In Switch, brothers Chip & Dan Heath (http://www.heathbrothers.com), write about the difficult process of change.  One principle they drive home is that in order to bring about change in others, you’ve got to script the step people need to take and shape the path you want them to travel.

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In a recent post, I pointed out the fact that we’re not living in “a day when the status quo is a good thing.  At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century…it is clearly time to develop a bias toward what’s next.”  To help all of us figure out what’s next, I’ve asked a number of the best-known grouplife practitioners to share their latest learnings.  Here’s what Ben Reed had to say:

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Since I lead small groups, I naturally began to look for ways to implement this into our assimilation process.  Because when we ask someone to join a group, we’re asking them to change.  Change their friends.  Change their schedule.  Change the focus they’ve placed on their spiritual life.  Those are all big changes.

We realized we needed to “script the step” and make it as easy as possible for a person to join a group by doing a few things, so we made these changes:

Intentional Changes to Remove Excuses

1. We printed a list of all new groups and stuffed them into the Sunday morning handout. Before this, the first time you found out any details about our new groups was when you showed up for our connection/assimilation event.  Having a list of the new groups stuffed into the bulletin as they entered the auditorium, before the event, allowed people to peruse the list at their leisure before they committed to anything.
2. We stuffed a sign-up card into the Sunday morning handout. Before this, if you were interested in joining a group, you had to stand in a line and fill out a form, while behind you more and more people waited.  Turns out that if there’s an excuse for people to not stick around and sign up for a group, they’ll not stick around.  Long lines gave people excuses to leave.
3. We shot a video explaining the entire process and showed it on sign-up day. Talk about “scripting the step.”  I literally filled out a form (on the video) and walked from the auditorium to the gymnasium, showed them where to drop their card off, and showed them how to quickly and easily sign up for a group.
4. We provided a list of babysitters at each sign-up table. The number one excuse for someone not signing up for a small group?  Childcare.  And through this list, we’re trying to chip away the wall of excuses.
5. We placed large, colorful, well-designed signs on tall stands on each table so that at a glance, people knew which table to gravitate towards. I know…sounds silly.  But if you’re an introvert, you don’t want to have to wade through a sea of people you don’t know, introduce yourself to people you’ll eventually have to tell, “No…I’m not a single, middle-aged woman…” just to find the “Carpentry like Jesus” group.

Through this process, we tripled the largest signup day we had ever had in the history of our church.  Tripled.

Is it magical?  No.  Intentional?  You bet.

Script the step and remove the excuses people have.

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Ben Reed is the Community Groups Pastor at Grace Community Church.  You can read his blog at www.benreed.net or follow him on Twitter.

Are you paying attention to what’s really happening in your small group ministry?  Not what you hope is happening or what you think will happen…but what’s actually happening.  Are you watching for subtle variations in the way things turn out?  Are you noticing when two groups that start on the same time and in the same way have different outcomes?  Asking yourself why?

We should all be paying close attention to what’s happening.  It’s the only way we’re going to connect beyond the usual suspects.  After all, if you want to connect people you’re not currently connecting…you’re going to have to do things differently.  You’re going to have to try different things.

So…what’s your most recent grouplife learning?  Would you have an answer if the two of us were hanging out for a few minutes?  What if we were in a group and one by one we each shared our latest small group ministry learning.  Could you chime in when it got around to you?

I remember sitting in a staff meeting at the first church I ever worked at and hearing my pastor say that you could tell what year someone stopped learning by looking at the copyright dates of the books on their shelves.

If we could see the date of your most recent small group ministry learning…would we conclude that you’re still learning?  Or that you stopped sometime back?  Be honest, now.

But regardless of what you answered, don’t you really want to be the man or woman that continued to be a learned right to the end of your life?  I do.  I’ve decided that my purpose is to figure out ways to connect way beyond the usual suspects.  In fact, I’m dreaming of finding a way to help connect the widening 60% that will never be reached by the attractional model.

It’s why I try the things I do.  It’s why I experiment with lowering the leader bar and Jedi Moves that add 5 or 10% more Hosts.  It’s why I ask you to think with me about my weirdest post ever and why I’m quick to jump on host orientation ideas that might enable a much better sign up to show up ratio.

I have no intention of just perfecting systems and strategies that have plateaued at 42% connected.  And I hope you don’t either.

So…what’s your latest learning? Testing something you want to share?  You can click here to jump into the conversation.

When is the best time to launch new groups?  How much advance preparation does it take to pull off DVD-driven curriculum?  How can you incentivize launching new groups?

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In a recent post, I pointed out the fact that we’re not living in “a day when the status quo is a good thing.  At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century…it is clearly time to develop a bias toward what’s next.”  To help all of us figure out what’s next, I’ve asked a number of the best-known grouplife practitioners to share their latest learnings.  Here’s what Steve Gladen had to say:

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Steve: In summer Pastor Rick did a series on the Invisible War.  We produced a very simple DVD small group curriculum.  Literally a DVD and 1 page notes to download.  We offered the HOST’s a 50% discount (still covered the church’s cost) and if you gathered two friends and started a group, Pastor Rick would give you the DVD free. We started 102 new groups in the summer…July!

Note:…Saddleback started 102 new groups…in the summer.  They made sermon-based curriculum available…in the summer.  They made the curriculum available at cost.  They gave it away free to anyone that gathered two friends and started a group.)

Steve: This weekend is 9-11, and we’ll do the same with the Life’s Healing Choices curriculum.  If a visitor wants to gather two friends, we will give them the curriculum…a great healing curriculum for a painful moment.

Note: Pay attention to the way Saddleback leverages natural opportunities, combining legacy (curriculum they developed in 2009) or off-the-shelf curriculum with well-timed promotions to launch new groups.

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Steve Gladen is the Pastor to the Small Group Community at Saddleback Church and the founder of the Small Group Network.  He’s also the author of Small Groups with Purpose.  You can sign up for the Small Group Network newsletter right here and follow him on Twitter.

In a recent post, I pointed out the fact that we’re not living in “a day when the status quo is a good thing.  At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century…it is clearly time to develop a bias toward what’s next.”  To help all of us figure out what’s next, I’ve asked a number of the best-known grouplife practitioners to share their latest learnings.  Here’s what Randall Neighbour had to say:

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Last year, my organization published an excellent book entitled Organic Disciplemaking by Dennis McCallum and Jessica Lowery.  This book is possibly the most important book I’ve read in five years because it provides an exhaustive look at the way the disciplemaking member-leaders at Xenos Christian Fellowship move a new believer into a disciple of Christ and a discipler of other new believers.  The church has an impressive statistic: Over 80% of the church body is discipling someone or being discipled by someone.  That, my friend, is an amazing find in North America.

I must say though, despite the excellent writing style, personal stories, and “no rock left unturned” attitude by the authors, the book has not sold as well as I hoped.  After all, in a previous blog entry, I ranted about the complete absence of discipleship in many US churches today.

I must revisit this issue of making disciples over and over again, charging at the issue from numerous directions.  Each church must discover their own unique way of moving every committed believer from spiritual infancy to adolescence to maturing believer to spiritual parent.  It’s not something one can hope happens on its own or it would have happened by now, right?

As I look at the history of Xenos, their seemingly “organic” culture of discipleship wasn’t a naturally occurring chain of events.  It began as a very determined, people-centered, relationally-driven program to equip a collection of house church members to do more than they’d ever done for Christ.  The house churches wanted affiliation with other house churches, and they wanted the benefit of the excellent Bible teaching that a few of the house church pastors possessed.

[I won't go into the history of the church and how very differently it operates on nearly every single level of ministry and membership.  If you want to learn this information, I highly recommend visiting the Xenos' expansive web site.]

I recently had a conversation with a pastor who is opposed to a programmic discipleship path to maturity, saying it’s too lock-step.  He commented that any curriculum driven process would be too mechanical for his church.

Of course, when I asked what he was doing to insure each member of the church was becoming a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ, he didn’t have much of anything to share that was substantive.  The new member class and existing programs every church member was encouraged to attend did not teach Bible basics, tenants of the faith, how to develop spiritual disciplines, etc.

I see a huge challenge to implement a discipleship program in churches that have none today.  People are busy and many who have been small group members for a while or are currently leading a small group think they are disciples when they are simply faithful attendees.  ”Rolling out” a new discipleship program that every person in the church should move through immediately is going to work as well as Moses telling a million Israelites to walk into the parted Red Sea simultaneously, which we all know didn’t happen, right? [Moses stepped in first, followed by his family, followed by the leaders and their families, followed by others, and on it went until they were all in it and through it.]

Developing and implementing an organic discipleship process in a local church has even more challenges.  A relationally-driven pathway where individuals see the need to become a spiritual parent and take a young believer through the stages of maturity required to achieve a level of maturity that produces more fruit is far more difficult to develop than widespread program involvement.

Yet, Xenos has done it, so I know it can be done!  Churches can develop a culture in which the members of the church, who live and serve in Biblical communities (holistic small groups) and live out the mandate to make disciples.

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Randall Neighbour leads a non-profit called TOUCH Outreach Ministries.  He’s also the author of The Naked Truth About Small Group Ministry.  You can read Randall’s blog at www.randallneighbour.com and follow him on Twitter.

In a recent post, I pointed out the fact that we’re not living in “a day when the status quo is a good thing.  At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century…it is clearly time to develop a bias toward what’s next.”  To help all of us figure out what’s next, I’ve asked a number of the best-known grouplife practitioners to share their latest learnings.  Here’s what Eddie Mosley had to say:

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First, a little LifePoint History:

LifePoint conducts semi-annual GroupLinks to connect hundreds of adults from worship to small groups.  Many of them connect due to relationships or common life-situations they discover at GroupLink.  The week following the GroupLink we celebrate what God did and set up the communication reports for weekly follow-up. Our goal is for at least 80% of adults in worship to be connected in small groups.

As LifePoint Church continued to grow, an increase in adults who attend worship would happen.  Our percentage of connectivity would then slide toward 65%. We began to evaluate how we could connect these attendees to one of our next steps, either the Discover LifePoint class, a small group or service team.  Some way we needed to get inspiring information to them that was also an easy step, which would eliminate all the issues, excuses or reasons; obstacles.

A New Wrinkle

Our research lead us to offer another opportunity for connection.

We identified the age groups we were connecting the least.  Trying to list all the obstacles that these two groups might have was rather difficult, but we addressed the ones that seemed most pressing.

• Scheduling was an issue. People will not adjust their schedule unless they know there is value (and maybe relationship) in the outcome.
• Another obvious issue was childcare. What Small Group ministry has not struggled with this?
• And the obstacle for GroupLife this new opportunity would create was of course, more leaders.

To try and eliminate the scheduling obstacle, we identified leaders, found rooms on campus and began Sunday morning Connection Bible Study groups, along with free child care.  We created two groups: one for young couples, another for median adults. But these would not be on-going, join-forever classes; but more an extended GroupLink experience for people to meet others and soon form a small group.

We learned from NorthPoint’s GroupLink that they do not always have enough leaders or the right group for everyone to join at GroupLink. So they created ‘formative groups.’  These are clusters of people that form at GroupLink, but not around a pre-enlisted leader.  The group sits and talks for a while during GroupLink.  In the discussion someone is asked to guide the conversation and given a “Formative Group” packet of information and instructions.  Our plan is very similar except we are creating these opportunities for groups to form on campus for a few weeks on Sundays.

We offer Host Orientations every six weeks for Connections participants to be challenged to step out and lead a new group. Our goal is to start five small groups a year out of these Connections Bible Study groups.  This process continues the commitment LifePoint has made to connect people in Biblical community for Discipleship, Community and Service.

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Eddie Mosley is the Executive Pastor of GroupLife at LifePoint Church, a dynamic, growing multi-site church that has a heart for its community, its region of Middle Tennessee, and the world through global initiatives.  He’s also the author of Connecting in Communities.  You can read Eddie’s blog at www.EddieMosley.com and follow him on Twitter.

In a recent post, I pointed out the fact that we’re not living in “a day when the status quo is a good thing.  At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century…it is clearly time to develop a bias toward what’s next.”  To help all of us figure out what’s next, I’ve asked a number of the best-known grouplife practitioners to share their latest learnings.  Here’s what Scott Boren had to say:

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Church-wide campaigns have become commonplace in the church strategy today.  In ten to twenty years, they might become as entrenched in our imagination as Sunday School.  From my perspective, I think they are great!  I’ve either written or helped write 11 different sets of curriculum for such campaigns (Click here if you are interested in reviewing them).

There are lots of articles and resources available on the benefits of them and on how to run them.  If you have not done a church-wide campaign, the resourses are available to help you do them well.  You don’t have to recreate the wheel.

However, after working with groups in various capacities, I’ve found it hard to help people move beyond the six-week short-term small group experience into an ongoing healthy community.  We’ve tried quite a few different approaches to help groups grow together, but none of them resulted in what we wanted.  Either they lived in floundering mediocrity (often without even knowing it) or they waited until the next campaign to reconnect.

I’ve seen some who blamed the people in the groups for the lack of commitment to live out community.  After further discussion, we found that the issue is not really about commitment.  The people needed guidance not judgment.  They needed direction for growing into an ongoing group.  When they jumped from the curriculum we provided for the campaign and started doing our sermon guides or another curriculum, the groups might have a good Bible study but they were not dealing with the issues that would help them form into a healthy group.

This led to the development of some experimental curriculum to guide groups through this transition time.  The goal is to help groups assess what it means to take the next step beyond a short-term commitment and develop a few basic relationship skills to empower them to be successful in these next steps.

The curriculum is called The Journey Together. I wrote it for my former church in Saint Paul, MN and I recorded short youtube videos to help groups talk about the topics.  The videos are rough as I developed them for pilot groups so we could attain their feedback.  The response was better than we expected.  The written curriculum has been modified after we worked through this feedback.  I had hoped to record the final videos before I completed my time as a pastor there, but we ran out of time.  The content is final, but the recordings are rough, very much youtube kind of quality.

If you click here, you can download the curriculum for free and view the pilot videos we developed.  If you use this, I encourage you to develop your own youtube videos, even if they are rough and unprofessional.  Make them local.  Make them to fit who you are and what you feel God calling your groups to be.

What do you think? Have a question? You can click here to jump into the conversation.
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Scott Boren is the expert on missional small groups.  Missional Small Groups was on the list that I recommended to everyone this summer and his most recent book, MissioRelate is even better. If you don’t know him, you need to.  You can check out his blog right here and follow him on Twitter right here.

“Rapidly growing groups during a church-wide campaign has a very positive upside.  New leaders get their gifts in the game.  New people are connected into new groups.  Relationships are developed.  Believers are discipled.  There are awesome results all around.  The problem comes in caring for new leaders when your coaching structure is already overwhelmed.  Where do you get new coaches?” Allen White

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In a recent post, I pointed out the fact that we’re not living in “a day when the status quo is a good thing.  At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century…it is clearly time to develop a bias toward what’s next.”  To help all of us figure out what’s next, I’ve asked a number of the best-known grouplife practitioners to share their latest learnings.  Here’s what Allen White had to say:

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I ran into this problem a few years ago, when we doubled the number of our small groups in one day.  We didn’t feel we were adequately coaching the first half.  Now, we needed to help an equal number of newbies.  Then, the light bulb turned on.  If half of the groups are new and half of the groups are experienced, we just needed to match them up.  We created a “buddy system” with experienced leaders helping new leaders.  Never let a good crisis go to waste.

Over the years, this coaching strategy was finessed into an intentional approach rather than a last ditch effort.  In advance of a new church-wide campaign, we expect dozens, if not hundreds, of new leaders or hosts to step forward.  Otherwise, why would we do a church-wide campaign?  In anticipation of this new growth, we also know that we will need new coaches to encourage the new leaders.  Where do we get the new coaches?

At least a month before we start recruiting new leaders and host homes, we gather all of our existing leaders for a “Sneak Peek” event to reveal the Fall campaign curriculum.  This is a great way to rally the troops and get our existing groups in on the new series.  We explain all of the details of the series.  We cast vision for new people connecting in groups and for new leaders starting new groups.  Then, we present an opportunity for our existing leaders to “walk alongside” a new leader just for the six week campaign.  Notice that we don’t use the word “coach” at this point.

The ask goes like this: “Once upon a time, you were a brand new leader who had a lot of questions and a few fears about starting a new group.  Some of you had a coach.  Some did not.  All of us need someone in our corner to encourage us, to pray for us, and to answer our questions.  Would you be willing to do that for a new leader or group host during this next series? The commitment starts when the leader attends the host briefing and goes through the six week campaign.”  And, our existing leaders sign up to help every time.

The job description is simple.  We ask them to do three things: (1) Pray for the new leaders. (2) Contact them every week in a way that’s meaningful to the new leader (not in a way that’s merely efficient for the new coach). (3) Answer their questions.

During the New Host Briefing, I match the new leaders and group hosts with their new “coach.”  Usually I start the meeting by introducing the series content and the timeline, then I tell the new leaders, “Now, I would like to introduce some very important people to you who are going to help you get your group started.  They will be available to answer all of your questions as you’re getting started.”  I introduce the new “coaches” and pair them up with the new leaders according to the type of group they are starting or the geographical region where they live.  The “coaches” take over the meeting at this point and give the new leaders all of the details of how to gather their group, what to do the first night, and answer any questions they have already.  They exchange contact information and the “coaching” begins.

After the six week campaign, we check in with the new “coaches” about their experience.  We ask three key questions:

1. How important do you feel you were to the new leaders?
2. How easy was it to keep in contact with the new leaders?
3. Which of the new groups plan to continue?

The results are uncanny.  If the new “coach” has the ability to coach, the answers are always come out: “My help was very important to the new leaders.  Contacting them was easy.  Most of the groups continued.”  If the new “coach” doesn’t have it, the responses are: “My help wasn’t important.  Contact was difficult.  Most of the groups will not continue.”  There is very little middle ground.

For the new coaches that answer positively, we invite them to continue coaching.  For those who answer negatively, we thank them for serving for six weeks, and let them go back to leading their groups.  You might be asking, “But, isn’t it risky to give a new leader to an inexperienced coach?”

It’s risky working with people period.  Personally, I’d rather hire staff to do all of the coaching, but who has the budget for that?  What’s more risky is sending out a new leader or group host without a coach.  The payoff here is that new groups will be established, and new coaches will be recruited.

I’ve stopped recruiting with a job description over coffee.  I don’t always do a great job choosing coaching candidates.  What I have learned is that sometimes the most unlikely people make the best coaches and leaders.  Let the trial run define who has what it takes to coach.

What do you think? Have a question? You can click here to jump into the conversation.
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Allen White is one of the smartest guys I know in the small group movement.  If you don’t know him, you need to.  You can read the rest of his bio right here, check out his blog right here and follow him on Twitter right here.

“Many will hesitate when it comes to intergenerational* groups.  I certainly understand the hesitation.  While I am a proponent of all types of groups, there are at least six very compelling reasons churches should consider them.”  Rick Howerton
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In a recent post, I pointed out the fact that we’re not living in “a day when the status quo is a good thing.  At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century…it is clearly time to develop a bias toward what’s next.”  To help all of us figure out what’s next, I’ve asked a number of the best-known grouplife practitioners to share their latest learnings.
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Here’s Rick Howerton’s Latest Learning:

Fact #1: Intergenerational groups require moms and dads to be models and mentors. A healthy intergenerational small group is the perfect place for a child to see a multi-dimensional Christian life modeled by mom and dad.  A great group will cry out to God on behalf of one another, be on mission together, learn and live out God’s directives found in scripture together, carry one another’s burdens, forgive one another, and the list goes on and on.

Fact #2: Intergenerational groups are the key to the next generation continuing to connect with a local church. Studies have shown that “five or more” adults investing time with a teen “personally and spiritually” is a vital factor in a youth continuing to journey with a local church.  There may be no more natural way for a teen to be substantially connected to five adults who invest in them personally and spiritually than by their being involved in an intergenerational small group.

Fact #3: Young adults long for and need older adults to mentor them. LifeWay Christian Resources did an extensive study of young adults.  Their interviews pointed out the following facts.: Young adults:

• have a strong desire for relationships with people who are more experienced at life.
• have an increased interest in learning from other people’s mistakes and experiences.
• have a desire for relationships that go beyond their own stages of life.
• have a desire to process hurts or frustrations with others who may have already experienced what they’re going through

Fact #4: Not-Yet-Adults add much to the small group experience. When children receive Christ they are not then filled with a miniature Holy Spirit.  The same Holy Spirit indwelling every adult in a small group is also supernaturally at work in and through any child or teen and God will use them in the lives of everyone in the group in profound ways.

Fact #5: Intergenerational grouping gives one-parent kids two parent relationships. One-parent homes are norm.  In a one-parent home one of two households exists, a mom and her kids or a dad and his kids.  Any child living in a one-parent home is at a great loss as they are without a model of either the male parent or the female parent.  While group members can never replace a mom or dad, group members can be models and mentors to a child whose home is void of one gender or the other.

Fact #6: Intergenerational grouping gives older adults a chance to pass on their wisdom to the next generation. It is in living life that we learn life.  And those who have lived it the longest are often full of wise counsel.  The question is, “What is the most natural and effective setting to receive wise counsel from those who have lived more life than we have?”  There is no better setting than in an intergenerational small group.

*A small group made up of multiple generations. In most instances an intergenerational group will include households of varying life stages with all persons in those households functioning together as a small group.

What do you think?  Have a question?  You can click here to jump into the conversation.
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Rick Howerton is truly one of the premier leaders in the small group movement.  You can read the rest of his bio right here, check out his blog right here and follow him on Twitter right here.