“I can’t find enough leaders” is easily the most common concern for small group champions everywhere.  Here are five  of the most popular articles I’ve written on identifying and recruiting small group leaders (okay…there’s actually seven):

• 5 Keys to Finding More Leaders
• Design a System That Identifies Potential Leaders
• Leader Recruitment Nuts and Bolts
• Finding, Recruiting and Developing Small Group Leaders
• Small Group Leaders: Qualifications, Hoops and Lowering the Bar
• Skill Training: Priming the Leadership Pump
• Problem Free Leader Identification and Recruitment

I’ll be adding a new article tomorrow.  Skill Training: How to Develop More Leaders will detail 5 practices that your existing group leaders can use that will help more group members to test-drive leading.  Want to make sure you read it?  Click here to sign up to get the update automatically.

I’ve learned there are some things I should never say.  That’s true in life, too.  But right now I’m talking about small group ministry.  There are just some things that you should never say.  I think most of the things you should never say are pretty obvious.  But some of them might surprise you.

From now on…

For example, I’ve learned to never say, “Here’s how we’re going to do things from now on.” Do you have that line on your “never say” list?  It’s an important one to have on your list because the small group leaders in your ministry are always forming an opinion about your leadership.  And every time you say “blah, blah, blah from now on…” and then change your mind later, your leaders chalk it up to one more time that you said something that wasn’t really the case.

Need an actual example?  How about this one: “From now on we’re only going to ask our groups to join us for one church-wide experience a year.”  Now, I think you should only be doing one a year, but as soon as you say “from now on” it’s only a matter of time until a unique situation or opportunity causes the need to change to bubble to the surface.

That’s a crazy idea…

Another thing I’ve learned never to say is “that’s a crazy idea.” Admittedly, I might utter those words to myself, but out loud I’ve learned it’s better to say, “Tell me more about what you’re thinking.”  First of all, when someone comes to me with an idea, I need to encourage that behavior.  And second, I’ve just learned that some of the concepts that I initially said were crazy now shape my philosophy of ministry (i.e., the small group connection and the HOST strategy).

That will never work…

This one is probably a no-brainer for most of us, but it’s a big one.  I’ve just found that being open to possibilities is the best course of action.  If my first reaction is to say “that will never work,” I’m going to miss out on some of the ideas that change the landscape.  And so are you!  Far better to say, “what am I missing about that idea?”  Or even, “There’s an upside and a downside to everything.  What’s the upside that I’m missing?”  Or to say, “What would have to happen for this to work?”

Your Thoughts?

Those are just three of the things I’ve learned never to say.  And in the interest of full disclosure, there are probably still times that I say them.  But I try really hard not to.  And it makes ministry a lot easier and much more fun.

How about you?  Are there some things you’ve learned never to say?  Use the comment section to chime in!

After last weeks Top 10 Reasons Taking the Summer Off Is a Bad Idea, I thought I’d better provide equal representation.  Here’s my best shot at the flip side:

1. After a full year together, it’s definitely time to move on to a new group of friends.
2. My summer schedule is so jam-packed with my family and my real friends that I can’t possibly fit my group members in!
3. I’m all about 100% commitment.  If I have to miss a meeting because I’m out of town on vacation…I’d rather just call the whole thing off!
4. My pastor is taking a study break…and so am I!
5. If I don’t get my beauty rest, 2 or 3 months off over the summer, I’m just no good to anyone!
6. You’ve got the All Star Game, the World Cup every four years, NFL training camps, the Olympics…how can anyone possibly keep up if you’ve still got a weekly meeting?
7. I’m so committed to real Bible study that if we just met to hang out, eat some good food, and watch a movie…well, it just wouldn’t be the same.
8. Daylight Savings Time!  Gotta love it!
9. Wouldn’t want to let our hair down and just party together.  What kind of example would that set for our kids!
10. Whatever you do, don’t use low-pressure summer days to invite some of your old friends to hang out with some of your new friends.  Awkward!

I’ve written in the past about how to use special days (like Father’s Day) to launch groups.  Just thought I’d give you an update on how it works out when you actually do it.

This year on Mother’s Day we launched a strategy to jump start some new women’s small groups.  We used the following ingredients:

• We chose four studies that we thought would appeal to women (Bad Girls of the Bible, Parenting, The Me I Want to Be, and Surviving a Spiritual Mismatch).
• We chose a date for a women’s small group connection that was two weeks after Mother’s Day.
• We put the event on the website (where you could click to register), in the monthly newsletter available in the lobby, in the bulletin (both an announcement and a spot on the tear-off to register).
• Our Senior Pastor worked the importance of being connected into his message, referred to the bulletin, and encouraged the women to sign up (“drop the tear-off in the offering or take it to our guest and information center”)
• We announced it again at the end of the service
• We announced it again the following week at the end of the service
• We announced it on the day of and said “whether you signed up or not, we have room for you at the women’s connection.

Outcome: We launched 7 new women’s small groups using the small group connection strategy.

Approaching Father’s Day, things looked a little different.  Two weeks after Father’s Day was the July 4th weekend.  Not a good time to hold a connection, so we tweaked the strategy.  Here’s what we did:

• We chose a book (The Measure of a Man, by Gene Getz) and planned to launch an a.m. and a p.m. “summer book study” on Tuesday, July 6th.
• We announced it on the website (where you could click to register), in the monthly newsletter available in the lobby, and in the bulletin (as both an announcement and on the tear-off).
• On Father’s Day our pastor worked it into his message and encouraged men to sign up to be a part (“It’s easier to become the man God wants you to become when you’re connected with some other guys going the same way”).
• We announced it again at the end of the service and encouraged men to drop their form in the offering or take it to the guest and information center.
• We repeated the process for the next 2 weekends (mention in the message and announcement at the end).

Outcome: We had our first a.m. and p.m. sessions yesterday.  We had about 60 signed up and 92 men show up.  Here’s what we did during the first session:

• They signed in, put on a name tag, and paid for their book.
• When they came in, they found a seat at a table with 4 to 6 chairs.
• We had them introduce themselves and tell the group how they came to Parkview and what made them come back.
• We sorted them out geographically and had them move to a new table with a few guys who live near them.
• At the new table they shared what prompted them to sign up for the book study and what they hoped to get out of it.
• They also shared if they’d ever been in a group before and what was their experience like.
• At the end of the session we talked briefly about their assignment for the week and then had them get the name and phone number of the person to their right and commit to call them during the week to check in.
• We prayed to close the meeting and dismissed.  Many of the men hung out and talked for 5 to 10 minutes (and some much longer).  Few knew each other before the session.

What’s the point?  You can connect people year-round if you look for ways to do it.  Change it up.  Adapt your concept to fit the calender.  Don’t be afraid to try it a different way.

And one other thing…let us know what’s working!

Dear Senior Pastor,

Just wanted to take a moment to remind you of a few things.  Most of them you probably already know.  A few you might’ve forgotten.  One might be a complete surprise.

First, if you want your church to be a church of groups, if you want your church to a be a church where nobody stands alone, if you want to be a church with more adults in groups than you have on the weekend…you have to be the small group champion.

You have to be the small group champion.  You can’t delegate that role.  You can’t farm it out to the small group pastor or director.  You can’t give that role to an elder or deacon who is really passionate about groups.

If you want to be a church with a pervasive small group ministry…you’re going to have to be the small group champion.  And there are two ways that you’ll need to step to the front:

• To begin with, you’ll need to champion community on your staff and among your key leadership.  You’ll need to model the idea that ministry is about doing life together.  Whether you do this naturally or not, you’ll need to learn to embed the idea of together in everything your staff and key leadership does.
• You’ll also need to begin to be the recognizable champion of grouplife in the congregation.  Doesn’t mean you can’t have announcements or bulletin blurbs that support what you talk about.  But it does mean that you can’t preach your sermon and then call up the small group pastor to “tell us what’s going to be happening with 40 Days of Purpose.”  Instead, you’ll need to begin to work stories about your own group and testimonies from group members and group leaders about the power of grouplife into the message itself.

By the way, I believe that one of the main reasons that Saddleback has connected over 130% of their weekend adult attendance in groups is that Rick Warren is the small group champion.

Second, if you want to reach into the crowd (and even into the community) you’re going to need to cast vision of life in community beyond the core and congregation.  That means that it can’t be an annual sermon on the importance of grouplife.  To actually reach the crowd (and even into the community) with this message, you’ll have to be talking about it 52 weeks a year.  Why?  Because while the core and even the congregation (to use Saddleback’s concentric circle idea) may attend 3 or even 4 times a month…the folks in the crowd are only attending once a month or once a quarter.  They may only be showing up for Easter and Christmas!  If you want to reach into the crowd, you’re going to have to talk about grouplife relentlessly (I believe this is the number one reason that Saddleback has connected over 130% of their weekend adult attendance in community).

Not only are you going to have to talk about grouplife more frequently, you’re going to have to learn to recognize and select topics that will appeal to spiritual newbies.  You’ll need to learn to choose from the easy end of what I call the Easy/Hard continuum.  When you choose a topic for your next church-wide campaign, it will make much more sense to choose Live Like You Were Dying or One Month to Live (or for that matter, to redo 40 Days of Purpose) in order to include the folks in the crowd.

Third, you’re going to need to coordinate themes and topics that emphasize groups throughout the year.  For the reasons I’ve already mentioned…you can’t take a one shot annual approach and hope to get it done.  Instead, you’ll need to think about how grouplife applies to almost everything and work it into the messages you do all year long.

Finally, you’re going to need to be the big gun, issuing a clear call to action.  When you take time in your message to ask for a response (and an easy way to respond is included in the service) the most effective outcome can be expected.  If it appears to be an afterthought…it will have that kind of response.  Ho hum, no big deal.  If you want a big response, you’re going to need to give the ask priority.

Senior Pastors…we’re counting on you to lead the way and let God use you and your position to build grouplife!

You can read my four part series on The Role of the Senior Pastor right here.

Are you on a countdown yet?  94 days for us.  94 days until we launch 40 Days of Purpose (The Sequel).  At first glance it seems like plenty of time.  Next glance seems like it’s coming too fast and there’s so much to do!

Here’s our “to do” list:

1. Recruit 40 launch phase coaches (who will help us launch over 200 new small groups)
2. Train the launch phase coaches using 4 teleconference sessions
3. Launch a new web-based small group finder that will allow unconnected people to find a group 24/7 online or after every service in the lobby
4. Develop the script for 6 DVD sessions
5. Find a great Parkview story to add to the front end of each of the 6 DVD sessions
6. Recruit a handful of current leaders who will share their story on 2 or 3 videos we’ll use in August weekend services
7. Work with our pastor to fine tune the August messages that will recruit over 200 new small group hosts
8. Plan and execute the 6 identical host orientations that will train over 200 new small group hosts
9. Recruit and manage the 24 hour turnaround data entry process that will populate the new small group finder and make over 200 new small groups visible in time to help thousands of adults at Parkview find a 40 Days of Purpose group
10. Develop the Host Kits that will distribute curriculum and “how to get started” materials to over 300 40 Days of Purpose Hosts.

The most important thing we’ll be doing isn’t even on this list.  We’ll be praying.

How about you?  Are you on a countdown?

Under the heading, “There’s an upside and a downside to everything,” encouraging your groups to “take the summer off” can have some serious downsides.  Here are what I think are the top 10 reasons it’s a bad idea:

1. Absence actually doesn’t make the heart grow fonder.  Contrary to what you might have heard, time away rarely makes me long for our time together.
2. New habits and time commitments can form that make it hard to kick start the group after the summer break.
3. An extended time away from the group makes the weakest links more vulnerable when challenges arise.
4. Meeting together during summer’s slower pace allows deeper connections and longer conversations.
5. The relaxed nature of summer can offer the best chance for neighbors and friends to rub shoulders with your group.
6. Summer offers a chance to focus on the grouplife components (love, learn, decide and do) that get crowded out during the rest of the year.
7. Summer offers the best chance for many groups to take advantage of an extended time together.  Taking a weekend to hang out at the lake or a nearby beach can be the most memorable time of the whole year.
8. It is often during the summer months that unconnected people are finally able to put their toe in the water of a group.  If everyone’s off for the summer…
9. Many churches experience a steady flow of visitors and new attendees during the summer months.  Easily finding a group that is currently meeting near them helps them establish connective tissue quicker.
10. Having fun together is a major component of grouplife.  Game night together is just as valuable as studying 1 Corinthians 13.  After all, if I can memorize scripture with the best of them, but can’t joyously lose at Monopoly…

Honestly, one of the best things you can do is give your group leaders ideas about what to do over the summer.  One of my most popular resources is a handout I developed called, What Have You Got Planned This Summer.  You can download a copy right here.

“I can’t find enough leaders!”

Have you ever said that?  If you have, you’re in good company.  It’s one of the most common complaints of small group ministry point people.

Here are the five most common reasons you can’t find enough small group leaders:

1. You’re asking for the wrong thing.  I think this is one of the easiest parts of the challenge to fix.  If you’re not very careful, it sounds like you’re asking for a lifetime commitment to something that requires a lot of energy, hours of preparation, and a selfless quality rarely found apart from Mother Teresa.  Remember, the best candidates are already busy.  They’re already overextended in their work and at home.  If you want to add leaders you’re going to have to make it easier for the best candidates to ease their toe into the water.  This is one of the main reasons that the HOST and Small Group Connection strategies work so well.  They’re designed to start out as test drives.  The first key is to ask for the right thing.
2. You’re not looking in the right places.  Most small group champions spend their time looking for potential leaders among people who are already in a group.  After all, a lot of small group strategies have as a core premise that in order to lead a group you first have to be a member of a group.  The truth is that in most cases the majority of potential leaders are not yet in a group.  Unless your church is already pushing beyond 60 to 70% of your adult worship attendance in groups, the likelihood that your best candidates are already connected is pretty slim.  Again, this is why the HOST and Connection strategies make so much sense.  It’s also why a well-executed church-wide campaign can jump start leader identification and irrevocably change the landscape in your congregation.  The second key is to look in the right places.
3. You’re asking the right people the wrong way.  There are obviously some great people who are already in groups who ought to be leading a group.  All of us see that.  One of the earliest assumptions I developed was that many of the best leader candidates are pre-wired to be drawn to community and they end up in groups even in churches where there’s no real emphasis in group life!  You don’t have to give them a reason to get connected.  They’re already in a group.  You need to give them an inspiring reason to leave their group for a few weeks.  This is why the idea of inviting your existing groups to take a small group vacation works so well.  It’s not permanent.  it’s a few weeks.  And it has the potential to help many of the right people experience what it’s like to move from consumer to contributor.  The third key is to ask in the right way.
4. You’ve put up barriers that are keeping the right people from saying “yes.” For example, if I’ve got to be in a group first before I can lead a group, that’s a barrier.  If I’ve got to attend a 12 session leader training course before I can lead…that’s a barrier.  If the only curriculum I can use requires 2 or 3 hours of preparation, that’s a barrier.  Think very carefully about the barriers you put up.  Eliminate all but the most essential guardrails.  Think test-drive.  Think baby-steps.  Think about making it easy to get started.  You can help new leaders get started with an easy to attend orientation.  You can build in  on-the-job coaching.  You can offer decentralized skill training huddles led by your coaches.  The fourth key is to remove every unnecessary barrier.
5. The wrong person is doing the asking.  The churches that are having the most group life success, that are building the most effective systems, are the churches where the senior pastor is the small group champion.  End of story.  If your not getting your senior pastor in the game on a full-time basis…you’re missing out on the best way to enlist more of the very best people as leaders.  This is why building in a message series with built-in host recruitment before your church-wide campaign makes so much sense.  Don’t miss this important trick!  It will make a huge difference in your situation.  The fifth key is to use the right person to make the ask.

The last time I said, “I can’t find enough leaders” was about 10 years ago.  That’s when I began discovering the strategies that started me on the boundary-free path.

Need help?  It’s easy to schedule a coaching call or set up an on-site consulting visit.  You can find out more or get started right here.

Certain barriers are legendary when they’re broken.  The four minute mile immediately comes to mind.  When Roger Bannister became the first person to record a sub-four minute mile on May 6, 1954 it changed everyone’s mind about what was possible.  46 days later another runner broke Bannister’s record with an even faster time.  Since that time many runners have beaten Bannister’s time and today the record is nearly 17 seconds faster.

What would your reaction be if you read an article about breaking the mythical 6 minute mile record?  Surprisingly there are articles for that!  Not exactly…because they don’t use the word “mythical” and they’re really not about a record.  But there are articles.  And the only people reading them are fitness runners who want to improve their time.

A recent article by our friends over at the Leadership Network called Breaking the 50 Percent Barrier in Participation prompted what I hope was very little interest in readers here at MarkHowellLive.  After all…is anyone really shooting for 50% participation?  I guess that might be a milestone on the way to 100%, but it’s not my goal!  And I hope it’s not yours either.

Participation Is Based on the Wrong Number

The key for me is that the participation percentage is always based on the wrong number.  In almost every case participation levels are based on average adult attendance…and that’s the mythical part!

If you’re thinking clearly, you realize that your average adult worship attendance is only part of your congregation (or crowd if you want to use Saddleback’s terminology).  How can that be?  Easy.  The real number is much higher.  Over the course of a month there are people who attend 3 to 4 times.  Others who attend a couple times.  And some who attend only once.  Then you’ve got some folks who only attend a few times a year (maybe Christmas and Easter), but if they’re asked where they go to church…they’ll say they go to your church.

What’s the big deal about that?  If you believe that the optimal environment for life-change is a small group…then you need to set your sights higher than 50% participation.  After all, if you’re averaging 500 adults in worship and you get 50% of your average adult worship attendance in groups you end up with 250 in groups.  And that’s not bad.  But it fails to take into consideration the fact that you’ve really got 650 adults who came over the course of that month.  So your 250 in groups?  It’s not a true 50%.  And if life-change happens best in a group…you’re changing a smaller percentage than you think.

I’ve written about this concept more than once.  The Perils of the Well-Worn Path and How to Choose a Small Group System or Strategy both refer to the idea of clarifying the right win.  And it’s not 50%, it’s 150%.  That’s why I wrote the Top 10 Reasons Saddleback Has Connected Over 130% in Groups.

My perspective changed when I took a drink right from the milk carton.  It was bad.  It was really bad.  It was awful!  (In the interest of journalistic accuracy, it was really a bottle, but carton sounds better)

I learned something that day.  I learned that it’s important to check the date on the carton before you take a drink…because there are few things worse than sour milk.

That’s really true in more ways than one.  It’s also true when you’re talking about perspective or point-of-view.  If your perspective is out of date…it can be a really bad experience.  You might not spit it out…but you’ll want to.

How does perspective apply to me and you?  It can make the difference between a win and a loss and it needs to be checked frequently.  Here’s an example:

“Healthy small groups grow and birth.”

Ever said that?  Do you believe that?  Ever seen it happen?  How often?  How many times out of 10?  Did the baby live?  Did the mother live?  How often?  How many times out of 10?  How many times in the last year?

Don’t get me wrong…I’m in favor of groups growing and I’m in favor of groups spinning off leaders.  I’m only checking the freshness date on your perspective.  Why?  I’m pretty sure if you were tracking the gestation period along with the mortality rate, you’d conclude that an asterisk is required by the statement above.

Here’s another one.

“The optimal environment for life-change is a small group.”

Ever said that?  Do you believe that?  Ever taken a look at your group system and tried to quantify the actual life-change happening?  Ever done anything to try and adjust the life-change quotient of your small group system?  Or is your environmental thermostat on auto-pilot?

Again…I’m right there with you.  I believe that small groups can provide the optimal environment for life-change.  I’ve just added a caveat.  Very few group leaders know what they need to know and do what they need to do to optimize the environmental thermostat.

It’s a perspective thing.  As the point person in my system, I need to be evaluating the environment all the time.  And you do too.  Alan Kay (the computer scientist) said that “perspective is worth 80 IQ points.”  Let’s just say, in what we’re doing…in the life-change business…those are some really big IQ points.  It pays to be serious about the freshness of our perspective.

Need some perspective adjustment?  Three articles come to mind:

• The Perils of the Well-Worn Path
• The X Factor Is Near The Edge
• The Pursuit of Problem-Free