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, ...
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?
Learn how to develop small groups that will be effective with men.
by Patrick Morley
As one leader put it, "A man is a hard thing to reach!" Yet few ministries have as much potential to revive our families, churches, and communities. When one man turns to Jesus Christ, it breaks a chain of bondage to sin and broken relationships. One changed man can set a family for many generations on a new course of joy, peace, and reconciliation.
Here's how churches are redesigning their systems ...
Move your church to being a church of small groups.
by Russ Robinson
Small group leaders are the most strategic people in the life changing process. Really the goal in small group ministry should be to have small group leaders as "pastors" of the church.
This kind of church is not a natural thing. Church history runs against it. Bill Donahue and I have written about the idea of building churches of small groups. Moving from that vision to reality is a long-term process. ...
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?
Use these five steps to launch a successful ministry.
by Don Cousins
As a whole, ministers are rarely accused of not working hard. But I want to make sure I'm also working smart.
When I look at the marketplace, which I often do as a strategist, I see leaders who are forced to work smart because there's a bottom line telling them if their strategies are working. But in the ministry, the bottom line remains more intangible. It's difficult to evaluate how well we're doing, ...
Before you start a small-group ministry make sure you believe in it.
by Brett Eastman
So many of us have been there—you wake up in the middle of the night feeling pulled toward starting a small group ministry at your church. But by morning you still have no clue how to go about it.
I'll tell you this: If you're a pastor wondering how to go about launching a small group ministry, start by asking yourself, "Is a small group ministry something I truly value and can excite others with?" ...
Here are some things to keep in mind when money isn't a factor.
by Nancy Beach
Since many of us who serve in ministry end up leading volunteers, the editors at Gifted for Leadership wanted to find out how leading volunteers differed from leading paid staff. So we asked Nancy Beach, a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church as well as a GFL editorial advisor, who has vast experience in leading staff, volunteers, and the staff who lead volunteers.
Encouraging people to start new small groups is a key to getting everyone connected.
by Stacie K. B. Maslyn
In Luke 14, Jesus tells a parable of a man in need of guests for the elaborate banquet he had prepared. To get these guests, he sent his servants out into the streets and alleys of the town to bring anyone they could find to his table. He told them, "Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full."
Pastor Kerry Shook shared this vision on a videotape given ...
Follow these principles to help people fulfill their longing for true community.
by Brett Eastman
Don't we all long to be a part of something fun, exciting, and life-giving?
The sitcom Friends captured this desire. Every week 50 million people watched six actors pretending to have relationships with one another. Its popularity was fueled by the deep longing we all have to be connected in community.
The advertising world has caught on to this yearning as well. Ads like MCI's promise to connect ...
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