churches we have an idea of where we would like to end up, but we fail to do anything to help us measure each of the indidual steps along the way to help us get there. That is where the role of weekly reporting comes in!
It was my vision to create an internet tool to assess disciple-making and team-building progress, and so GrowthFinder was born.
Boyd Pelley
The goal of all our training efforts has to be, first and foremost, Christ being formed in the lives of everyone involved. That is why a small group leader's greatest asset is always a tight-knit relationship with God. Small group leaders need to learn about group dynamics, time management, delegation, multiplication, etc.; but most importantly they must be growing spiritually and helping their small ...
Small Group Leaders: Check each item that applies to you. This "test" can help you think through some of the attributes of small group leadership. It can also help you consider some of the areas that you can work on to become a more effective leader.
Small Group Pastors/Coaches: Use the following test as a discussion starter with your leaders. Have them check all items that apply. This is not meant ...
Ask yourself these questions when assessing your small group's health.
Rick Lowry
As the group leader, is my walk with God incomplete?
When it comes to group health, there may be no more important question than this one. I cannot take a group to a spiritual place I have not been myself.
Just what is it that makes me an effective small group leader? Is it seminary education or years of experience in small groups? Is it the ability to think up creative ideas? As helpful as all of ...
Don't let people fall through the cracks of your small group ministry.
Boyd Pelley
I love orange juice and we were out, so I stopped by our local grocery store and went to the freezer unit to grab a couple cans of concentrate. I walked up to the glass door and peered in. It was gone! What, no orange juice! We have a great grocery store, and I know that if I go back today, chances are there will be a full shelf of orange juice concentrate. Why? Because I know my grocery store chain ...
Check out these statistics to get your finger on the pulse of small-groups ministry.
Dan Lentz
Definition: Benchmarking is a tool used to measure or compare your work or progress with others who are doing the same thing. Benchmarking is a powerful tool because it overcomes "paradigm blindness"—the mode of thinking that says, "The way we do it is the best because this is the way we've always done it."
Because it is difficult to get a handle on what is going on in other small groups outside ...
Printer view of these results
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