Ready to work on something? Don’t just read this. Take at least 2 or 3 minutes and actually look at the links below. You can learn so much about how one of the most effective small group ministries is doing what they’re doing. But…you’ll learn a lot more if you’ll just take a closer look.

First, a little side-note: it pays to watch closely for transferable concepts; ideas that you can use to raise the bar in your own small group ministry. I love this line from Pablo Picasso:

“Good artists copy. Great artists steal.”

It reminds me of another great line that I heard from Rick Warren over 20 years ago:

“If you steal from one person, it’s plagiarism. If you steal from five, it’s research. If you steal from 10 or more, it’s sheer creativity. And I am a very creative person!”

Ready to get creative? Here are 5 (web) ideas that should be copied from Saddleback’s most recent campaign launch (40 Days of the Word):

1. Note how prominent the Small Group link is on Saddleback’s home page. “Small Groups: Join a small group to grow closer to Christ and other believers. Learn More” is easy to see right on their main page. Note: if it takes two or three or four clicks to reach the page on your website where I can find out about joining a group…I’m probably not going to make it.
2. When you click the link from Saddleback’s main page, it takes you to a page with a carefully chosen title: Experiencing Life Together. That’s very important. People are searching for experiences. One of the most important books in the last decade was The Experience Economy by B. Joseph Pine and James H. Gilmore.
3. Note how carefully the words on this page are chosen. Short sentences. It fits above the fold. The first sentence captures the essence of everyone’s longing for connection. The next two sentences frame the idea of a small group very succinctly. The 4th sentence is a call to action.
4. Note that the call to action directs you to Select a Small Group Type (Home, Work, Online). Don’t miss a key detail right at this spot. All three options allow you to select “find” or “start.” That is a very big development (i.e., it’s never too late to be looking for new leaders).
5. Take a look at what happens if you click on “start.” You may not be able to go further than this…but let me tell you, Saddleback has made it super easy to start a group.

What do you think? Can you make these changes? I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can click here to jump into the conversation.

There are a couple main categories of church-wide campaigns.  Some are designed to be an easy invitation for unconnected people or less-than-fully committed people who really need a next step.  Other campaigns are designed without apology to be a developing experience for everyone who participates.  Just Walk Across the Room, released in 2006, is without question in the second category.  It might even be the leading example of the kind of game-changing campaign that can move an entire congregation in the direction of powerful impact.

This is a fully developed, plug-and-play campaign.  You’ll find everything you need in the curriculum kit.  There are a number of key components to Just Walk Across the Room four week church experience.

First, it’s anchored by a very good four session DVD-driven small group experience.  The DVD content is well done.  Featuring Bill Hybels and a combination of stories and teaching, the video is the right length (about 15 minutes).  The first two sessions allow Hybels to give two great examples of his own journey as a just-walk-across-the-room sort of evangelist.  The third uses a combination of spoof bad examples with Hybels offering counterpoint examples of a more effective approach.  This session also features a clear explanation of “the bridge” illustration and Hybels’ classic ladder illustration.  Session four is a combination of Hybels’ description of his own “Matthew parties” and an intimate look into an his own ongoing opportunity to join in the lives of a regular group gathered by an unchurched friend.  I think you’ll be moved to consider how to do this yourself.  I know I was.

The included Leader’s Guide is fairly basis but does provide some good guidance for each of the sessions.  It will be especially valuable for newer leaders who just need a little extra encouragement.

The companion Participant Guide combines in-session discussion questions and in-between assignments that help take the discussion to application.  While there is work to do in between sessions…it’s pitched at a very inclusive level (Read: it’s not too hard for even the least committed to jump in an complete it).

Another available resource is Hybels’ book by the same title.  Just Walk Across the Room is extremely readable and each of the four group sessions includes a short reading assignment (2 to 3 chapters, about 50 pages).  It’s important to note that while the reading will enhance the experience, it’s not essential.  Participants will get a lot out of the study by attending the weekend service and taking part in the small group study.

As important as these other components are, the CD-ROM is packed with essential ingredients.  Here you’ll find sermon outlines, powerpoint slides (for both Mac and Windows), promotional ideas, web banners, and much more.  It really has everything you need to put together a memorable four week church-wide experience.

If you’re ready for your congregation to take the step that leads to impact…you’ll want to consider Just Walk Across the Room.  This is a powerful study and ought to be on your list to consider.

Although for many of us, John Ortberg’s best-seller, The Life You’ve Always Wanted, might be shelved neatly in betweeen If You Want to Walk on the Water You’ve Got to Get out of the Boat and The Me I Want to Be…I’m thinking it might really be begging for a second look…as a church-wide campaign.

The winning combination of:

• a great topic (especially a great first of the year topic)
• author name recognition (there are few better)
• a very marketable title (think about what this title promises)
• easy-to-use DVD-driven material (this is essential for the kind of church-wide campaign that can include everyone)
• an easy-to-read trade book that provides more for those who will invest the time in between sessions

Had an opportunity this weekend to take a look at GOD’S STORY your story, a new DVD-driven church-wide experience from Max Lucado. Published by Zondervan, the study is anchored by Lucado’s recent book by the same name.

The 6 session DVD features Max Lucado, the best-selling author and pastor. With the style so familiar to millions of readers, Lucado uses the sessions to unveil a compelling glimpse into how our story fits in God’s story. The DVD segments are just the right length (averaging 10 to 12 minutes) and feature Lucado in his most familiar role…as a story-teller. Each of his stories use an every day object lesson (a pilot forced to fly his plane blind or the bright orange vest that drunk drivers in Tennessee are required to wear) to illustrate a timeless biblical truth and set up the particular part of God’s story he is telling.

Along with a note-taking outline of the DVD segment, each of the study guide sessions feature a set of well-written discussion questions. Although there is no leader’s guide, the degree of difficulty is manageable for newer group leaders and with just a little preparation an in-house guide could be prepared to enhance the experience. In addition to a Recommended Reading chapter assignment from GOD’S STORY your story, there is also a simple Between Sessions assignment that provides some very meaningful application.

The DVD-ROM includes some basic church-wide campaign helps. The Getting Started Guide along with a promotional poster, bulletin insert, powerpoint slides, postcard template, and sermon outlines provide the essential ingredients that will make it easy to launch.

The subject matter coupled with Lucado’s name recognition as a New York Times best-selling author should make GOD’S STORY your story an appealing choice as a church-wide experience. The notion that God’s story and mine might somehow be intertwined along with some very universal themes (forgiveness, guidance, and value) should fit well on the Easy/Hard Continuum and make for an easy invite. This is a study that’s going to make a lot of sense for many churches.

Today, there are lots of options and there are more all the time.  I’ve reviewed many of them and cataloged them here for your convenience.  How to choose?  I’d highly recommend my article, “How to Choose the Right Church-Wide Campaign.”

The Nearly Complete List of Church-Wide Campaigns

Note: This list is alphabetical.  In most cases I’ve linked to my own review of the campaign.

• 40 Days of Community
• 40 Days of Love
• 40 Days of Purpose
• 40 Days in the Word
• Act Normal
• Courageous
• GodQuest: Discover the God Your Heart is Searching For
• Gospel Revolution: Recovering the Power of Christianity
• Life’s Healing Choices
• Live Like You Were Dying
• Love at Last Sight
• Made: Created to Make a Difference
• Not a Fan
• Nothing’s Too Hard for God
• One Month to Live
• Outlive Your Life
• Read the Bible for Life
• The Easter Experience
• The Me I Want to Be
• The Power of a Whisper
• The Prodigal God
• The Story
• Unexplainable: Pursuing a Life Only God Can Make Possible
• Walking with God in the Desert
• Why: Pursuing Answers to Life’s Biggest Questions

There’s a new DVD-driven study that you’re going to want to take a look at.  New from Zondervan,  WEIRD: Because Normal Isn’t Working is a great companion to Craig Groeschel’s popular book by the same name.

Inspired by Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7:13-14 and the central idea that the “broad road leads to destruction” (normal) and the “narrow road” leads to life (weird), the study takes a look at a set of topics that will make sense to Christians and non-Christians alike (making WEIRD a very compelling option for a church-wide campaign).

• The God Kind of Weird (overview)
• It’s Time to Be Weird (Time)
• Weird That Money Can’t Buy (Money)
• Pleasing God is Weird (Values)
• Weird Makes You Truly Sexy (Sex)
• The Weirdest Blessing Possible (Summary)

The DVD sessions are a combination of key portions of Groeschel’s LifeChurch.TV weekend message series and special segments that introduce, enhance or summarize the topic.  One of the Church’s most dynamic and creative communicators, Craig Groeschel’s practice of looking right at the camera while preaching (making it easy for participants in one of 15 campuses and a  growing number of LifeChurch.TV Network churches around the world who use the teaching video).  The DVD is very compelling.

Each of the sessions in the participant guide includes:

• Fully outlined overviews of the video segments (great for taking notes during the video),
• Discussion questions that help unpack the meaning of the biblical passages that form the foundation for the teaching,
• Individual activities that reinforce application,
• Between session personal studies that help participants take the teaching deep into their lives.

The  relevance of the topic and the availability of the book by the same name makes WEIRD an intriguing church-wide campaign option.  Although not currently available in a prefab campaign format, it would be easy to use as an alignment (combination of weekend message series and small group study).  In fact, with the weekend messages archived and available at the LifeChurch.TV website, the only thing missing is the marketing pieces (bulletin inserts, bulletin shells, invitations, etc.).

As a stand-alone study, WEIRD is sure to produce a lot of great discussion and application.  At the same time, it deserves consideration as a church-wide campaign with the ability to reach neighbors and friends.  Either way, this is a study you’re going to want to add to your recommended list!

I had the opportunity to take a look at an interesting new church-wide campaign this weekend.  New from Outreach, GodQuest: Discovering the God Your Heart Is Searching For is a 6 week study that just might be something you need to check out.

The GodQuest church kit is a very robust resource.  In addition to the DVD-driven study for groups and individuals, you’ll also find a church leader resource DVD with sermon outlines and power-point templates, along with illustration and promotion media.  An available teen edition allows the same content to be explored in an age-appropriate way by junior and senior high school students.

Featuring Sean McDowell as host, GodQuest takes the participant on a journey through six important concepts with apologetic themes:

• What you believe determines where you go in life.
• What you believe about creation determines how you view yourself and life.
• What you believe about the Bible determines how you live your life.
• What you believe about God’s goodness defines your relationship with Him.
• What you believe about Jesus’ identity determines your path in life.
• The path you follow in your spiritual journey determines your destination.

The DVD segments are an engaging mix of McDowell as tour guide with special guest segments by Lee Stobel, Josh McDowell, Dr. Craig Hazen, Barbara Wise, Miles McPherson, Dave Dravecky, Dr. Mark Strauss, and Greg Koukl.  At an average length of 13 1/2 to 17 minutes, the video is pitched just right.  Long enough to include some great insights.  Short enough to keep group members engaged.

The guidebook (participant guide) is fairly substantial.  At just under 150 pages, it includes the session materials as well as six weeks of daily travel logs that take on the flavor of a journal with a twist of guided study.

Making it easy to promote the church-wide campaign, you’ll also find sample inreach and outreach tools (direct mail postcards, door hangers, mailers, posters and banners.

With their wealth of knowledge about campaigns, you’ll also appreciate the included campaign planning guide.  Whether this is your first church-wide campaign, or you’re a seasoned veteran, you’ll find information here that will help your campaign reach and include more people.

As you’re planning upcoming ministry seasons, GodQuest is a church-wide campaign that belongs on your radar.  The current special price of $49.95 (as of 10/17/11) begs you to take a look for yourself!

Had a great question in my recent post on the biggest problems facing your grouplife system.  Wendy noted that:

“We’re having trouble getting people new to our church to join a group…How can we get them into a group?”

That is a great question…and a very important one.  But before I give you something to chew on, I need to add a little piece of information that will provide some perspective.  Here goes…

First, most churches have already connected the folks that are already genetically drawn to community.  Know what I’m saying?  Let’s just say that there is a certain type of person who will start a group if there isn’t one and join one if there is.  You know the type.  But they represent a relatively small part of most congregations.  Maybe 20 to 30%.

Second, really only the exceptional churches have connected beyond 50 to 80% of their weekend adult attendance.  Right?  There are the occasional North Coasts that have regularly connected at the 80% level.  And then there is Saddleback that has blown through the 100% and at last report had crossed the 130% barrier.

Third, a little basic math tells us that most churches have connected somewhere south of 80% and more than 20%.  So, in all likelihood we really need to be talking about how to to connect the middle 50 to 60% in a church-wide campaign.  With me?  Here are 5 keys to getting everyone involved:

5 Keys to Getting Everyone Involved

1. Getting everyone involved begins with your senior pastor.  There’s no getting around this.  Connecting everyone involves your senior pastor talking about the importance of being in a group every week.  When you’re launching a church-wide campaign, be sure your pastor is emphasizing the importance of “being part of a group that’s using the curriculum that goes along with the weekend message.”  See also Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church OF Groups
2. Few things are as convincing as a well-placed testimony (live or video) of a satisfied customer.  When you’ve made the host ask and have finished recruiting, it’s time to flip the switch and let the power of testimony make your case.  See also How to Develop Video Testimony That Recruits Leaders or Members
3. Make sure your announcements, website, newsletter, etc., are all making it crystal clear that joining a group is easy!  ”Stop by the small group booth.”  ”It’s easy to use the small group finder on our website.”  See also Narrowing the Focus Leads to a Church OF Groups
4. Keep in mind that your average adult attendance is made up of a different group every weekend (i.e., if your church is like most churches…your members and attendees come 1 to 4 times a month).  That is why you need to make the “join a group” appeal two or three weeks in a row.  See also Why You Must Make the HOST Ask Several Weeks in a Row
5. Leverage all-church email combined with an easy to use web-based group-finder (like ChurchTeams).  When you have both technologies working, it makes it easy to connect folks that to get the word out broadly.  Once you’ve set up your open groups on an easy-to-use small group finder, send out an all-church email from your senior pastor that says “click here to join a group near you.”  See also Technology: Tools That Enhance GroupLife

There’s a lot more to this than I can include in a single post, but I hope this has given you a few ideas.  You’ll find some additional ideas in my post How to Connect Members to Groups

Want do you think? Have a question? Want to argue?  You can click here to jump into the conversation.

Whether I’m working in our small group ministry at Parkview or on the small group ministry of a church I am consulting or coaching…I’ve learned that a fairly small number of variables determine results.  I’ve also learned that some of these variables are in my control…and some are not.

Remembering Andy Stanley’s great line that “your ministry is perfectly designed to produce the results that you’re currently experiencing,” I’m aware of the fact that it is these same variables are what determine design and design absolutely determines results.

In the last three months I’ve seen a variety of outcomes in the launch effectiveness of the churches with which I’m coaching and consulting.  Sticking close to the plan (and even innovating to customize the strategy), one church jumped from 60 small groups to over 400 coming into the weekend the campaign begins.  Another added over 300 new groups and had 451 people pick up a grab and go bag to do the study with a few friends or family.

Those are both big wins!  Very exciting stuff.

On the flip side, a coaching church with weekend attendance of nearly 1,000 came all the way through a 5 call coaching package and then decided to stick with their previous plan to add new groups by hand-picking a leader or two from each of 6 existing groups.

And then, there have been several churches that stuck fairly close to the strategy but compromised on a single variable or two, and have seen only moderate success.

In each case, certain variables determined success.

Your Results May Vary

I’ve learned that one of the most important first conversations I can have with a consulting or coaching church is the “your results may vary” conversation.  Much like the disclaimer you read on most medications, it’s important that churches realize there are variables that affect outcomes.

4 Key Variables

I’ve found there are four key variables in church-wide campaign success:

• Senior Pastor buy-in and attention.  In order to maximize the impact of a church-wide campaign, there is almost no variable more important than the senior pastor’s 100% buy-in and attention.  100% attention extends from the pre-launch host recruitment stage all the way through the launch series and into the follow-up.
• A narrow focus approach.  The number of competing ministries or projects plays an important role in the impact of a launch.  Every additional opportunity promoted diffuses the potential impact of the campaign.  In addition, the pre-launch host recruiting phase is so important, the narrow focus must begin earlier than some churches anticipate.
• Timing.  There is an ideal timeline for a launch.  It varies only slightly from one community to another.  Even slight changes in the ideal timeline can have significant impact.
• The topic chosen for the church-wide campaign.  Where the topic fits along the easy/hard continuum plays an important role in how both who will agree to host a group and who will say “yes” to the invitation.

Are there other variables that play a role in campaign success?  Absolutely.  Overall church health, extreme weather or disruptive local or national events can all play a part.  But these four (senior pastor buy-in, narrow focus, timing and topic) are the most important.

Can I help you?  You can find out more about my consulting and coaching services right here.

What do you think? Have a question?  Have you spotted another variable? You can click here to jump into the conversation.

Sure to be a popular movie, Courageous: Honor Begins at Home hits theaters on September 30th, 2011.  From the creators of Fireproof and Facing the Giants, Courageous provides an “opportunity to encourage your body of believers and to reach out to a community of nonbelievers (from the planning guide).”

The Courageous Campaign Kit provides everything you need to pull off a focused effort and at $34.99 is reasonably priced.  Add the Courageous Starter Kit (see below) and you’ve got a “just-add-water” campaign that will work very well for many churches.

Anchored by a four week DVD-driven Bible study, the Campaign Kit also includes:

• Campaign Planning Guide (I found it packed with ideas and good direction)
• DVD-ROM includes a four week sermon series with presentation slides based on Michael Catt’s Courageous Living book.
• 1 copy of the Courageous Living Book by Michael Catt, Senior Pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church and Executive Producer of Fireproof and Courageous.
• Sample chapters of The Resolution for Men and The Resolution for Women.

Courageous Starter Pack

With the movie tie-in and family-oriented theme, Courageous has the potential to provide an outreach opportunity.  The Courageous Starter Pack makes it easy to pull off with posters, post cards, impact cards, invitations, bulletin insert ideas, a 23″ by 87″ banner, and a catalog–showing other promotional items that can be ordered.  At $59.95, the Starter Pack will be everything many churches will need and a great beginning for many others.

Timing Your Campaign

Although the four week church-wide campaign can be used leading up to the movie’s premier, it can also be used as a follow-up.  And since Courageous will likely follow the pattern of Fireproof and Facing the Giants, it will probably continue to make its way into sermon series and conversations long after it releases on DVD.

Food for Thought

While not for everyone, Courageous is a church-wide campaign that will be an easy invite in some communities.  For churches that are looking for ways to spark interest in family ministries, this is a campaign that will make a lot of sense and could have a big impact.