Do you know how to get from where you are to where you want to go? Have you figured out where you want to go? Some really good questions today as I worked through my talk: Getting to There: Building a dynamic small group ministry. Thanks to Randy Miller and Stephen Blandino for getting the word out! Great to see the new building too!

Off-the-Shelf Campaigns

No matter the motivation, if you're ready to plan and launch a church-wide campaign there are a couple ways you can go about it.  You could take a look at an off-the-shelf campaign.  We've written about a few of them right here.

Develop Your Own Campaign

Or maybe you've begun to think about developing your own; a home-grown effort.  There are a number of  ways to accomplish this goal.

• Find an off-the-shelf small group print curriculum that matches your weekend series theme and then produce your own DVD featuring your pastor to go along with it.  Doesn't have to be a perfect match.  Close is often good enough.  The DVD can be a very simple, fireside-chat format.  You can even film your own testimony clips to go along with your teaching.
• Find an off-the-shelf small group curriculum (print and DVD) and build your own message series around the theme.  Many churches have used Lifetogether's award winning studies in this way.  They feature some of the best known teachers in a format that is very friendly and easy to use.
• Use some in-house writers and video talent to put your own curriculum together.  Many churches have the talent already, just waiting to be included.
• Take advantage of the experience of a group like SmallGroupResources.net.  Our team of seasoned professionals understand the art and the science of developing a DVD-driven curriculum.  You can find out more right here.
  

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When Carl George published Prepare Your Church for the Future in 1991 it was not the first book on small group ministry.  In fact, at the time it came out there were already many books on the idea of gathering in community with a few others...for Bible study or prayer or accountability or care.  If you've been around for a while, or have access to the library of someone who's been around for a while, you've seen other books that predate George's entry into the small group foray.  But you really won't find many others that have been as influential.

The concept of the metachurch finds its roots in Prepare Your Church for the Future.  At the time of its writing it meant the next step beyond mega, but not in the sense of size.  More in the sense of organization.  Although size was a factor in its necessity, the concept really unfolded on the realization that in order for churches to grow larger they must grow smaller (sound familiar?).  Taking his cue from churches like the Yoido Central Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea, George proposed that the "organizational principles of a Meta-church allows a church to maintain quality, no matter how much numerical success it experiences (p. 53)."

What are the underlying assumptions on which the meta-church capitalizes?  Take a look at these seven:

1. Churches of the future will be committed to making more and better disciples.
2. Churches of the future will be more concerned with the size of the harvest than with the capacity of their facilities.
3. Churches will be known primarily as caring places rather than as teaching associations.
4. Pastors will genuinely encourage ministry by the laity, despite centuries of modeling to the contrary.
5. Lay ministry assignments will involve leadership of a group.
6. Laity, given the opportunity, will invest time, energy, and money to learn the skills required to do a competent job of pastoring.
7. Pastors and people will remain dependent on the Holy Spirit to make His gifts available for mutually edifying one-another ministry.

The question might be, "Why read it now?"  After all, if it was published in 1991, isn't it pretty much out of date?  The answer is "no".  In fact, when you read Building a Church of Small Groups: A Place Where Nobody Stands Alone or Creating Community: Five Keys to Building a Small Group Culture your understanding will be enhanced because you'll be aware of some important foundational concepts that are found in the organizational structures of both Willow Creek and North Point.

Ready to add to your foundation?  You can pick up your copy RIGHT HERE.

• First, you need to have the right people in the role.  Can't be someone who simply likes the title.  Has to be someone who is a leader.  If you want them to have any chance of influencing your small group leaders there's no getting around this part of the job description.  And don't be fooled here.  Having the wrong person is worse than not having anyone.  They've also got to want to invest their time in this role.  You're looking for actual commitment.  Not words only.
• Second, try people out in the role BEFORE you give them the title!  Do this wherever possible.  Take someone you think would make a good one and ask them to invest in a new small group leader or two.  Easy to pull them in on this idea.  Give it a time limit.  "Would you help me for the next 8 weeks?  Just need you to help these new small group leaders get off to a good start."  Then you model for them what to do.  If they do it and if they're both fruitful and fulfilled doing it...then sit down with them and formally recruit them to the role.
• Third, when you recruit them, use an actual job description.  Don't minimize what you need from them.  Don't downplay how much time you think it will take.  Be honest and ask for their commitment.
• Last, add this ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT: If you want your coaches to invest in the small group leaders they're assigned to you must be giving to them what you want them to give their leaders...and nothing less.

What's wrong with your coaching structure?  Simple, it won't work unless you're applying the four keys of building an effective coaching structure.

What is the significance of span of care?  There are several important elements:

• It is a reminder that one person can't possibly care for more than 10 small group leaders.
• It can help determine the number of coaches (or Community Leaders) you must have in order to adequately care for your small group leaders.
• It can force ministry leaders to be on the lookout for the next wave of "leaders of leaders."

There are at least two main schools of thought on this subject as I write.   Neither solution is problem-free.  But since there is no problem-free, it's simply a matter of choosing the set of problems/issues you'd rather have.  Take a look:   

(1) Faithful practitioners of the metachurch model of small groups would install a layer of care and coaching that would consist of a coach for every 5 small group leaders.  The role of the coach would be designed to provide a frequent point of contact for each of their small group leaders.   In well implemented systems the coach would serve as a mentor/discipler for each of their small group leaders.  Rather than simply checking in on the leader, the coach would primarily be a kind of spiritual encourager...much as you'd hope your small group leaders would be to their members.  Larger ministries would install a layer of leadership often called a Community Leader (or Division Leader) who would care for the coaches.  In some cases this would be a staff person.  Willow Creek's early implementation used a full-time Division Leader for every 10 coaches.

Issues: Finding the kind of person who will commit to investing their time as a coach is one part of the challenge.  Even tougher?  The arbitrary assignment of a small group leader to a coach is problematic.  This is especially true when the assignment is attempted after the small group has been in existence for longer than about 3 months.  If they've made it this long without your help...they will almost always resist the idea that they need what you're offering.  Works much better when the assignment is made at the very beginning or where there is an existing relationship that has a mentoring quality.

(2) An alternative being attempted in some larger ministries is to eliminate the coaching layer and depend on Community Leaders to provide mentoring and care for small group leaders.  North Point is an example of this strategy, using a full-time Community Leader for every 60 to 75 small groups.  An alternative is being implemented at Saddleback where a part-time Community Leader is expected to provide a similar level of care to a smaller number of leaders.

Issues: To say nothing of the degree of difficulty of budgeting for this salary, it assumes that an ordinary person (not a vocational minister) can't have the skill sets or gift mixes necessary to serve in this capacity.  The one thing they don't have is the time to care for 60 to 75.  Can they take care of a smaller number?  Absolutely!

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So then the question might be, “How can you get groups going in a way that has the best chance of succeeding?”

And let’s come right out and say that there are lots of ways to get small groups going. But that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about getting them going in a way that has the best chance of succeeding…in a big way.

So how will we do it? First, a disclaimer: In order for this strategy to work, your pastor’s commitment is absolutely essential. No getting around it. Without your senior pastor’s buy-in this plan is not effective. With that understanding, here are the five steps to a successful small group launch.

Step One: Schedule a weekend message series that passes the following tests:

• At a strategic time (late      January/early February, post-Easter, late September/early October).
• On the right subject      (a topic that is genuinely easy to invite friends to attend).
• For the right length      (Six weeks is just right).

Step Two: Align a small group curriculum with your upcoming weekend message series that passes the following tests:

• Curriculum is a      “good-enough” match to the weekend series. If 40 Days of Purpose was a “one-for-one” match, this has to be at      least thematically aligned.

• Easy to use. Preferably a DVD-driven study that only      requires an open home and someone to push play.

Step Three: Ask your members (and regular attendees) to consider opening their home to host a group. If you’ve met the conditions of Step 1 and 2 they should be open to the idea. When you ask them follow these guidelines.

• Ask them in the      context of a sermon, NOT an announcement. 

• Put together two or      three sermons that talk about God’s heart for unconnected people (Matthew      9:36, 2 Kings 7:3-9, etc.). Use      these messages as an opportunity to invite your congregation to open up      their homes and host a group.

• Give your congregation      a way to respond to the invitation in the service (an insert to be filled      out is the best way).

Step Four: Provide an adequate level of coaching for your newest leaders and begin as soon as they respond.

• Invite them to attend      an orientation where they can learn about what they volunteered to do.

• Connect them with a      coach at the orientation.

• Use the coaches to      establish and maintain weekly contact with every host.

Step 5: Give your new groups something to do next that is similar in kind.

• You’ve invited your      congregation to “just open their home” and provided a curriculum that is      easy to use. What you give them to      do next must have a very similar degree of difficulty.

• Let your new leaders      know what is next by week three of their first study.

• Give any preexisting      small group leaders the option to go back to their previously scheduled programming.

Ready to launch small groups in a way that has the best chance of succeeding…in a big way? Just follow the five steps.  If you need more help, you may want to check out our new coaching module: Launching a Healthy Small Group Ministry.