Are We There Yet?

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Are we there yet?

I'm positive we've all asked the question. As children. From the back seat. On a road trip with our parents.

Many of us have answered the question. As parents. From the front seat. On a road trip with our children.

Are we there yet?

The Question

Have you ever been asked the question as a small group pastor? Or maybe asked it as a senior pastor? In a way, it is kind of a preferred future question. Can you see it?

I had a conversation last Sunday that had echoes of the "are we there yet?" conversation.

A groups guy from a church in another state was in town and dropped by Canyon Ridge on Sunday. It was great to catch up. After a few minutes, he said, "I need to ask the key question."

"What's the question?"

"What's your percentage connected?" (# in groups divided by average weekly adult worship attendance).

Now admittedly, it's not the exact same question. But can you see how it is related?

And it is a key question, don't you think? After all, if we're truly in the business of connecting men and women in groups where they can grow in Christ, love one another and further the work of the Kingdom, wouldn't we keep track of this very important number?

The Answer

Here's what I said:

"We had a very high percentage connected in the fall. We started 85 new groups at our connection events and over 350 people picked up Host Kits so they could "do the study with a couple friends." And we sold just under 5500 copies of the study guide.

"And then when the dust cleared we had added over 100 new groups and connected another 1000 to groups.

"And that puts us in the range of 60% of our average adult weekend worship attendance in groups. Not bad for a 4 year run. Another 3 or 4 years and we'll be pushing the 100% threshold.

The Truth

The truth is, arriving at the preferred future of more than 100% of your average adult weekend worship attendance in groups is something that happens in waves over multiple years. It can't be done in a single move or a couple tries.

If you wan't to arrive at this preferred future you must commit to the long run. I've written about this several times. You can read about Saddleback's commitment to the long run right here:

If you wan't to arrive at this preferred future you must commit to the long run. Click To Tweet

I hope you can make the commitment to the long run! When you arrive at this preferred future is truly a destination worth the journey!

Image by Brandon

Posted in Small Group Strategy