How to make serving the community an effective part of your ministry.
by Scott G. Wilkins
When my family and I started a new church in Lexington, Kentucky, one of the first things we did was perform a community act of kindness. Seven teams, a total of 21 families, met on a Saturday afternoon at a large subdivision close to where we plan to locate the new church. We went door-to-door handing out free light bulbs to every household. Along with the light bulbs, we handed out brochures describing ...
Several potential leaders aren't leading because they've embraced common myths—dispel those myths with biblical truths.
Len Woods
With the growth of the Internet has come a huge increase in the spread of so-called urban legends. These mythical stories (for example, the ring of evil doctors that supposedly harvests the kidneys of drugged hotel patrons) have absolutely no basis in truth.
Though these urban legends are patently false, they are unusually creative and interesting. They often seem credible. The effect is that many ...
If Martians were to visit your group and ask to be taken to your leader, they should end up meeting everyone!
During the early meetings, the leader must take the most initiative, but each member is contributing as well. Furthermore, leaders should delegate responsibilities from the very first meeting, for symbolic reasons if for nothing else.
Leaders should watch and encourage role playing within ...
Don’t do it all yourself—here's how to delegate the work.
Stan Lubeck
EPHESIANS 4:11-14 - "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no ...
Many of us take on too much and get burnt out; here are some responsibilities you shouldn't be taking on.
Joel Comiskey
Guilt. Burden. Overload. Nathan wondered how he could continue leading his small group with a full-time job, young family, and worship ministry on Sunday morning. Now his visionary pastor was piling on new leadership responsibilities, asking him to build weekly relationship with group members.
Like Nathan, many leaders slowly, imperceptibly slip from the radar screen of small group leadership. The ...
When you build the people, the people build the ministry.
Bill Donahue, Ph.D.
Few leaders understand what it takes to lead and build a growing small group structure. We all have some ignorance and few of us ever received training in the area. We resorted to trial and error, and learned along the way. Building this at Willow Creek has been an adventure, with successes and failures along the way—and we are still figuring it out! But we learned some coaching lessons that ...
Here are six keys to group health that your members deserve to know about.
Rick Howerton
Note: This article has been excerpted from the SmallGroups.com training tool called Reviving a Dying Small Group.
Rick Howerton is a church consultant, trainer, and church planter of The Bridge in Spring Hill, Tennessee. He will also be speaking at the upcoming Saddleback Small Groups Conferences. Click here for more information.
Group members will be much more apt to continue with the group over the ...
Here's how to get everyone in your small groups to serve.
Steve Gladen
Note: Steve Gladen will be the host and keynote speaker for the upcoming Saddleback Small Groups Conferences in 2009. Click here for more information.
Have you ever been playing basketball and had someone take the ball inbounds, dribble it down the court, and shoot it without ever passing the ball? We have a word for people like that: ball hogs! They never work within a team environment. They play ...
Darryl has asked someone to apprentice, but they don't feel confident in certain areas; what should Darryl do?
The Small Group Network Community
Darryl has asked an individual to be an apprentice leader in his group. The apprentice has a good heart about the group but he has confided in Darryl that he does not have confidence to lead the group in certain activities, particularly Bible study.
What should Darryl do?
Seeing as this fellow is an apprentice, there is always going to be things that he will not feel confirdent in doing. This is where ...
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