Regardless of the strategy you use to invite unconnected people to join a small group or to consider hosting a group in their home, learning how to effectively ask people to take a next step is essential.  Done poorly, you’ll get a weak response.  Done well, you’ll get a great response.  Here are the four steps to a great response:

1. Incorporate the ask into your pastor’s sermon.  This is much more effective than an announcement.  Obviously, some sermon topics will lend themselves more naturally to integrating the ask into the message itself.  This is worth a careful discussion.  Looking for a scripture passage that includes the idea of community makes it easier.  For example, Matthew 9:36 let’s us in on Jesus’ heart for unconnected people (sheep without a shepherd).
2. Use an insert in the bulletin to gather responses.  While talking about Jesus’ heart for unconnected people, ask your people to “take out the insert in your bulletin.  It looks like this.”  Hold it up and say, “While you’re taking that out, I want you to listen to the story of Bob and Jane.”
3. Using a 2 to 3 minute live or videotaped testimony about the importance of being in a group or how God used the host of a new group gives your ask a huge advantage.  I’ve written about how to develop video testimony that recruits hosts
4. Provide an easy way to respond immediately.  Asking them to go to the website to sign up or call the church office doesn’t strike while the iron is hot.  The best response opportunity is to take the offering later in the service and put the inserts in the plate as it comes by.  Next best, station ushers at the exits and collect as people leave.  Last, have people turn them in to a table in the lobby (this is much less effective).
5. Now that you have the keys, here’s how I do what I call “The Dance.”  Pay attention to the language and the sequence here: “Doing Life together is so important.  If you’re ready to put your toe in the water and try a life group, I want to invite you join us at the Small Group Connection on January 21st.  In your bulletin this morning is an insert.  It looks like this (hold one up).  While you’re taking out the sign-up form, I want you to welcome Bob and Jane Smith.  The Smith’s joined a group last year about this time and I’ve asked them to share a little bit of their story (2 to 3 minutes, answering the questions I mention in how to develop a life group testimony).”The pastor then says, “Let’s thank Bob and Jane for sharing their story.  We want to invite you to join us at the Connection on January 21st!  If you’ll fill out the sign-up form you can place it in the offering at the end of the service.”  Important Note: If you’re recruiting hosts, simply substitute the following lines: “If you have a heart for unconnected people you could be a host.  In your bulletin this morning is an insert.  It looks like this (hold one up).  While you’re taking out the sign-up form, I want you to welcome Bob and Jane Smith.  The Smith’s hosted a group last year about this time and I’ve asked them to share a little bit of their story (2 to 3 minutes, answering the questions I mention in how to develop a life group testimony).”The pastor then says, “Let’s thank Bob and Jane for sharing their story.  Is that what God is leading you to do?  If you’ll fill out the sign-up form you can place it in the offering at the end of the service.”

Does that make sense?  See how the four key ingredients are integrated right into the message?  If you’re recruiting hosts, it would just take a little tweak.  Same dance.  Like any dance, the graceful integration of several steps leads to a smooth and pleasing outcome.  I hope your dance moves become smoother and more effective.

You’ve probably heard of “hosting” a group.  But what does it mean to be a host?  Is there a difference between a host and a leader?  Is it just another name for a leader?  If I’m a host, will you provide the teacher?   These are questions that are asked all the time.  ALL the time.  You may have your own answers…but let me give you some of the defining ideas of the host strategy (and what it means to host a group).

The HOST Concept: The first thing you need to know is that the idea of H.O.S.T. makes it possible for ordinary people to lead a small group.   By that I mean that we’re almost always talking about using a DVD or video-based small group study, bringing the teaching into the group via the television, and allowing the Host to do just that.  In fact, the HOST acrostic stands for:

• Heart for your community (or your church)
• Willing to Open your home for six weeks (or the length of the study)
• Serve a few simple refreshments
• Tell a few of your friends (in the beginning the T stood for “Turn on your VCR”)

This is very important to the idea.  You’re not recruiting teachers or leaders.  You really are simply inviting people to open up their homes, serve some coffee and dessert, and tell (invite) a few of their friends.  That is a ground-breaking concept and allows many more people, ordinary people, the chance to include friends, family, neighbors and co-workers.

Will a “leader” or “teacher” be provided? No.  Using a DVD-driven curriculum allows a group to begin without a teacher.  In addition to a warm invitation and spirit of hospitality, only very basic facilitation skills are needed.  Sometimes you will have the opportunity to match someone with an interest in leading with someone who has an open home, but that is not normally how the concept works.

When is HOST strategy used? The idea of hosting a group came into being as part of Saddleback’s 40 Days of Purpose campaign.  The HOST strategy can be very effective when used as part of a church-wide campaign (an alignment of weekend message series and small group curriculum).  As part of the build-up to the campaign, HOSTs can be recruited who will commit to opening up their home for the six weeks of the series/study and invite a few friends.

Who can be a HOST? Every church makes this decision based on a number of factors.  The culture of the individual congregation, available coaching for new hosts, even the topic of study are all relevant.  Some churches may decide that only members may host a group.  Other churches may decide that you must attend an orientation to qualify, but will only allow members to advertise their group on the web or in the lobby.  Still others will simply require that you use the provided materials and invite your own group members.

What kind of training is required? Again, this varies from one church to the next.  The most effective strategy seems to be to require attendance at a brief orientation (1 to 2 hours max) combined with connection to a coach who will serve as a liaison for at least the period of the campaign.  Many churches are also finding that a decentralized mid-series huddle in the home of the coach is a very effective additional opportunity to encourage the host.

What happens when the six-week commitment ends? With a good experience, many of the new groups will decide to continue.  Hosts are reminded in the orientation that they’ve made a six-week commitment and that their commitment is making it possible to launch many new small groups.  They’re often encouraged to be open to the possibility that the group may be such a good experience that they would choose to continue…but there’s no pressure to do that.

What is the biggest advantage of the HOST strategy? The HOST strategy is a proven method of getting the largest number of new leaders in the game and unconnected people in a small group.  It is not problem-free, but it is a great solution when a church needs to connect a large percentage of their members and attendees.   

I’m frequently asked what should be done to launch small groups in churches where there is an existing adult Sunday school program.  Is it an issue?  Yes.  Does it complicate the project?  Only slightly.  Is there a solution?  Yes.

Here is my prescription:

1. You’ll need to gather some important information.  Three questions.  (1) What is your average adult worship service attendance?  What was your Easter adult worship service attendance?  What is your average attendance in your adult Sunday School?  Why these three questions?  They should give you an idea about the percentage of your adults that are NOT connected to an adult Sunday School class.
2. Survey your adult Sunday school department or class leadership to find out a very specific detail.  Here is the question: Who was the last person who became a regular attendee in your class who didn’t come straight from another Sunday school class somewhere else?  Why ask this question?  Adults who are not currently giving you 2 1/2 to 3 hours on Sunday are very unlikely to begin.  I’ve been asking this question for the last 4 years and have yet to discover a single person who began attending a Sunday school class once they were already an adult.  At the same time, across the country there is increasing evidence that a neighbor is much more likely to walk across the street to come to a group meeting in your home than to walk into an unknown lobby in an auditorium.
3. Recognize that in order to engage the unconnected members and attendees in your congregation you will need to try a new thing.  Two important quotes illustrate this point:

“Your ministry is perfectly designed to give you the results you are currently getting.”  Andy Stanley  (If you’re only engaging 50% of your adults right now…more of the same will not get the unconnected into the game.)

“The significant problems we face won’t be solved by the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”  Albert Einstein  (Moving to a new place will require doing new things.)

Is this a pain-free prescription?  No.  However, if you believe that life-on-life is where life-change happens…reluctance to help the unconnected for fear of upsetting the status quo is irresponsible.

For more on launching a small group ministry in a church with a Sunday School culture, take a look at my four part series.

One of the most frequent questions about small group ministry is "How important is the Senior Pastor?"  Translation:  What if my senior pastor offers encouragement, cheerleads from the sideline, even holds me accountable for the success of the small group ministry…but won’t lead from the pulpit?

Ever ask that question?  It’s a simple answer really.  It’s not that you can’t have an effective small group ministry without the active involvement of your pastor.  It just limits the effectiveness.  Why?  There are several reasons:

1. The Senior Pastor has the greatest influence.  This may be obvious, but it is important to note.  No other staff member’s influence is comparable. 
2. The Senior Pastor influences the most influential people in the congregation.  What he or she values is caught by the key opinion leaders within the congregation.  If small groups are truly important to the Senior Pastor the key opinion leaders will know it…and follow.
3. The Senior Pastor sets the direction.  The language the Senior Pastor uses to talk about what’s important speaks volumes.  An effective small group ministry takes time to build.  It’s not an overnight project.  It will take energy, budget, and time to get off the ground.  Keeping it in the air requires a prolonged focus.  A prolonged focus requires the attention of the senior leader.

CAUTIONS:  Several cautions come to mind immediately.

1. You can’t emphasize everything equally.  For small group ministry to succeed it needs prioritization.   Giving every ministry its moment in the sun from the pulpit doesn’t accomplish what you need.  Identifying what is core and promoting that is a different thing.
2. Some pastors want to delegate leadership to the staff person as a result of a very pure but unfortunate thought process.  "I’ve hired you to lead the small group ministry.  I’ll support you.  But you make the announcements, lead the meetings, etc."  This guarantees an also-ran feel to the ministry.  Influence can’t be delegated.
3. You can’t lead to a place you’ve never been.  Becoming a church that connects beyond the core and congregation will require the consistent and constant involvement of the senior pastor.

What’s the best way to launch new small groups?  Ever asked that one?  I get asked that question a lot…probably more than any other question.  And for good reason, after all, who isn’t trying to increase the number of groups (and the number of people in groups) in their church?

So what’s the answer?  It’s not as easy as that.  I could tell you what I think, but I’d rather lead you through a way of thinking about it so that you can make up your own mind.  Ready for that?  Ok…here’s how I talk about it.

First, a couple assumptions.  Here they are:

1. There is no problem-free.  This is a very important realization.  What it means is that no matter what situation you’re wrestling with, all of the possible solutions to that situation have issues.  All of them.  There is no problem-free.  You just have to choose which of the problem sets you’d rather have.
2. There’s an upside and a downside to everything.  In some ways this is a corollary to the first assumption.  What it means is that nothing is without some of both (positive and negative).  You may want to argue that there are some purely negative things.  I’ve not run into one but I’m not going to argue it.  Just take it for what it is.  Turns out there’s even an upside and a downside to the assumption!

Three Common Methods of Launching New Groups:

Now the answer to the question: “What’s the best way to launch new small groups?”  Remember that we’re going to walk through a way of determining that for your own congregation.  To do that, you need to know that there are three common ways that groups are being started.

1. The Old Fashioned Way: A leader is recruited (either from an existing small group or out of the congregation) and usually given some kind of training.  Those who sign up to be join a small group are assigned to the new leader once training is completed.  A slight variation of this one is where people who would like to lead a small group can sign up to be trained.  Either way, a leader is either recruited or signs up on their own.  This method is probably the most familiar.  Whether you’re a cell church, embrace the meta model, or are totally into affinity based small groups, this is your method at its root.
2. The Connection Event: An event is used to gather potential small group members and then a process sorts prospective members by some kind of affinity and then helps group members choose a leader from amongst themselves.  This is often referred to as a “small group connection.”  Popularized by Saddleback, this method has been used by many churches around the country.  North Point’s GroupLink is a version of the idea that utilizes preselected leaders for the new groups.
3. The HOST Strategy: Hosts (as opposed to “leaders”) are recruited to open their home and invite a few of their friends to be part of the group.  The recruiting process can be done by tapping the shoulders of the “usual suspects” or as a kind of invitation in the worship service itself.  The way you recruit has an effect on who hosts and ultimately whose friends get invited.  Once hosts are recruited and trained they’re frequently listed as open groups ready to receive unconnected people looking for a small group.  This method was popularized as a part of the 40 Days of Purpose campaign.

Problem Sets:

Now that you know the three common ways that groups are started, let’s develop the problem sets for each of the solutions.

The Old Fashioned Way

1. Hard to get apprentice leaders to leave their existing small group
2. Hard to find qualified leaders who are not currently in a small group
3. Hard to find enough leaders to provide the number of groups needed
4. Some who volunteer to lead have alternative motives

The Connection Strategy

1. Uncertainty about the maturity or appropriateness of the person chosen to lead
2. Lack of control about the quality of the leader candidates
3. Those chosen to lead may be unwilling to commit to leading
4. Might necessitate an honest conversation if the group chooses someone with insurmountable issues

The HOST Strategy

1. Uncertainty about the maturity or appropriateness of the person who volunteers to host
2. Lack of control about the quality of the HOST candidates
3. Those who commit to host a group may not wish to continue
4. Might necessitate an honest conversation if the host candidate doesn’t meet your qualifications

Conclusion? Based on these problem sets, which way do you go?  You can surely see that there really isn’t a problem-free solution.  Which set would you rather have?  In some ways it may depend on things like how concerned you are about your unconnected members and attendees, how effective you’ve been at recruiting and developing new leaders, or how well you know the unconnected people in your congregation.

What do you think?  Got a problem that I need to add to my list?  Want to argue for another possible solution?  I’d love to talk about it!