MarkHowellLive.com » Small Group Systems

Is It Time for a System Update?

Mark Howell — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:41:10 +0000

Finding yourself unable to break through certain grouplife barriers? Maybe you can’t find enough leaders? Or try as you might, you just can’t start enough new groups to keep up with the number of people looking for a group?

It could be that you’re using a system that just isn’t designed to do what you’re trying to do.

How could that be? Aren’t all small group systems or strategies really just different ways of doing the same thing?

Think about Telephones

I’ve found that sometimes a concept is easier to really

grasp when you switch fields for just a moment. For example, you might not go back far enough to remember using a telephone like this one. But you probably remember something earlier than what you have now.

Do you remember rotary dial phones? The ones you could actually dial? Do you remember when push button phones replaced rotary?

Do you remember when slimline telephones began to replace the big clunkers? What about cordless phones?

Do you remember the first cell phones? They were the size of a shoe! They were the size of shoe phone!

Today’s Telephone Technology

We dropped our land line two weeks ago. Don’t need it. Never used it. The only people calling were charities exempt from the “do not call” list!

Everyone else was calling on the cell phone!

GroupLife Systems

Every week I talk with folks who are scratching their heads, trying to figure out why they’re stuck at a certain number of groups or a certain percentage connected.

What’s easy to see when you’re talking telephones…is sometimes just harder to see when you’re talking about small group systems.

Few of us would expect to use this old Motorola cell phone to surf the web or come equipped with a built-in GPS system. We’d know intuitively that our iTunes music is not in there anywhere.

But when it comes to small group ministry…it’s just not obvious that a system dependent on apprenticing can’t quickly connect a congregation. It just not obvious that there might be large numbers of competent shepherds willing to open their home and host a group…if the teaching could be supplied via a DVD. You might be connecting the usual suspects over and over and never see that it’s the way your system is designed that makes that happen.

Sometimes it takes the fresh eyes of a strategic outsider to help you identify a system update that will help you break through a barrier. I’d love to help you…and you can find out how to schedule a coaching call or set up a consulting visit right here.

Think Steps, Not Programs

Mark Howell — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 11:48:36 +0000

When you’re designing your grouplife strategy, one of the most important concepts is to think steps, not programs. I picked this practice up from The 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley and Reggie Joiner (a book that everyone ought to read).

Think steps, not programs is a simple and at the same time extremely powerful. Stanley illustrated the concept in a staff meeting at North Point by taking a stack of construction paper and saying something like, “Let’s say you wanted to get from the door of this conference room to the seat at the very back. If I took this stack of paper and threw it up in the air, allowing the individual sheets to scatter all around the room and then told you that you had to step from one piece of construction paper to another to get from here to there…you might be able to do it, but your steps would take you all around the room. Some of them would require you to hop pretty far. You might have to backtrack. It wouldn’t be a simple process.”

With me so far? Stanley continued, “But, if I took this stack of construction paper and carefully laid the sheets out so that the path led directly from the doorway to the seat in the back, and if I laid them close enough together to make it easy to step from one to another…you could all do it.”

He went on to say: steps need to be easy (you need to be able to make it from one sheet to the next), obvious (you need to be able to see which one to take next) and strategic (they need to lead right to the goal).

Think Steps, Not Programs

This concept comes into play when we design our small group ministry strategy. For example, one of the toughest things for anyone to do is go from the familiarity and anonymity of a worship center to the up-close-and-personal living room of a stranger. But that’s what happens when we say to people, “It’s easy to find a group at our church. You just go on the small group finder, choose a group, and show up at a stranger’s house!”

Thinking steps, not programs would steer you towards thinking differently. You’d begin thinking things like, “What if we had an on-campus event designed to help people go from the familiarity and anonymity of the worship center to a mid-size gathering and helped them become part of a group?” By the way, that’s what a small group connection is designed to do. That’s what North Point’s group link concept is designed to do. Take people from a foyer type event (a worship service) into a living room type event (a small group connection) into a kitchen experience (a small group).

Note: This doesn’t mean there won’t be a need for a small group finder or that there’d never be times when the Host strategy makes a lot of sense. It just means that we all need to think about and design in the steps that will help people move to where they really need to be.

Clue #2 When Designing Your Small Group System

Mark Howell — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 11:50:33 +0000

Last week I began a series on important clues when designing your small group system. I really want you to catch this. I believe there is a best system for your church.

I don’t mean a problem-free system (see my article on the pursuit of problem-free if you’re unfamiliar with this learning). I mean, there is a system that will best fit your culture (or the one you aspire to cultivate).

Last week I said that the first clue when designing your small group system was an understanding of how many adults are already connected and how many are unconnected. I believe this is crucial information as you develop the design for your small group system.

Clue #2: Build Next Steps for Every Participant and First Steps for Their Friends

We’ve talked about Saddleback’s concentric circles in the past. This diagram is a great way to understand several different aspects of ministry. Seriously. It’s amazing. But only if you really get it.

Here’s how it works for me. These are the definitions:

Community: These are people who don’t yet attend your church. They may know about you. They may have friends that attend. But they’re not connected in any way to what you’re doing.
Crowd: The crowd represents people who may only come a few times a year. They may only come twice a year (Christmas and Easter). Still, while thinly connected to your church, they consider your church to be their church.
Congregation: These are people that attend more regularly. They may come 2 or 3 times a month. They may serve occasionally (for instance, when you add greeters for Easter). They may give sporadically. But mostly, they’re more frequent consumers of what you’re producing.
Committed: These folks are very involved, are actively serving in a ministry, are regular givers, and attend most Sundays. They may be playing a leadership role on a team or lead a small group. They’ve moved out of the consumer role into a contributor role, but they’re more often on the team than leading the team.
Core: This last group is generally the most mature spiritually, are often sacrificial givers, and are playing key roles on boards, teams, and ministries. They are most definitely contributors…in every way imaginable (with time, talent and treasure).

What does this have to do with designing your small group system?

While you probably already get this, a little review may go a long way. Here’s what I want you to catch today:

Your average weekly adult attendance is a mix. It’s made up of people from the core, committed, congregation and crowd. All of them consider your church to be theirs.
Every church will have its own unique blend of the four circles. Some churches will have huge crowd constituencies. This is often the explanation of Easter attendance of 150% of average. Other churches will hardly see a bump (commonly a reflection of a much smaller crowd segment).
Pay attention to the fact that specific activities (or topics) will appeal to less committed, spiritual beginners, while other activities (or topics) will more readily appeal to more committed, more mature believers.
Be careful who you’re listening to when you’re evaluating the effectiveness of an event or curriculum. It’s very common for a critical review from an unintended participant to skew the feedback.
An unexpected reality in the concentric circles diagram is that the deeper into the environment a person moves, the more connected within they become. At the same time, they become less connected to those outside. With few exceptions, folks in the crowd have more connections in the community than anyone else. That’s a very significant detail when you’re designing your host recruitment strategy. It’s also a very important reason that the x-factor is near the edge.

Key Takeaway: You must develop an understanding of the kind of people that make up each of the segments. I often suggest identifying a person or two from each segment. Getting to know them, learning to anticipate their needs and interests, will help you design a system that offers next steps for all of them and first steps for their friends.

Here’s Clue #3 in my series.

The Why Behind the Way of Your Small Group Ministry Strategy

Mark Howell — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:23:05 +0000

We all have reasons for the way we’ve designed our small group ministries. You use a particular strategy or system for a reason (or a lot of interrelated or barely related reasons). You may have chosen your system or you may have inherited it when you came on the scene. Sometimes the system was very intentionally selected. Other times it just became “the way we do things around here” without much thought.

I want to get you thinking today about taking a serious look at the why behind the way of your small group ministry strategy. Another way of saying it is that you need to take a serious look at the assumptions that are driving the way you do small group ministry.

Why? Why is it so important? Examining the assumptions that drive what you do is important for a number of reasons, but one huge reason is that you may find them out of date or incorrect.

In When Growth Stalls, a really helpful article over at HBR, authors Matthew S. Olson, Derek van Bever, and Seth Verry share some powerful ideas about the causes of stall-points in organizational growth. Let me be quick to add, you may not see what you’re wrestling with as a stall-point. I get that. But the truth is, if you’re stuck on the way to a church of groups, if you’re consistently averaging 55% of your weekend adult worship attendees in small groups, or if you just have a hard time convincing very many of your adults about the importance of being in a group…you probably need to examine your assumptions.

Here are two of the key reasons for growth stalls they discovered in their study:

Leaders must bring the underlying assumptions that drive company strategy into line with the changes in the external environment.
Assumptions that a team has held the longest or the most deeply are the most likely to be its undoing.

Let me unpack these statements. First, one of the main reasons for a growth stall is that the leaders have underlying assumptions that don’t match up changes in the external environment. For example, participation in sermon based small groups might have leveled off at the same time your student or children’s ministries are attracting large numbers of unchurched families. It may be time to look at the assumptions that drive your use of the sermon based approach.

Second, lets say you have a perennial challenge finding enough leaders for your free market small group ministry. The people who are enthused about leading a dog training or fly fishing group, or for that matter a Bible study group, are not reproducing as fast as the need for groups. What do you need to do? You may need to reexamine the assumptions that drive the why behind the way you’ve organized your ministry.

Examining underlying assumptions is a challenging venture for many of us. I’ve written quiet a bit about it over on StrategyCentral. You may want to take a look at these articles:

At the same time, it may be that the best thing you could do is get the perspective of some fresh eyes. Click here to find out about scheduling a coaching call or a consulting visit.

Lowering the Leader Bar

Mark Howell — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:25:41 +0000

Great conversation continues to come out of the comments generated by my response to Randall Neighbor’s article over at SmallGroups.com. If you missed out, be sure and read them to catch up.

Today I want to expand the discussion on a potential strategic difference that a crowd-to-core strategy brings…that is not present in the cell group strategy. Here it is:

Who you encourage (or allow) to host a group absolutely determines the outreach potential.

Take a moment and let that statement sink in.

Now let me unpack the idea. What I’m suggesting is that there is a strategic advantage in allowing those who are newer to the congregation (who might even still be part of the crowd) to host a group. I am acknowledging that there will be problems, but I pick up a key strategic advantage by not insisting that group leaders come from the core.

What’s the advantage? Newer participants still know more people outside the congregation. The longer a person has been involved in the core (or part of a closed group) the more likely it is that their closest friends, their best connections are also members of the core. Newer participants don’t have that issue. Ask new participants who their 10 best friends are in the community they live in and they’ll almost always identify 8 to 10 people who have never even been to the church. I wrote about this phenomenon right here.

That’s a big advantage from an outreach standpoint. Huge even. Do you run risks when you lower the bar of leader requirements? Absolutely. But those risks can be controlled (see yesterday’s article for more) and lowering the bar opens up exponential opportunities.

Contrast this with the more customary pattern within the cell group concept where next leaders develop as apprentices and then one day enable the group to birth. One reason that Mario Vega writes about the need for personal evangelism within the cell strategy is that it must be intentionally promoted as priority for the cell idea to work.

What do you think?

Crowd-to-Core, Quality Control and Problem-Free

Mark Howell — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:36:11 +0000

We’ve had a very good discussion here over the last 48 hours about the difference between “cell groups” and “small groups” (prompted by Randall Neighbour’s article on SmallGroups.com and my response). The comments here have been very engaging and have all had a great spirit and attitude. It’s been very fun to watch!

Several of the the comments really require more comprehensive answers. This article is the result of Brian Owen’s observation that he is “excited by the possibilities of reaching out to more people but find myself really concerned with the potential lack of ‘quality control’ for lack of a better word.”

Brian’s comment begs further unpacking of the crowd-to-core philosophy, quality control, and the pursuit of problem-free. Here’s what I’ve got. Follow along. And feel free to jump in any time.

First, while it’s an oversimplification to say that the crowd-to-core philosophy is just the opposite of core-to-crowd, it’s a good place to start. Core-to-crowd is the idea that if I pour into my core, teach them, equip them, love them and challenge them…they will go out and do what Jesus was talking about in the great commission. In some ways this is the essence of the cell group idea. Can you see it? If I build into my members and focus on them they will one day leave to start their own group (the apprentice notion).

Crowd-to-core on the other hand is a philosophy based on reaching into the crowd by providing simple steps that make it easy for them to respond and do the next thing that will ultimately help them join the congregation, make commitments that lead to service, and develop the mindset that puts the needs of others first…but all the while inviting their friends to come along.

Second, a little discussion of quality control in group life in general and group leadership specifically. The cell strategy usually relies on building into an apprentice with the idea that they will eventually birth their own group. The cell will divide (to use the biological metaphor) and you’ll have two groups and two qualified leaders to include on your roster of available groups to send potential members to.

Although it may not be a key component, this is an important distinction. If the system includes the church sending potential members to a leader, then quality control is a greater liability. On the other hand, if the leader (or host) is the one recruiting members, then you can make an argument that the upside outweighs the downside (i.e., if I invite you to my group, I am most likely a step or two ahead of you from a spiritual standpoint and more importantly, I am likely to invite friends that otherwise wouldn’t be part of a group).

Third, the contrast between core-to-crowd and crowd-to-core, along with concerns about quality control, lead directly to an understanding about the pursuit of problem free. Here’s what I mean. Take the two ideas: core-to-crowd (high quality control, cell-driven, apprenticing as source for leaders, etc.) vs. crowd-to-core (lowering the leader requirements, leader’s own friends become members, etc.) and list the problems associated with each system in a column beneath.

An honest evaluation will help you see that both ideas have sets of problems. Wise leaders simply choose the set of problems they’d rather have.

Personal Conclusion: I enthusiastically embrace the crowd-to-core philosophy and would much rather have that set of problems, believing it is easier to mitigate those problems than the set that comes with a core-to-crowd strategy. An example of a problem that is immediately pointed out with a lower leadership bar is that it makes quality control more difficult. I believe that is more than offset by it being much easier to recruit hosts who will invite their own friends than to pre-qualify enough leaders to care for the number who are unconnected. I can mitigate the risk by requiring new leaders to attend an orientation, to use the pre-approved curriculum, and to have a coach. I make no guarantees of sending any members to any leader and can choose who to list on the website or catalog of available groups. Are there problems? Absolutely. Am I going to make it possible for a much larger number of people to be connected in community where they can grow in Christ, love one another and further the work of the Kingdom? I believe so. To me, crowd-to-core wins every time.

Thoughts? Use the comments and jump in!

The Difference Between a Cell Group and a Small Group | A Response

Mark Howell — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:04:27 +0000

Tripped across Randall Neighbour’s response to this question over at SmallGroups.com and needed to respond. Two preliminary observations need to be made:

First, I think it’s critical that we all learn to recognize and acknowledge our own bias. Alan Kay rightly pointed out that perspective (point of view) is worth 80 IQ points. In any evaluation of a system (cell vs. everything else) it is very important to look at the issue from more than one point of view.

Second, it is also very important to acknowledge that there are no problem-free solutions to anything. Every solution (small group system or method) comes with a set of problems. Wise leaders simply learn to choose the set of problems they’d rather have.

Disclaimer: I am an enthusiastic advocate of group life strategies that make it possible for the largest number of unconnected people to connect in community where they can experience life-change.

Observations about Randall’s article:

Cell church and cell group advocates often pit their methodology against all comers as authentic vs. inauthentic (or biblical vs. man-made concoction). I prefer to describe it as idealistic vs. pragmatic.
Whether 8 of the 10 largest churches are cell churches or not, I have no idea. There are clearly worldview elements at play in the developed countries of the west that explain the absence of cell church success here.
In my experience, most growing churches, even the “big box come and see churches,” are growing on the basis on friends bringing friends.
It is true that “theology breeds methodology.” As a result, the fastest growing churches tend to be those that are preoccupied with reaching people for Christ (as opposed to being preoccupied with keeping the ones they already have). It is the difference between a crowd-to-core strategy and a core-to-crowd strategy. In the contest between making it easy for those on the edge to take a next step in vs. building up the core with the expectation that they’ll reach out…it is no contest.
Many of the fastest growing churches in the western world are making small group participation a priority. The best example of this is Saddleback where the current group participation is about 130% of their weekend adult attendance. The reason? Group life is prioritized as essential in the life of a believer.

Remember, I’m acknowledging my bias for what I refer to as a wild-west approach to group life and the fact that it’s not problem free. I’d just much rather have these problems than any other set.

Want to talk about it? Use the comments and make your case!

Small Group Models – Part Two

Mark Howell — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:27:11 +0000

This is a continuation of my overview of the most significant small group models and strategies. You’ll find part one right here. Remember as you look at models and strategies, there are no problem-free solutions. Wise leaders simply choose the set of problems they’d rather have.

Here are the remaining four small group ministry models and strategies:

North Point and the Andy Stanley, Bill Willits book Creating Community has taken some of the learnings from the MetaChurch model and Saddleback’s Small Group Connection and shaken them together to create a model that accomplishes some good things. With high emphasis from the platform leading to seasonal GroupLink events, the importance of group life is highlighted continually. The challenge in this model (as with almost every model) is identifying and recruiting enough leaders to connect everyone who is looking for a group. In addition, North Point is very committed to “closed groups” that covenant to stay together for 12 to 18 months. This creates real value for the participants, but limits potential for the group to serve as a natural point of connection for the friends and neighbors of the group members. You’ll find a more detailed review right here.

Cell Church: the Cell Church model is primarily a system of cell groups connected through a celebration service. Defined by Joel Comiskey a cell is a “group of three to fifteen people who meet weekly outside the church building for the purpose of evangelism, community, and spiritual growth with the goal of multiplication.” Each of the components are important and must be present in an authentic cell group ministry. You can read my more detailed comments right here.

G-12 is really a form of the Cell Church model. The most important tweak to G-12 is the idea that every participant is actually in two groups (one as a participant and one as a leader of their own group). You can read more right here.

Church-Wide Campaign-Driven The most explosive group launching strategy is the church-wide campaign. Popularized by Saddleback’s 40 Days of Purpose, the church-wide campaign had been used for many years by capital campaign companies to align a weekend message with small group content. Rick Warren has said many times that “the most significant growth toward maturity we’ve EVER seen at Saddleback was during 40 Days of Purpose.” Why? It exposed everyone to the growth principles many times (weekend message, small group, daily devotional, scripture memory, etc.). The church-wide campaign-driven strategy can lead to a number of different models. You can read more about it right here.

You’ll find part one of this overview right here. If you’re new to my blog and don’t want to miss the latest content, you can subscribe free right here.

The Cell Group Model

Mark Howell — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:38:47 +0000

One of the first books I read about small group ministry was Successful Home Cell Groups by Dr. David Yonggi Cho, the fantastic story of the “smallest and largest” church in the world, the Full Gospel Central Church in Seoul, Korea. This served as my introduction to the Cell Church model in 1988. In the years since then Ralph Neighbour and now Joel Comiskey have provided a steady stream of resources for cell group ministry.

According to Comiskey, a cell is a “group of three to fifteen people who meet weekly outside the church building for the purpose of evangelism, community, and spiritual growth with the goal of multiplication.” Each of the components are important and must be present in an authentic cell group ministry.

Cell groups meet regularly.
Spiritual growth is a fundamental purpose.
Community, a genuine sense of connection formed through the intimacy of a smaller group (3 to 15) is essential.
Penetration evangelism is an intentional aspect of the cell group ministry. The group exists for the purpose of spiritual growth and reaching out.
Multiplication is expected. When a group grows (through evangelism) it is anticipated that like every healthy cell it will multiply.

In addition to Comiskey’s very extensive collection of books you’ll also find a comprehensive set of helpful articles on his website. If you want to learn how to implement the cell group model you’ll find everything you need.

As I caution on every review of a model or strategy, there are no problem-free solutions. Clearly the cell group strategy is a slow and steady growth model. There’s nothing quick about it. And I’d also say that proponents of the model are often extremely passionate in their commitment to it and sometimes quick to point out the inadequacies of strategies that are more willing to choose speed of connection or lowering the bar in terms of who can lead a group.

Small Group Models

Mark Howell — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:54:15 +0000

One of the most frequent questions I’m asked is how to choose a small group model (or system). It’s also one of the most important questions. You’ll find some helpful hints in my article on how to choose a small group strategy or system. In this article I want to simply highlight what I think are the most significant elements of each model.

Remember, no model is truly problem-free. Wise leaders simply choose the set of problems they’d rather have. That said, here are the most common small group models:

MetaChurch: First popularized by Carl George’s Prepare Your Church for the Future, the MetaChurch model is a system that finds its roots in the cell church model. The importance of every leader having an apprentice, the notion that healthy groups grow and birth, and that “everyone needs to be cared for by someone and no one can care for more than 1o” are all keys to the model. I’ve devoted a full article to the MetaChurch model right here.
Sermon-Based groups might be the oldest model. More than likely, the earliest disciples used a portion of their “house to house” time to talk about what they’d heard in the Temple courts. When you hear about sermon based groups today though, you’re probably hearing about a system like the one popularized by Larry Osborne and North Coast Church in his book Sticky Church. If you’re looking for a way to unite your whole congregation in an ongoing discussion about a central topic, this is a pretty good way to do it. I find it to have a couple significant downsides (emphasis on one topic system-wide has some limitations and it is less appealing to neighbors and friends). You’ll find a more complete overview right here.
Semester Based has been popularized by books like Activate and to some extent Dog Training, Fly Fishing, and Sharing Christ in the 21st Century. The main idea of Semester Based is that people more readily make a 13 week commitment than an indefinite one. On the basis of that idea there are usually three “semesters” a year offering a catalog of topics. Prospective members select from the available topics, spend 13 weeks together, and are free to choose a different group in the next semester. It should be pointed out that members usually have the chance to continue in the same group for the next semester and often do. You’ll find a more detailed review right here.
Free Market is a model based on the central idea that groups based on interests (dog training, fly fishing, Bible study, etc.) will attract a broader range of people. After all, everyone has an interest…or at least, that’s the premise. Free Market is often used in combination with a semester based strategy and interest based groups make up the catalog for the semester. Fly Fishing, Dog Training and Sharing Christ in the 21st Century has some great ideas about how to implement this model. I’ve found the two main downsides to be that it’s difficult to generate enough new leaders and it is not conducive to a church-wide campaign approach. You’ll find a more detailed review of the model right here.
Connecting Church is based on Randy Frazee’s book by the same name. The Connecting Church details a strategy that takes advantage of natural neighborhood affinities to trim down the number of activities and groups a person is part of (small group, Sunday School, bowling, neighborhood social group, etc.), allowing them to make room for life and focus all of their attention on one group. There are definitely some advantages to the model. There are also some clear challenges (geography doesn’t guarantee affinity). You’ll find a more detailed review of the model right here.

Looking for information about another model? I cover the Cell Church, G-12, North Point and the Church-Wide Campaign Driven approach in part two right here. Don’t want to miss an update? You can subscribe to my updates right here.