MarkHowellLive.com

You know what they say.  “You only get one chance to make a good first impression.”  If that’s true it makes a lot of sense to help your new groups have a great first meeting.  Here are some key steps: Preparing for Your First Meeting Call your group members early in the week at a [...]

Help!  I can’t find enough leaders! I don’t know about you…but that is the most common complaint/concern I hear when I talk with small group champions.  And the most common question I hear is “How can I find more leaders?”  I’ve written a number of articles in answering that question.  You can see them right [...]

My purpose at MarkHowellLive is to help pastors and small group champions build stronger small group ministries. Most of the articles here are about strategies that will help build what I call boundary-free small group ministries. Within the knowledge base here are some important articles designed to help train small group leaders in key areas.  [...]

Praying together at the end of a small group meeting is one of the real challenges for almost every small group.  The very common fear of public speaking (number #1 fear for many) is compounded by the unspoken belief held by many that it’s important to speak an unfamiliar dialect when praying (a thee and [...]

“What study should we do next?”  I don’t know about you…but I love hearing that question!  I love hearing it from any leader, but I especially love hearing it from a new leader.  When I hear it from a new leader, it means that their new group has made it through the critical first six [...]

“My group members don’t want to sub-group!”  “We’d really rather stay together.”  “We don’t want to miss out on what anyone says.” If you’ve heard any of these lines (or said them yourselves), you’re normal.  If you’ve given into the temptation to stay in a circle of 12 (or anything larger than 3 or 4) [...]

Who makes the best new members for your group?  That’s easy.  Unconnected people with whom you are actively building a relationship.  Here are some ideas that will help you find new members: Look for people who are already doing the same things you are.  If your kids are in High School, make it a point [...]

What are you training your coaches to do?  Have you trained them?  Or is it every man for himself? I’ve found there are four key questions that every coach should be asking.  Here they are: What is the best thing that happened in your group meeting this week? (Praise) Notice that it’s not a question [...]

When you meet with a personal trainer one of the first things they ask you is what do you wish was different?  They may phrase it a lot of different ways, but essentially they’re asking, “Where do you see that you need to change in order to be healthy?” What if you taught your leaders [...]

We talked about using a small group agreement in a recent article.  One of the reasons I recommend using an agreement in a group is that it provides an easy way to begin talking about two very important values in group life.  Rotating facilitators and host homes are two significant predictors of groups that thrive.  [...]