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		<title>Staying the Course Leads to a Church OF Groups</title>
		<link>http://www.markhowelllive.com/staying-the-course-leads-to-a-church-of-groups/</link>
		<comments>http://www.markhowelllive.com/staying-the-course-leads-to-a-church-of-groups/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:16:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Howell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Small Group Strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3048</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;We over-estimate what we can do in one year and we under-estimate what we can do in 20 years.&#8221;  I remember hearing Rick Warren say this when Saddleback was about 10 years old and beginning to gather steam at their annual church growth seminar.  He said it to contradict one of the most deadly fantasies [...]]]></description>
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<p class="first-child "><span title="&#8220;W" class="cap"><span>&#8220;W</span></span>e over-estimate what we can do in one year and we under-estimate what we can do in 20 years.&#8221;  I remember hearing Rick Warren say this when Saddleback was about 10 years old and beginning to gather steam at their annual church growth seminar.  He said it to contradict one of the most deadly fantasies of church planting: &#8220;That it will happen overnight.&#8221;</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re talking about building a church of groups&#8230;it really is that.  It&#8217;s a building process.  It&#8217;s a building campaign.  It happens over the course of seasons and years.  It will happen in waves if you&#8217;re doing things right.  But it won&#8217;t happen in one fell swoop.  It just won&#8217;t.</p>
<p>When you talk to <a href="http://drbilldonahue.com/" target="_blank">Bill Donahue</a> or any of the team that began to drive the initiative at Willow Creek in the early 90s, you&#8217;ll hear that it really took 10 years to go from a church <em>with</em> groups to a church <em>of</em> groups.  10 years.  They&#8217;ll also tell you that it happened as a result of persistently staying the course.  It wasn&#8217;t 5 easy steps.  It was start here, build the foundation, build the infrastructure that would support the structure, try this, try that, reassess and evaluate, make adjustments to a less-than-effective strategy and try again.</p>
<p>As you know, I&#8217;m an advocate of the Saddleback style church-wide campaign as <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/whats-the-best-way-to-launch-new-small-groups/" target="_blank">the best way to launch groups</a>.  The <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/the-exponential-power-of-a-church-wide-campaign/" target="_blank">Host Strategy</a> and the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-launch-groups-using-a-small-group-connection-preparation/" target="_blank">Small Group Connection</a> are the fastest ways to go from a standing start to momentum.  But it won&#8217;t happen in a season.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>Granted, there are some starting points that are more challenging.  Trying to build a church of groups in a <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-build-a-small-group-ministry-in-a-sunday-school-culture-part-1/" target="_blank">church with a Sunday School culture</a> is a tough nut to crack.  But it can happen.</p>
<p>The reason that this is one of the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank"><em>top 10 fantasies of churches with groups</em></a> is that it&#8217;s so tempting to think that it can happen overnight.  It can&#8217;t.  It doesn&#8217;t.  It happens over seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>The temptation, the fantasy, is that it will all come together flawlessly and there will be so much momentum immediately that 100% buy-in will happen right out of the gate.  It won&#8217;t.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.  It&#8217;s worth it.  Staying the course.  Holding to your convictions that the optimum environment for  life-change is in a group and that the church ought to be a place where nobody stands alone&#8230;is worth it.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It takes endurance and persistence&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It&#8217;s worth staying the course.</p>
<p>You can read about the other top fantasies of churches <em>with</em> small groups <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank">right here</a>.
<div id="apf_post_footer">
<h4>If You liked This, Check Out&#8230;</h4>
<ul>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3025">Different Leads to a Church OF Groups</a></li>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3005">Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church of Groups</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Skill Training: Help Your New Groups Have a Great First Meeting</title>
		<link>http://www.markhowelllive.com/skill-training-help-your-new-groups-have-a-great-first-meeting/</link>
		<comments>http://www.markhowelllive.com/skill-training-help-your-new-groups-have-a-great-first-meeting/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:55:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Howell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Leader Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Skill Training Ideas]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3034</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You know what they say.  &#8220;You only get one chance to make a good first impression.&#8221;  If that&#8217;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 [...]]]></description>
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<p class="first-child "><span title="&#8220;W" class="cap"><span>&#8220;W</span></span>e over-estimate what we can do in one year and we under-estimate what we can do in 20 years.&#8221;  I remember hearing Rick Warren say this when Saddleback was about 10 years old and beginning to gather steam at their annual church growth seminar.  He said it to contradict one of the most deadly fantasies of church planting: &#8220;That it will happen overnight.&#8221;</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re talking about building a church of groups&#8230;it really is that.  It&#8217;s a building process.  It&#8217;s a building campaign.  It happens over the course of seasons and years.  It will happen in waves if you&#8217;re doing things right.  But it won&#8217;t happen in one fell swoop.  It just won&#8217;t.</p>
<p>When you talk to <a href="http://drbilldonahue.com/" target="_blank">Bill Donahue</a> or any of the team that began to drive the initiative at Willow Creek in the early 90s, you&#8217;ll hear that it really took 10 years to go from a church <em>with</em> groups to a church <em>of</em> groups.  10 years.  They&#8217;ll also tell you that it happened as a result of persistently staying the course.  It wasn&#8217;t 5 easy steps.  It was start here, build the foundation, build the infrastructure that would support the structure, try this, try that, reassess and evaluate, make adjustments to a less-than-effective strategy and try again.</p>
<p>As you know, I&#8217;m an advocate of the Saddleback style church-wide campaign as <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/whats-the-best-way-to-launch-new-small-groups/" target="_blank">the best way to launch groups</a>.  The <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/the-exponential-power-of-a-church-wide-campaign/" target="_blank">Host Strategy</a> and the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-launch-groups-using-a-small-group-connection-preparation/" target="_blank">Small Group Connection</a> are the fastest ways to go from a standing start to momentum.  But it won&#8217;t happen in a season.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>Granted, there are some starting points that are more challenging.  Trying to build a church of groups in a <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-build-a-small-group-ministry-in-a-sunday-school-culture-part-1/" target="_blank">church with a Sunday School culture</a> is a tough nut to crack.  But it can happen.</p>
<p>The reason that this is one of the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank"><em>top 10 fantasies of churches with groups</em></a> is that it&#8217;s so tempting to think that it can happen overnight.  It can&#8217;t.  It doesn&#8217;t.  It happens over seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>The temptation, the fantasy, is that it will all come together flawlessly and there will be so much momentum immediately that 100% buy-in will happen right out of the gate.  It won&#8217;t.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.  It&#8217;s worth it.  Staying the course.  Holding to your convictions that the optimum environment for  life-change is in a group and that the church ought to be a place where nobody stands alone&#8230;is worth it.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It takes endurance and persistence&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It&#8217;s worth staying the course.</p>
<p>You can read about the other top fantasies of churches <em>with</em> small groups <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank">right here</a>.
<div id="apf_post_footer">
<h4>If You liked This, Check Out&#8230;</h4>
<ul>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3025">Different Leads to a Church OF Groups</a></li>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3005">Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church of Groups</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Different Leads to a Church OF Groups</title>
		<link>http://www.markhowelllive.com/different-leads-to-a-church-of-groups/</link>
		<comments>http://www.markhowelllive.com/different-leads-to-a-church-of-groups/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:51:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Howell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Small Group Strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3025</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the greatest challenges facing a church that desires to become a church of groups is the notion that trying harder or simply tweaking what they&#8217;re doing is all that&#8217;s missing.  In fact, that&#8217;s probably the #1 fantasy of church with groups.  Why?  Because trying harder or tweaking what you&#8217;re doing still leads to [...]]]></description>
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<p class="first-child "><span title="&#8220;W" class="cap"><span>&#8220;W</span></span>e over-estimate what we can do in one year and we under-estimate what we can do in 20 years.&#8221;  I remember hearing Rick Warren say this when Saddleback was about 10 years old and beginning to gather steam at their annual church growth seminar.  He said it to contradict one of the most deadly fantasies of church planting: &#8220;That it will happen overnight.&#8221;</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re talking about building a church of groups&#8230;it really is that.  It&#8217;s a building process.  It&#8217;s a building campaign.  It happens over the course of seasons and years.  It will happen in waves if you&#8217;re doing things right.  But it won&#8217;t happen in one fell swoop.  It just won&#8217;t.</p>
<p>When you talk to <a href="http://drbilldonahue.com/" target="_blank">Bill Donahue</a> or any of the team that began to drive the initiative at Willow Creek in the early 90s, you&#8217;ll hear that it really took 10 years to go from a church <em>with</em> groups to a church <em>of</em> groups.  10 years.  They&#8217;ll also tell you that it happened as a result of persistently staying the course.  It wasn&#8217;t 5 easy steps.  It was start here, build the foundation, build the infrastructure that would support the structure, try this, try that, reassess and evaluate, make adjustments to a less-than-effective strategy and try again.</p>
<p>As you know, I&#8217;m an advocate of the Saddleback style church-wide campaign as <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/whats-the-best-way-to-launch-new-small-groups/" target="_blank">the best way to launch groups</a>.  The <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/the-exponential-power-of-a-church-wide-campaign/" target="_blank">Host Strategy</a> and the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-launch-groups-using-a-small-group-connection-preparation/" target="_blank">Small Group Connection</a> are the fastest ways to go from a standing start to momentum.  But it won&#8217;t happen in a season.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>Granted, there are some starting points that are more challenging.  Trying to build a church of groups in a <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-build-a-small-group-ministry-in-a-sunday-school-culture-part-1/" target="_blank">church with a Sunday School culture</a> is a tough nut to crack.  But it can happen.</p>
<p>The reason that this is one of the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank"><em>top 10 fantasies of churches with groups</em></a> is that it&#8217;s so tempting to think that it can happen overnight.  It can&#8217;t.  It doesn&#8217;t.  It happens over seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>The temptation, the fantasy, is that it will all come together flawlessly and there will be so much momentum immediately that 100% buy-in will happen right out of the gate.  It won&#8217;t.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.  It&#8217;s worth it.  Staying the course.  Holding to your convictions that the optimum environment for  life-change is in a group and that the church ought to be a place where nobody stands alone&#8230;is worth it.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It takes endurance and persistence&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It&#8217;s worth staying the course.</p>
<p>You can read about the other top fantasies of churches <em>with</em> small groups <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank">right here</a>.
<div id="apf_post_footer">
<h4>If You liked This, Check Out&#8230;</h4>
<ul>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3025">Different Leads to a Church OF Groups</a></li>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3005">Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church of Groups</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Take Advantage of Testimony to Recruit Hosts</title>
		<link>http://www.markhowelllive.com/take-advantage-of-testimony-to-recruit-hosts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.markhowelllive.com/take-advantage-of-testimony-to-recruit-hosts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:14:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Howell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Church Wide Campaigns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Skits and Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3015</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve talked about this concept before (here and here), but it is so powerful I wanted to come back to it one more time.  Whether you&#8217;re recruiting hosts or members there is almost nothing more powerful that personal testimony.  In fact, it probably should have been one of the Top 10 Reasons Saddleback Has Connected [...]]]></description>
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<p class="first-child "><span title="&#8220;W" class="cap"><span>&#8220;W</span></span>e over-estimate what we can do in one year and we under-estimate what we can do in 20 years.&#8221;  I remember hearing Rick Warren say this when Saddleback was about 10 years old and beginning to gather steam at their annual church growth seminar.  He said it to contradict one of the most deadly fantasies of church planting: &#8220;That it will happen overnight.&#8221;</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re talking about building a church of groups&#8230;it really is that.  It&#8217;s a building process.  It&#8217;s a building campaign.  It happens over the course of seasons and years.  It will happen in waves if you&#8217;re doing things right.  But it won&#8217;t happen in one fell swoop.  It just won&#8217;t.</p>
<p>When you talk to <a href="http://drbilldonahue.com/" target="_blank">Bill Donahue</a> or any of the team that began to drive the initiative at Willow Creek in the early 90s, you&#8217;ll hear that it really took 10 years to go from a church <em>with</em> groups to a church <em>of</em> groups.  10 years.  They&#8217;ll also tell you that it happened as a result of persistently staying the course.  It wasn&#8217;t 5 easy steps.  It was start here, build the foundation, build the infrastructure that would support the structure, try this, try that, reassess and evaluate, make adjustments to a less-than-effective strategy and try again.</p>
<p>As you know, I&#8217;m an advocate of the Saddleback style church-wide campaign as <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/whats-the-best-way-to-launch-new-small-groups/" target="_blank">the best way to launch groups</a>.  The <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/the-exponential-power-of-a-church-wide-campaign/" target="_blank">Host Strategy</a> and the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-launch-groups-using-a-small-group-connection-preparation/" target="_blank">Small Group Connection</a> are the fastest ways to go from a standing start to momentum.  But it won&#8217;t happen in a season.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>Granted, there are some starting points that are more challenging.  Trying to build a church of groups in a <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-build-a-small-group-ministry-in-a-sunday-school-culture-part-1/" target="_blank">church with a Sunday School culture</a> is a tough nut to crack.  But it can happen.</p>
<p>The reason that this is one of the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank"><em>top 10 fantasies of churches with groups</em></a> is that it&#8217;s so tempting to think that it can happen overnight.  It can&#8217;t.  It doesn&#8217;t.  It happens over seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>The temptation, the fantasy, is that it will all come together flawlessly and there will be so much momentum immediately that 100% buy-in will happen right out of the gate.  It won&#8217;t.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.  It&#8217;s worth it.  Staying the course.  Holding to your convictions that the optimum environment for  life-change is in a group and that the church ought to be a place where nobody stands alone&#8230;is worth it.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It takes endurance and persistence&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It&#8217;s worth staying the course.</p>
<p>You can read about the other top fantasies of churches <em>with</em> small groups <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank">right here</a>.
<div id="apf_post_footer">
<h4>If You liked This, Check Out&#8230;</h4>
<ul>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3025">Different Leads to a Church OF Groups</a></li>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3005">Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church of Groups</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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		<item>
		<title>Resource: The Complete Book of Questions</title>
		<link>http://www.markhowelllive.com/resource-the-complete-book-of-questions/</link>
		<comments>http://www.markhowelllive.com/resource-the-complete-book-of-questions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:59:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Howell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3011</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I had lunch yesterday with Gary Poole, the author of Seeker Small Groups, and re-familiarized myself with a neat little book I&#8217;d forgotten about.  The Complete Book of Questions: 1001 Conversation Starters for Any Occasion is a pretty cool resource that&#8217;s great to have in your library. The 1001 conversation starters (questions) are broken down [...]]]></description>
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<p class="first-child "><span title="&#8220;W" class="cap"><span>&#8220;W</span></span>e over-estimate what we can do in one year and we under-estimate what we can do in 20 years.&#8221;  I remember hearing Rick Warren say this when Saddleback was about 10 years old and beginning to gather steam at their annual church growth seminar.  He said it to contradict one of the most deadly fantasies of church planting: &#8220;That it will happen overnight.&#8221;</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re talking about building a church of groups&#8230;it really is that.  It&#8217;s a building process.  It&#8217;s a building campaign.  It happens over the course of seasons and years.  It will happen in waves if you&#8217;re doing things right.  But it won&#8217;t happen in one fell swoop.  It just won&#8217;t.</p>
<p>When you talk to <a href="http://drbilldonahue.com/" target="_blank">Bill Donahue</a> or any of the team that began to drive the initiative at Willow Creek in the early 90s, you&#8217;ll hear that it really took 10 years to go from a church <em>with</em> groups to a church <em>of</em> groups.  10 years.  They&#8217;ll also tell you that it happened as a result of persistently staying the course.  It wasn&#8217;t 5 easy steps.  It was start here, build the foundation, build the infrastructure that would support the structure, try this, try that, reassess and evaluate, make adjustments to a less-than-effective strategy and try again.</p>
<p>As you know, I&#8217;m an advocate of the Saddleback style church-wide campaign as <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/whats-the-best-way-to-launch-new-small-groups/" target="_blank">the best way to launch groups</a>.  The <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/the-exponential-power-of-a-church-wide-campaign/" target="_blank">Host Strategy</a> and the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-launch-groups-using-a-small-group-connection-preparation/" target="_blank">Small Group Connection</a> are the fastest ways to go from a standing start to momentum.  But it won&#8217;t happen in a season.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>Granted, there are some starting points that are more challenging.  Trying to build a church of groups in a <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-build-a-small-group-ministry-in-a-sunday-school-culture-part-1/" target="_blank">church with a Sunday School culture</a> is a tough nut to crack.  But it can happen.</p>
<p>The reason that this is one of the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank"><em>top 10 fantasies of churches with groups</em></a> is that it&#8217;s so tempting to think that it can happen overnight.  It can&#8217;t.  It doesn&#8217;t.  It happens over seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>The temptation, the fantasy, is that it will all come together flawlessly and there will be so much momentum immediately that 100% buy-in will happen right out of the gate.  It won&#8217;t.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.  It&#8217;s worth it.  Staying the course.  Holding to your convictions that the optimum environment for  life-change is in a group and that the church ought to be a place where nobody stands alone&#8230;is worth it.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It takes endurance and persistence&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It&#8217;s worth staying the course.</p>
<p>You can read about the other top fantasies of churches <em>with</em> small groups <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank">right here</a>.
<div id="apf_post_footer">
<h4>If You liked This, Check Out&#8230;</h4>
<ul>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3025">Different Leads to a Church OF Groups</a></li>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3005">Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church of Groups</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church of Groups</title>
		<link>http://www.markhowelllive.com/your-senior-pastor-as-small-group-champion-leads-to-a-church-of-groups/</link>
		<comments>http://www.markhowelllive.com/your-senior-pastor-as-small-group-champion-leads-to-a-church-of-groups/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:53:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Howell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Church Wide Campaigns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Group Strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3005</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Some fantasies are just doggedly persistent.  You know the kind.  They don&#8217;t go away on their own and they are really hard to shake!  One of the most persistent fantasies of churches with small groups is that the small group champion role can be delegated. What makes it a fantasy?  Because it can&#8217;t be delegated!  [...]]]></description>
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<p class="first-child "><span title="&#8220;W" class="cap"><span>&#8220;W</span></span>e over-estimate what we can do in one year and we under-estimate what we can do in 20 years.&#8221;  I remember hearing Rick Warren say this when Saddleback was about 10 years old and beginning to gather steam at their annual church growth seminar.  He said it to contradict one of the most deadly fantasies of church planting: &#8220;That it will happen overnight.&#8221;</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re talking about building a church of groups&#8230;it really is that.  It&#8217;s a building process.  It&#8217;s a building campaign.  It happens over the course of seasons and years.  It will happen in waves if you&#8217;re doing things right.  But it won&#8217;t happen in one fell swoop.  It just won&#8217;t.</p>
<p>When you talk to <a href="http://drbilldonahue.com/" target="_blank">Bill Donahue</a> or any of the team that began to drive the initiative at Willow Creek in the early 90s, you&#8217;ll hear that it really took 10 years to go from a church <em>with</em> groups to a church <em>of</em> groups.  10 years.  They&#8217;ll also tell you that it happened as a result of persistently staying the course.  It wasn&#8217;t 5 easy steps.  It was start here, build the foundation, build the infrastructure that would support the structure, try this, try that, reassess and evaluate, make adjustments to a less-than-effective strategy and try again.</p>
<p>As you know, I&#8217;m an advocate of the Saddleback style church-wide campaign as <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/whats-the-best-way-to-launch-new-small-groups/" target="_blank">the best way to launch groups</a>.  The <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/the-exponential-power-of-a-church-wide-campaign/" target="_blank">Host Strategy</a> and the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-launch-groups-using-a-small-group-connection-preparation/" target="_blank">Small Group Connection</a> are the fastest ways to go from a standing start to momentum.  But it won&#8217;t happen in a season.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>Granted, there are some starting points that are more challenging.  Trying to build a church of groups in a <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-build-a-small-group-ministry-in-a-sunday-school-culture-part-1/" target="_blank">church with a Sunday School culture</a> is a tough nut to crack.  But it can happen.</p>
<p>The reason that this is one of the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank"><em>top 10 fantasies of churches with groups</em></a> is that it&#8217;s so tempting to think that it can happen overnight.  It can&#8217;t.  It doesn&#8217;t.  It happens over seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>The temptation, the fantasy, is that it will all come together flawlessly and there will be so much momentum immediately that 100% buy-in will happen right out of the gate.  It won&#8217;t.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.  It&#8217;s worth it.  Staying the course.  Holding to your convictions that the optimum environment for  life-change is in a group and that the church ought to be a place where nobody stands alone&#8230;is worth it.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It takes endurance and persistence&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It&#8217;s worth staying the course.</p>
<p>You can read about the other top fantasies of churches <em>with</em> small groups <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank">right here</a>.
<div id="apf_post_footer">
<h4>If You liked This, Check Out&#8230;</h4>
<ul>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3025">Different Leads to a Church OF Groups</a></li>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3005">Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church of Groups</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Narrowing the Focus Leads to a Church OF Groups</title>
		<link>http://www.markhowelllive.com/narrowing-the-focus-leads-to-a-church-of-groups/</link>
		<comments>http://www.markhowelllive.com/narrowing-the-focus-leads-to-a-church-of-groups/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:28:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Howell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Small Group Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Church of Groups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Church Wide Campaigns]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=2998</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the most important strategic decisions a church can make is to narrow the focus, a concept that is explained very well in the 7 Practices of an Effective Church.  Essentially, to narrow the focus is to concentrate on one thing (or a very few things) in an effort to conceive, develop and promote [...]]]></description>
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<p class="first-child "><span title="&#8220;W" class="cap"><span>&#8220;W</span></span>e over-estimate what we can do in one year and we under-estimate what we can do in 20 years.&#8221;  I remember hearing Rick Warren say this when Saddleback was about 10 years old and beginning to gather steam at their annual church growth seminar.  He said it to contradict one of the most deadly fantasies of church planting: &#8220;That it will happen overnight.&#8221;</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re talking about building a church of groups&#8230;it really is that.  It&#8217;s a building process.  It&#8217;s a building campaign.  It happens over the course of seasons and years.  It will happen in waves if you&#8217;re doing things right.  But it won&#8217;t happen in one fell swoop.  It just won&#8217;t.</p>
<p>When you talk to <a href="http://drbilldonahue.com/" target="_blank">Bill Donahue</a> or any of the team that began to drive the initiative at Willow Creek in the early 90s, you&#8217;ll hear that it really took 10 years to go from a church <em>with</em> groups to a church <em>of</em> groups.  10 years.  They&#8217;ll also tell you that it happened as a result of persistently staying the course.  It wasn&#8217;t 5 easy steps.  It was start here, build the foundation, build the infrastructure that would support the structure, try this, try that, reassess and evaluate, make adjustments to a less-than-effective strategy and try again.</p>
<p>As you know, I&#8217;m an advocate of the Saddleback style church-wide campaign as <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/whats-the-best-way-to-launch-new-small-groups/" target="_blank">the best way to launch groups</a>.  The <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/the-exponential-power-of-a-church-wide-campaign/" target="_blank">Host Strategy</a> and the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-launch-groups-using-a-small-group-connection-preparation/" target="_blank">Small Group Connection</a> are the fastest ways to go from a standing start to momentum.  But it won&#8217;t happen in a season.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>Granted, there are some starting points that are more challenging.  Trying to build a church of groups in a <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-build-a-small-group-ministry-in-a-sunday-school-culture-part-1/" target="_blank">church with a Sunday School culture</a> is a tough nut to crack.  But it can happen.</p>
<p>The reason that this is one of the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank"><em>top 10 fantasies of churches with groups</em></a> is that it&#8217;s so tempting to think that it can happen overnight.  It can&#8217;t.  It doesn&#8217;t.  It happens over seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>The temptation, the fantasy, is that it will all come together flawlessly and there will be so much momentum immediately that 100% buy-in will happen right out of the gate.  It won&#8217;t.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.  It&#8217;s worth it.  Staying the course.  Holding to your convictions that the optimum environment for  life-change is in a group and that the church ought to be a place where nobody stands alone&#8230;is worth it.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It takes endurance and persistence&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It&#8217;s worth staying the course.</p>
<p>You can read about the other top fantasies of churches <em>with</em> small groups <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank">right here</a>.
<div id="apf_post_footer">
<h4>If You liked This, Check Out&#8230;</h4>
<ul>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3025">Different Leads to a Church OF Groups</a></li>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3005">Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church of Groups</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>New Groups Lead to a Church OF Groups</title>
		<link>http://www.markhowelllive.com/new-groups-lead-to-a-church-of-groups/</link>
		<comments>http://www.markhowelllive.com/new-groups-lead-to-a-church-of-groups/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:59:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Howell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Small Group Strategy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=2992</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sometimes what keeps us from moving forward is something that just feels right (but really isn&#8217;t).  For example, a commitment to old friends, even when they&#8217;re involved in behaviors that are destructive to themselves and others, just seems like the right thing to do.  Sticking with friends through thick and thin.  Just seems like the [...]]]></description>
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<p class="first-child "><span title="&#8220;W" class="cap"><span>&#8220;W</span></span>e over-estimate what we can do in one year and we under-estimate what we can do in 20 years.&#8221;  I remember hearing Rick Warren say this when Saddleback was about 10 years old and beginning to gather steam at their annual church growth seminar.  He said it to contradict one of the most deadly fantasies of church planting: &#8220;That it will happen overnight.&#8221;</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re talking about building a church of groups&#8230;it really is that.  It&#8217;s a building process.  It&#8217;s a building campaign.  It happens over the course of seasons and years.  It will happen in waves if you&#8217;re doing things right.  But it won&#8217;t happen in one fell swoop.  It just won&#8217;t.</p>
<p>When you talk to <a href="http://drbilldonahue.com/" target="_blank">Bill Donahue</a> or any of the team that began to drive the initiative at Willow Creek in the early 90s, you&#8217;ll hear that it really took 10 years to go from a church <em>with</em> groups to a church <em>of</em> groups.  10 years.  They&#8217;ll also tell you that it happened as a result of persistently staying the course.  It wasn&#8217;t 5 easy steps.  It was start here, build the foundation, build the infrastructure that would support the structure, try this, try that, reassess and evaluate, make adjustments to a less-than-effective strategy and try again.</p>
<p>As you know, I&#8217;m an advocate of the Saddleback style church-wide campaign as <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/whats-the-best-way-to-launch-new-small-groups/" target="_blank">the best way to launch groups</a>.  The <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/the-exponential-power-of-a-church-wide-campaign/" target="_blank">Host Strategy</a> and the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-launch-groups-using-a-small-group-connection-preparation/" target="_blank">Small Group Connection</a> are the fastest ways to go from a standing start to momentum.  But it won&#8217;t happen in a season.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>Granted, there are some starting points that are more challenging.  Trying to build a church of groups in a <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-build-a-small-group-ministry-in-a-sunday-school-culture-part-1/" target="_blank">church with a Sunday School culture</a> is a tough nut to crack.  But it can happen.</p>
<p>The reason that this is one of the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank"><em>top 10 fantasies of churches with groups</em></a> is that it&#8217;s so tempting to think that it can happen overnight.  It can&#8217;t.  It doesn&#8217;t.  It happens over seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>The temptation, the fantasy, is that it will all come together flawlessly and there will be so much momentum immediately that 100% buy-in will happen right out of the gate.  It won&#8217;t.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.  It&#8217;s worth it.  Staying the course.  Holding to your convictions that the optimum environment for  life-change is in a group and that the church ought to be a place where nobody stands alone&#8230;is worth it.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It takes endurance and persistence&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It&#8217;s worth staying the course.</p>
<p>You can read about the other top fantasies of churches <em>with</em> small groups <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank">right here</a>.
<div id="apf_post_footer">
<h4>If You liked This, Check Out&#8230;</h4>
<ul>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3025">Different Leads to a Church OF Groups</a></li>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3005">Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church of Groups</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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		<title>Review: Transformational Church</title>
		<link>http://www.markhowelllive.com/review-transformational-church/</link>
		<comments>http://www.markhowelllive.com/review-transformational-church/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:53:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Howell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=2977</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You&#8217;ve probably begun hearing about Transformational Church by Ed Stetzer and Thom S. Rainer.  If you haven&#8217;t picked up a copy yet&#8230;you need to.  This is a book that will help you think carefully about what you&#8217;re doing in ministry, why you&#8217;re doing it, and if it really is making the kind of difference you [...]]]></description>
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<p class="first-child "><span title="&#8220;W" class="cap"><span>&#8220;W</span></span>e over-estimate what we can do in one year and we under-estimate what we can do in 20 years.&#8221;  I remember hearing Rick Warren say this when Saddleback was about 10 years old and beginning to gather steam at their annual church growth seminar.  He said it to contradict one of the most deadly fantasies of church planting: &#8220;That it will happen overnight.&#8221;</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re talking about building a church of groups&#8230;it really is that.  It&#8217;s a building process.  It&#8217;s a building campaign.  It happens over the course of seasons and years.  It will happen in waves if you&#8217;re doing things right.  But it won&#8217;t happen in one fell swoop.  It just won&#8217;t.</p>
<p>When you talk to <a href="http://drbilldonahue.com/" target="_blank">Bill Donahue</a> or any of the team that began to drive the initiative at Willow Creek in the early 90s, you&#8217;ll hear that it really took 10 years to go from a church <em>with</em> groups to a church <em>of</em> groups.  10 years.  They&#8217;ll also tell you that it happened as a result of persistently staying the course.  It wasn&#8217;t 5 easy steps.  It was start here, build the foundation, build the infrastructure that would support the structure, try this, try that, reassess and evaluate, make adjustments to a less-than-effective strategy and try again.</p>
<p>As you know, I&#8217;m an advocate of the Saddleback style church-wide campaign as <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/whats-the-best-way-to-launch-new-small-groups/" target="_blank">the best way to launch groups</a>.  The <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/the-exponential-power-of-a-church-wide-campaign/" target="_blank">Host Strategy</a> and the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-launch-groups-using-a-small-group-connection-preparation/" target="_blank">Small Group Connection</a> are the fastest ways to go from a standing start to momentum.  But it won&#8217;t happen in a season.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>Granted, there are some starting points that are more challenging.  Trying to build a church of groups in a <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-build-a-small-group-ministry-in-a-sunday-school-culture-part-1/" target="_blank">church with a Sunday School culture</a> is a tough nut to crack.  But it can happen.</p>
<p>The reason that this is one of the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank"><em>top 10 fantasies of churches with groups</em></a> is that it&#8217;s so tempting to think that it can happen overnight.  It can&#8217;t.  It doesn&#8217;t.  It happens over seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>The temptation, the fantasy, is that it will all come together flawlessly and there will be so much momentum immediately that 100% buy-in will happen right out of the gate.  It won&#8217;t.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.  It&#8217;s worth it.  Staying the course.  Holding to your convictions that the optimum environment for  life-change is in a group and that the church ought to be a place where nobody stands alone&#8230;is worth it.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It takes endurance and persistence&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It&#8217;s worth staying the course.</p>
<p>You can read about the other top fantasies of churches <em>with</em> small groups <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank">right here</a>.
<div id="apf_post_footer">
<h4>If You liked This, Check Out&#8230;</h4>
<ul>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3025">Different Leads to a Church OF Groups</a></li>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3005">Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church of Groups</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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		<title>Host a Screening of the World Premier of I Am!</title>
		<link>http://www.markhowelllive.com/host-a-screening-of-the-world-premier-of-i-am/</link>
		<comments>http://www.markhowelllive.com/host-a-screening-of-the-world-premier-of-i-am/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:49:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Howell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Small Group Curriculum]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=2969</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[From the creators of Liquid comes the new motion picture &#8220;I Am.&#8221; You&#8217;re already a fan of Liquid&#8217;s small group curriculum.  Take advantage of a free opportunity to be 1 of a 1000 churches that will host the world premier of &#8220;I Am,&#8221; a new feature film developed using the backstory of The Ten (Liquid&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
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<p class="first-child "><span title="&#8220;W" class="cap"><span>&#8220;W</span></span>e over-estimate what we can do in one year and we under-estimate what we can do in 20 years.&#8221;  I remember hearing Rick Warren say this when Saddleback was about 10 years old and beginning to gather steam at their annual church growth seminar.  He said it to contradict one of the most deadly fantasies of church planting: &#8220;That it will happen overnight.&#8221;</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re talking about building a church of groups&#8230;it really is that.  It&#8217;s a building process.  It&#8217;s a building campaign.  It happens over the course of seasons and years.  It will happen in waves if you&#8217;re doing things right.  But it won&#8217;t happen in one fell swoop.  It just won&#8217;t.</p>
<p>When you talk to <a href="http://drbilldonahue.com/" target="_blank">Bill Donahue</a> or any of the team that began to drive the initiative at Willow Creek in the early 90s, you&#8217;ll hear that it really took 10 years to go from a church <em>with</em> groups to a church <em>of</em> groups.  10 years.  They&#8217;ll also tell you that it happened as a result of persistently staying the course.  It wasn&#8217;t 5 easy steps.  It was start here, build the foundation, build the infrastructure that would support the structure, try this, try that, reassess and evaluate, make adjustments to a less-than-effective strategy and try again.</p>
<p>As you know, I&#8217;m an advocate of the Saddleback style church-wide campaign as <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/whats-the-best-way-to-launch-new-small-groups/" target="_blank">the best way to launch groups</a>.  The <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/the-exponential-power-of-a-church-wide-campaign/" target="_blank">Host Strategy</a> and the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-launch-groups-using-a-small-group-connection-preparation/" target="_blank">Small Group Connection</a> are the fastest ways to go from a standing start to momentum.  But it won&#8217;t happen in a season.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>Granted, there are some starting points that are more challenging.  Trying to build a church of groups in a <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/how-to-build-a-small-group-ministry-in-a-sunday-school-culture-part-1/" target="_blank">church with a Sunday School culture</a> is a tough nut to crack.  But it can happen.</p>
<p>The reason that this is one of the <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank"><em>top 10 fantasies of churches with groups</em></a> is that it&#8217;s so tempting to think that it can happen overnight.  It can&#8217;t.  It doesn&#8217;t.  It happens over seasons.  It happens over years.</p>
<p>The temptation, the fantasy, is that it will all come together flawlessly and there will be so much momentum immediately that 100% buy-in will happen right out of the gate.  It won&#8217;t.  It happens over multiple seasons.  It happens over years.  It&#8217;s worth it.  Staying the course.  Holding to your convictions that the optimum environment for  life-change is in a group and that the church ought to be a place where nobody stands alone&#8230;is worth it.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It takes endurance and persistence&#8230;but it&#8217;s worth it.  It&#8217;s worth staying the course.</p>
<p>You can read about the other top fantasies of churches <em>with</em> small groups <a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/top-10-fantasies-of-churches-with-small-groups/" target="_blank">right here</a>.
<div id="apf_post_footer">
<h4>If You liked This, Check Out&#8230;</h4>
<ul>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3025">Different Leads to a Church OF Groups</a></li>
<li class="apf_footer"><a href="http://www.markhowelllive.com/?p=3005">Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church of Groups</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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