How one church connected an entire congregation through small groups.
Allen White
"Connect 100 percent of your congregation into small groups."
Now that's a sales pitch.
Our church was stuck: A small number of our adults—only 30 percent—were involved in small groups. After seven long years of slugging it out the old fashioned way—raising up apprentices to birth new groups—we were headed nowhere. Only one leader started a new group. Connecting everyone in a group ...
Learn how to lead in a way that sets your small groups up for success.
by Brett Eastman
So you're on your way to launching small groups at your church. But you're still wondering how it's going to work. How am I going to inspire them? How am I going to lead them? Will people really get involved?
Of course your main objective will be to spark a vision within the hearts of your lay leaders, as their roles will be primary in this small group movement. I think there are three leadership principles ...
Being a champion isn't too hard, but it makes a big difference.
by Brett Eastman
Although I've championed small groups in several big churches over the past decade, and even though it's been almost twenty years since I led my first small group, I still remember the day I led my first group like it was yesterday.
My palms were sweating, and I thought my heart was going to thump right out of my chest. But even though I was terrified, I knew God was there with me. He knew exactly ...
Brett Eastman's story about the development of small groups at Saddleback church.
by Life Together
After five years of championing small groups at Willow Creek Community Church, Brett Eastman shuttled his family westward to Orange County, California. He was hired at Saddleback Church and figured he would pick up where he left off at Willow.
But Saddleback was not Willow. In this interview, Brett Eastman, founder and CEO of Lifetogether, talks about the difference between the churches and what he ...
How one ministry partners with churches to put the homeless back on their feet.
by Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra
Belinda Bowden couldn't believe she was homeless. The 41-year-old had been ascending the corporate ladder, making $50,000 a year as a Kmart assistant store manager, when one by one the rungs snapped.
Asked to lie about the store's stability to potential employees, Bowden quit her job. Her savings account depleted by credit-card debt and medical bills, Bowden couldn't pay her rent. Two months later, ...
Small group helps members shape their views about how to handle money.
by John Crosby
What am I doing here? I was sitting at a 6:30 breakfast with a handful of men from our congregation, and the talk was about money. Our money. Specifically, how much we made, and gave, and saved. And now they were looking at me.
Our idea was that together we could learn more of what God wanted us to do with our money. I had been praying for the opportunity for months. The group had formed, and now, ...
Small groups are an essential part of children's ministry.
by Dave Staal
During a recent toy repair project at home, I shared the recipe of two-part epoxy glue with my eight-year-old son. "When both clear gels are mixed together, they become super strong." At the time, though, I didn't realize that I had accidentally glued a screwdriver to the table.
Children's ministry also has two key ingredients that, when mixed together, make it "super strong": 1) creative, relevant ...
Seven questions that will lead to effective small groups.
by Jeffrey Arnold
John 15:1-17; Acts 2:42
1. What is the vision for small groups at our church? This question is fundamental. Answering it requires asking two more questions. First, what is our overall vision for what small groups can and will do in our church? (And, What is our biblical basis?) Second, what kinds of people in our church can and must be reached by the small group ministry?
The New Year is a prime time for churches to launch 40 Days of Purpose campaigns. And, of course, small groups play a key role in this. Much could be said from the trenches of these campaigns, but after listening to some of the most successful small group champions, we've boiled down their wisdom to five thoughts on what really works.
1. Do it again! "40 Days of Purpose is and was one of the most successful ...
How the 40 days of purpose led to an explosion of small groups at one church.
by Life Together
Tom Mullins, senior pastor of Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is a former football coach who uses colorful sports stories and analogies frequently in his teachings. Not one to be afraid of cutting edge ideas and strategies, Pastor Mullins and his team at Christ Fellowship recently implemented a new "game plan." And what a game plan it's proved to be.
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