Effective small-group leadership requires particular abilities and developed skills. In a word, your ministry thrives on the gift of leadership. This means you need to take much care in recruiting your potential group leaders. In fact, selection of potential small-group leaders should receive the same kind of attention as does the selection of church officers.
Because so few church members have enough experience, training, or confidence to lead effective small groups, a church's pool of small-group leaders is typically small. Rare indeed is the church with enough small-group leaders in place to staff a congregation-wide small-group program. Fortunately, however, most churches probably have more than enough potential small-group leaders among their members. All that is lacking, then, is for you to call them forth and train them.
Because the task of recruiting potential small-group leaders is similar to recruiting church officers, your steering committee's recruitment process is like that of a church's nominating committee. First, list the desired qualities or characteristics for prospective nominees. Then use these criteria to select possible candidates. Finally, ask an adequate number of potential small-group leaders to consider this calling.
Listing Qualities of Small-Group Leaders
While you can find the necessary qualities or requirements for church officers in a church's constitution or by-laws, you'll probably have to develop a list of desirable qualities for small-group leaders. As with the creation of other elements in the planning process (such as purpose, goals, and strategy), it's best to brainstorm and generate a list of desirable qualities for effective small-group leaders.
Here is a list one ...
