Apr

28

Is it Time to Give Up on Your Small Group?

April 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Sam Neal has posted a great article called “When Is a Small Group ‘Just Another Meeting’?” on BuildingChurchLeaders.com. In it, he tells the story of Randy Frazee, who hand selected a model small group to lead, and then learned that the most exciting event of the evening was happening right next door in his neighborhood. […]

Apr

18

Vision, Vision, Vision — Part 5

April 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Yesterday we looked at a vision statement for a large urban church. Today we’ll consider the other end of the spectrum.
Example 2:
You’re the solo pastor of a struggling 50-member church in the Midwest. Your members are mostly long-time residents in a small town that is struggling to stay alive in these tough times. You have […]

Apr

17

Vision, Vision, Vision — Part 4

April 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment

We’ve been studying how to develop an effective vision statement for a small group ministry. Let’s look at some examples to help you create your own.
Example 1:
Let’s say you’re the small groups pastor of an urban church of 1,000 members. Your church has a good socio-economic cross section of the community as a whole. Your […]

Apr

16

Vision, Vision, Vision — Part 3

April 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment


Apr

15

Vision, Vision, Vision — Part 2

April 15, 2008 | 2 Comments

Yesterday we introduced the need for vision. So what is vision? George Barna in his classic book The Power of Vision: How You Can Capture and Apply God’s Vision for Your Ministry says, “Vision for ministry is a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to His chosen servants and is […]

Apr

14

Vision, Vision, Vision — Part 1

April 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I spoke with a small group pastor the other day. He was frustrated that his leaders seemed to be all over the place in terms of skills, interests, and direction. He’s tried to conduct training sessions, but gets a less than 20% turnout. In his frustration, he’s beginning to demand participation in leadership events. What […]

Apr

9

Now That’s a Tough Question

April 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Are you ever been asked tough questions by small group members? Maybe it’s a theological question or a “why” question—“Why does evil exist?” Those can be challenging for most lay leaders, and it’s good to think about your principles for answering before you’re in the middle of the situation. Do you need to have the […]

Mar

3

Keep it Small–Again

March 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment

This seems to be my mantra lately. Probably because I keep seeing the effects of groups that have grown too big.
I’m preparing my workshops for the Bay Area Sunday School Convention (BASS) for this coming weekend, and noticed that I have something about “keep it small” in all of them. Must be important. I just […]

Jan

31

Treat or Refer

January 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Rex L. Stancil has an excellent post called “Treat or Refer” at “I Had Been Thinking…”. He strongly recommends that pastors and small group leaders provide a healthy community, but that they not get involved in long-term counseling of group members. He sets out very wise guidelines for all of us.

Jan

29

Decision Making

January 29, 2008 | 1 Comment

How does your group make decisions? How do you decide what to study, how large you will be, when you will split?
Groups have different personalities and different ways of making decisions. In some groups, the leader is the benevolent dictator, issuing decisions by fiat. If that’s the culture and it’s handled with sensitivity, that can […]

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