One of the most common questions in small group ministry is how do I find enough leaders? Right on it’s heels are two other very common questions:

• How do I recruit leaders (once I’ve identified them)?
• How do I develop leaders (once they’ve been recruited)?

(All three of these questions were well represented in my recent survey on the questions you are asking.  Click here to take it yourself!) How Do I Find and Recruit Enough Leaders? This is a very common question.  I’ve asked it.  You’ve asked it.  Here are a few of the best ways to find leaders:

1. The easiest way to find leaders is the Connection strategy.  You’ll find a four part series on how to do it right here.  The key to its effectiveness is that the Connection identifies leaders at the event.  Especially in a growing church or church with a lot of new or unknown attendees, this is a huge advantage.  In my experience, once a church is larger than about 300 adults it reaches a stage where there are attendees that are recognized by sight (maybe even by name), but their ministry experience, work experience, and leadership potential is unknown.  The Connection strategy will help you find the leaders you need.
2. The HOST strategy is another great way to find potential leaders.  Best used with a church wide campaign (like One Month to Live, Live Like You Were Dying or Life’s Healing Choices), the HOST strategy allows you to recruit potential leaders from beyond the core.  If your whole leader identification strategy has been to tap the usual suspects…you need to shift your focus to the people you don’t know as well.  HOST will help you do that.  Important: Many churches believe they have tried the HOST idea, but unless you’ve made the ask this way you’ve only used an unreasonable facsimile.
3. Ask your existing groups to consider taking a small group vacation.  Many small group systems or strategies have an apprenticing concept built in (i.e., every leader needs to be developing an apprentice who will one day leave to start their own group).  There are a couple challenges with the apprenticing idea.  First, it instills the notion that it happens over time.  If you need leaders now, strategies that might produce more leaders in 18 months are little consolation.  Second, many groups are full of people that really ought to be leading a group.  Identifying one as an apprentice allows the others who ought to be leading to breathe a sigh of relief as they all point to the apprentice!  The essence of the take a small group vacation idea is that the whole group agrees not to meet as a group during a church wide campaign.  Instead of meeting together they pair up and help launch multiple new groups.  Read more right here.
4. Well down the list of strategies to find new leaders is the turbo group idea.  This has been around for years and is essentially an invitation for potential leaders to join a group led by an experienced leader with the expectation that at the end of the study they will each launch their own group.  It works best if there is some exclusivity to the invitation.  That is, the turbo group is led by someone it would be appealing to rub shoulders with.  Additionally, this is a limited duration group (8 to 12 weeks) that uses a study chosen as a way of modeling how to lead.  Once the group begins, members of the group take turns leading the group under the supervision of the leader.

In the next article I’ll cover several strategies for developing leaders.  If you’re not set up to automatically get the update…you can do that easily right here.

I’m regularly asked how Saddleback can have more adults in groups than they have in worship.  People everywhere scoff when they hear the numbers.  And I have to admit, it is pretty wild.  After all, during Life’s Healing Choices, their most recent church-wide campaign, they had over 4,500 groups with over 35,000 people in them while their worship attendance was averaging 22,000 to 26,000!  (By the way, that’s not preacher talk.  Their database supported those numbers in September)

Ever looked at their numbers and shaken your head in disbelief…or amazement?  Here are my top 10  keys to understanding how they do it:

1. Saddleback talks about groups all year long.  While there may be certain weeks where group life gets even more attention (early fall as they launch their annual church-wide campaign, first of the year to catch people who have just made commitments at a Christmas Eve service or want to start the new year fresh, just after Easter for the same reason), they talk about the importance of being in a group every weekend.
2. It doesn’t matter who’s preaching (Rick Warren, Doug Fields, Tom Holiday, etc.), they talk about groups every weekend.  They talk about the power of group life and they mention their own group.
3. It doesn’t matter what message series they’re in, they talk about being in a group every weekend.  For example, during a 2007 message series on recovery they featured a different testimony each week on the power of being in a group (Celebrate Recovery, Divorce Care, Grief Care, etc.).
4. They have systematically made it easier to start new groups.  “If you have a heart for unconnected people, are willing to open your home for 6 weeks, serve a few refreshments, and tell a few friends…you can be a host.”  This is a huge point because they’ve recognized that there will be problems, they acknowledge going in that not all of them will make it, and yet they are committed to helping as many begin as possible because they know that every host is the best person to reach certain people.
5. They have systematically lowered the bar in terms of who can lead a group.  If you’re inviting your own friends and neighbors, why should you have to be Jesus Jr.?  They’ve provided great next steps for new hosts designed to help them get started and grow in Christ, but they’re not waiting until they have it all together.
6. They regularly develop new DVD-driven small group curriculum that is easy to use and can be facilitated by new and inexperienced leaders.  Just-add-water and plug-and-play accurately describe the degree of difficulty.
7. They immediately connect each of their newest leaders with a coach who can help them through the beginning stages.
8. Their newest groups are given a follow-up curriculum that is equally easy to use.  They don’t wait until they ask what’s next.  They actually begin talking about what’s next before the first series is completed.
9. Their topics for church-wide campaigns are carefully designed to appeal to the crowd.
10. A regular strategy is to ask their existing small groups to consider taking a small group vacation during church-wide campaigns and instead of meeting together, step out and help start new groups.

I believe an underlying principle for Saddleback is that they are always looking for a better way, an angle, that will help them connect more people.  I remember when everyone thought the Connection idea was crazy even as it launched over 800 groups and connected over 7,000 people in them.  I remember when the HOST idea first began to be used and many people thought it was completely crazy to allow someone to sign up to open their home.  What will be next?  It’ll probably seem crazy.  It may or may not work.  And I’ll be holding my breath…because if it works who knows what could happen!

When comparing small group ministry strategies and systems there are some fundamental questions to consider.

• What are the requirements to be a leader?
• What does a new member commit to?
• How will you care for the leaders?
• How does a new group begin?
• What materials can be used?

One of the most effective small group ministry strategies is centered on the idea that an annual church wide campaign is the easiest ways to launch new groups.  At its root it is a pretty simple strategy:

1. Choose the right topic for an alignment (weekend message series and small group curriculum)
2. Launch it at the right moment (there are three best times)
3. Provide a curriculum that is easy to use
4. Ask members and attendees to consider hosting a group and inviting their friends and neighbors
5. Provide a follow-up curriculum that is on an appealing topic and easy to use

5 key elements.  Admittedly, there’s a lot more to it, but those are the keys.  And clearly there are some important distinctions that you’d best not overlook.  For example, there are certain topics that are easy to invite friends and neighbors to and others that will just not work.  There are times on the annual calendar that are naturally better than others.  But when you get the keys right…this is a great way to organize a small group ministry because it answers many of the most important questions.

Still, it is not problem-free.  Wise leaders simply choose the set of problems they’d rather have.  Here’s a quick overview of some of the key disadvantages and advantages:

Disadvantages:

• It takes a lot of energy to pull off a church-wide campaign.  Regardless of church size, this is a high energy endeavor.
• It requires the focus of the whole church.  A church-wide campaign is not something you do while two or three other initiatives are being launched.
• You will have people sign up to host a group that may not meet your standards.
• Not all groups will make it.  Not all of them will even start, let alone finish the six-week study or continue to the follow-up curriculum.
• Choosing the right topic can be challenging.
• You may have to set aside normal practices to accomplish a church-wide campaign (i.e., “we’re in a year-long study of the Book of Acts).

Advantages:

• Focusing all your attention once a year on one thing brings energy, clarity and focus to your congregation.
• The right topic and curriculum can bring new vitality to outreach effectiveness.
• Recruiting hosts skillfully will identify a new wave of potential leaders.
• Encouraging ordinary members to take a step will open their eyes to new ways God wants to use them.
• Aligning weekend messages with a small group curriculum launches one conversation for 6 weeks bringing renewed focus to the congregation.

There are probably other advantages and disadvantages.  This is not a stand-alone strategy.  Many churches use it in combination with ideas borrowed from other strategies and systems.  But it has some distinct elements that can provide a renewed sense of purpose once a year.

Here are three additional articles on the church-wide campaign-driven idea:

• The Exponential Power of a Church-Wide Campaign
• How to Sequence a Small Group Launch
• Lessons from Saddleback: How to Launch Your Church-Wide Campaign

For an overview of the major small group strategies, check out my article, “How To Choose a Small Group System or Strategy.”

How can we start some new groups?  We have 14 (or 34, 78, or 103) and we’re stuck on how to add new groups.  What’s the best way to do it?  What are some ways that we’re not thinking of?

This is a very frequent question.  And it’s a good one because it’s rooted in a concern for the right things. One of the axiomatic beliefs of many in the group life movement is that good groups grow and birth.  Ought to work.  Sounds good.  But does it work in reality?  Not always.  If you’re depending on apprenticing to provide new leaders and new groups…you’re betting on the wrong horse.

Here are the top 5 ways I’ve found to start new groups.

1. A Church-wide campaign using the HOST strategy is by far the easiest way to launch a significant number of new groups.  While there are definitely some seasons when it is more effective, this method executed with skill can recruit new leaders and new groups in big numbers.  One of the best aspects of the strategy is that it finds leaders you don’t already know.  That is very important.
2. Another way to multiply groups is to put on a Small Group Connection.  I’ve written a four-part series detailing how to do a Connection, but the essence is that you put on an event, sort people out by affinity, and help them through the process of choosing a leader from amongst themselves.  North Point’s Group Link idea has some similarities, but a Connection has one striking difference.  It identifies leaders from the group itself.  That is a huge difference.  Like the HOST strategy, this is a great way to identify leaders when you didn’t know you had them.
3. Encourage your existing groups to take a small group vacation and help start some new groups.  If your church is like most churches, you’ll notice that your earliest small groups are full of great people, many of whom could easily lead a small group…if they’d just leave the one they’re in!  What’s the best way to get them to consider leaving their group to start a new one?  Don’t make it a permanent move.  Make it a 6 week commitment and try to encourage whole groups to take the vacation.  It is amazing how many of these vacations pay off with new groups full of people who need group life and who really need what their temporary leader offers…and the fact that they are needed helps many of these temporary leaders make the decision to move from consumer to contributor.  Best part?  They make the move without pressure from you.
4. The Apprentice model is not a bad idea.  It does work, just not easily and much slower than most methods.  One of the keys is to celebrate those who actually leave their group to launch a new one.  Having the title is of little consequence.  Stepping up to lead a group is the only thing that counts.
5. Taking leader training sign-ups and/or recruiting likely candidates to a leader training process is often the least effective method.  First, people who sign up for leader training do not always have the best motivations.  Second, once through leader training there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to connect with the members you give them.

The key in each of these methods?  Keep in mind that there is no problem-free solution.  Choose your method based on the time of year and the development stage of your ministry.  I use them all…just not at the same time.

How will your hosts add members to their groups?  After you’ve chosen the church-wide campaign you will use and recruited hosts, determining how you will recruit members is a very big decision.  Along with the first two questions, this one has a lot to do with how effectively your campaign reaches into the crowd.  It also pre-determines the administrative challenge.  Here are a 5 things to keep in mind:

1. While geography can play a part in helping a new group form connections…it isn’t the only thing that matters.  For certain life-stages it isn’t a major factor.  The most important element in connectivity is affinity: what your group members have in common.  Several factors can help determine affinity.  Life stage and interests are two very important factors.
2. At some point every church grows beyond its leadership’s capacity to know everyone.  Once that happens it becomes more and more difficult to adequately match everyone who wants to be in a group with the right group.  Additionally, it takes time away from other tasks that are often more important.  This makes is less effective for the prospective new group member to fill out a sign-up form and turn it in, requiring the church to find a match.  I’ve found it more effective for most churches to make a list of the groups available and challenge their members to find a group that fits them.  This can be done in a low-tech way by simply making a list of the open groups available on a table in the lobby.  Slightly more advanced is adding a page on your website with a detailed list of groups (day and time they meet, what they are studying, specific affinity [ie., couples, young couples, women, singles, etc.] with contact information for the leaders (email and phone).  A very effective solution for many churches is to provide a searchable group finder that allows direct contact by phone or email with the host.  This is made very simple through the use of an application like GroupsInteractive or Churchteams.
3. Use of a web-driven strategy makes it possible to send out a church-wide email with a link back to your small group finder on the website.  This can be done easily with a plug and play email service like Constant Contact.  Sending out a church-wide email and adding a small group finder on your website are two ways to make it easy for unconnected people to find a group that fits them.
4. Another affinity factor that is often overlooked is that when the host begins filling their group by inviting friends, neighbors, co-workers, or family members, it helps provide a sense of connection that is less likely when the church takes sign-ups and randomly assigns members to groups.  Equally, when your hosts invite their own friends and connections to join their group…it allows a reach into the crowd that isn’t possible when you simply take sign-ups on Sunday morning and then “deal out” the sign-up slips to hosts.
5. Use the host orientation to give your new hosts some vision and training on how to invite people to their group.  Providing invitations along with a script can make it easier.  Devote some time in the orientation to helping your hosts actively think through their connections and make a list of friends, neighbors and co-workers and make a list of who to invite.  Click here to download an example of what I use to do that.

Remember that in the same way your choice of topic and your host recruitment strategy determines your reach into the crowd…so does the strategy you use to recruit members to groups.  Encouraging your hosts to fill their own groups will help them have better connectivity.  Making it possible for members to easily find a group that fits takes some of the administrative burden off your team.

Looking for a sample message that casts vision for life in community?  You can download the audio of a great example by John Ortberg right here.  Here’s a link to the transcript.

Given in preparation for Menlo Park’s 40 Days of Purpose experience in 2004, this message provides a look at how Ortberg encouraged a large “join a group” response.

Keep in mind that this is a different message than the type that recruits HOSTs.  In developing a launch sequence, this message would be given after you’ve already recruited and trained HOSTs for a church-wide campaign.

What are the secret ingredients of a message that recruits HOSTs?  Maybe that begs a question.  Maybe we should start by asking this question: “Are there certain ingredients that make HOST recruitment easier or more likely?”  What do you think?  Think there are ingredients that make it easier to recruit HOSTs?

I’ve found that there are certain things you need to pay attention to when you are writing a message designed to recruit HOSTs for a church-wide campaign.  This applies to most recruiting, but it is absolutely true when you’re trying to encourage people who have a HEART for unconnected people to OPEN up their homes, SERVE a few refreshments and TELL a few friends (can you see the basis for the H.O.S.T. acronym?).  Again, there are certain things you need to pay attention to when you are writing a message designed to recruit HOSTs.  What are they?

The first ingredient is to have the right point of view when you’re teaching.  This is critical…and so helpful when you get it right.  What am I getting at?  Let me see if I can explain it.  If you look at the two examples I’ve used previously (Matthew 9:36 or 2 Kings 6-7) you’ll see that what’s highlighted is God’s heart for people who don’t have what they need.  In Matthew 9, Jesus sees the people and has compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Note the point of view.  Jesus has compassion for those without a shepherd.  This is not a passage where Jesus condemns the Pharisees for their lack of compassion.  The focus here is on Jesus as model and the real life experience of those without a shepherd.  Can you see how that real life experience could be explored as a way of motivating compassion on the part of your congregation?

2 Kings 6-7 highlights the condition of the inhabitants of the city under siege and makes heroes out of the lepers who chose to share what they had found.  Again, point of view is important.  If you want the members of your congregation to respond to the real world circumstances around them…they need to see it for themselves.

A third story that bears mention is found in Luke 19.  Zacchaeus climbing the sycamore tree to see Jesus is very familiar and the point of view is easy to get wrong.  The easiest way to talk about Zach is to focus on his role and the way the Jewish people felt about him.  When you’re looking for a story that helps members grapple with the real life experiences of the people around them, the better point of view is the actual experience of being an outcast.  Once you’ve fleshed out what that experience is like, asking for volunteer HOSTs who have a heart for people like that becomes easier.

Here are the other keys:

1. Guilt won’t do it.  Shame won’t either.  People step up to open their home out of a more noble motivation.
2. Vision plays an important role in recruiting.  Helping each person see the significance of his or her individual part will go a long way toward generating a response.
3. Video or live testimony from a previous HOST can play a big part in helping many respond.  See my article on how to develop testimony that recruits hosts.
4. Give everyone a way to respond immediately.  Placing an insert in the bulletin is an important component.  Refer to the insert during the message.  For more on this idea read my article how to make the small group ask.
5. There are several ways to collect the signup insert from those who say “yes” to hosting a group.  Some churches find it effective to have everyone who commits to hosting a group come forward at the end of the service.  Other churches station ushers at the doors who collect the signup form.  I’ve had the most success when I’ve positioned the offering right after the message and instructed everyone to “place their signup form in the offering basket.”
6. Provide a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sheet at the small group table in the lobby for those not quite ready to respond.

Inspired by the Grammy Award winning song recorded by Tim McGraw, and developed by a group of incredible church-wide campaign experts, Live Like You Were Dying offers a great experience for your congregation.

Designed to help your congregation wrestle with how to live life to the fullest, this church-wide campaign has everything you need to pull off a very impactful season in your church.  Featuring sermon transcripts developed by Lance Witt, DVD-driven small group sessions with Gary Smalley, and produced by Doug Slaybaugh (formerly president of Purpose Driven during the development of the 40 Days of Purpose) this is a just-add-water campaign.

I’ve found there are a few key factors to determining whether a given church-wide campaign is a good fit for your congregation.  Production quality, presentation style, full featured, customer service, and topic are 5 distinctives that must be evaluated for fit.

1. Production Quality: Live Like You Were Dying is a professionally produced suite of materials.  DVD, study guide, available marketing materials, extras…all have a high-quality look and feel.
2. Presentation Style: The DVD features Gary Smalley, acclaimed author and speaker.
3. Full Featured: Everything you need is available in the kit.  I refer to it as a “just-add-water” campaign.  You can take a look at the kit contents right here.
4. Customer Service: You’ll appreciate the personal attention you receive from this team.
5. Topic: This church-wide study features a topic and presentation style that are cleanly on the easy end of the easy/hard continuum.  If you’re looking for a study that your members can invite friends and neighbors to attend…this study will be a great fit.

Final Word: I’ve heard great things from several churches who have used Live Like You Were Dying.  The fact that it is based on the Grammy Award winning song will be advantages in many areas.  Additionally, it is an advantage that it features Gary Smalley, a very recognizable name in many circles.  Also, it was developed by a very impressive team including several of the key players in the 40 Days of Purpose team.  You won’t find experience like this very often.  On the flipside, there will be churches that have less familiarity with Smalley and are not fans of country music.  All in all, I highly recommend this church-wide campaign.

What if you had one month to live?  Think you’d make any changes in the way you spent your time?  Would you spend more time with family?  Would you tell friends what they really mean to you?  Would you take steps to seek or give forgiveness?  What would you do differently if you found out that you had only one month to live?

One Month To Live is a church-wide campaign designed to engage the people in your church with one central question: If you knew you only had one month to live, what would you do to make what’s left of your life really matter?  Developed by Kerry and Chris Shook and based on their New York Times bestseller by the same name, One Month is available as a campaign in a box.  Much like 40 Days of Purpose, everything you need to pull off a church-wide campaign has already been developed to assist your congregation.  You can find out how to preview and order materials right here.

I’ve found there are a few key factors to determining whether a given church-wide campaign is a good fit for your congregation.  Production quality, presentation style, full featured, customer service, and topic are 5 distinctives that must be evaluated for fit.

1. Production Quality: One Month to Live is a professionally produced suite of materials.  DVD, study guide, available marketing materials, hardback book, extras…all have a high-quality look and feel.
2. Presentation Style: The DVD has a magazine feel to it.  Each session features Kerry and Chris Shook speaking from a well designed set.  In addition, rather than a “talking head” presentation, instead of telling a story to make a point the DVD cuts to a video testimonial.
3. Full Featured: Everything you need is available in the kit.  I refer to it as a “just-add-water” campaign.  You can take a look at the kit contents right here.
4. Customer Service: You’ll appreciate the fact that customer service is an inside job with OMTL.  Rather than using a fulfillment center, you’ll be working with service representatives who are very familiar with the product and believe in its purpose.
5. Topic: This church-wide study features a topic and presentation style that are cleanly on the easy end of the easy/hard continuum.  If you’re looking for a study that your members can invite friends and neighbors to attend…this study will be a great fit.

Final Word: I found this study to be really easy to promote and super easy to encourage members to invite friends to join.  We had some complaints from a very closed-minded few who wanted a “deeper” Bible study.  On the flip side, the vast majority of our groups loved the study and were very enthused about the depth of conversation and challenge that developed.  If you’re looking for a church-wide campaign that is easy to invite friends and neighbors to attend, I heartily recommend One Month to Live.

One of the most important components of the launch sequence is HOST recruitment.  Many churches make a crucial mistake right here when they overestimate the risks and underestimate the rewards of crowd-to-core recruiting.  The secret to an exponential launch is to recruit from the crowd if you want to reach the community.  I know…it sounds a little “take the pebble from my hand Grasshopper.” Stay with me.

How did I discover the difference?  I simply asked how they had recruited HOSTs?  Turns out that some churches simply made a list of the usual suspects and recruited them one by one.  Others had followed the prescription and incorporated the ask into a sermon (or better yet, a series of sermons).  Incorporating the ask into a sermon opens the door to a different HOST candidate.

Why does that makes a difference?  When a key piece of your strategy is to encourage the HOST to invite their friends, who their friends are makes a huge difference.  When you recruit a HOST from the usual suspects (the core) their friends are largely also in the core.  When you recruit a HOST from the congregation (or better…from the crowd), their friends are often not yet attending.  This is huge…don’t let it slide by.  Their friends are often not yet attending.  An invitation to join my group could be the first step in reaching their friends.  Isn’t it easier to say, “Come on over” than “Come with me to church?”

Can you see the reward side to this?  Pretty exciting!  Obviously, there are some other factors.  The church-wide campaign you’ve chosen makes a huge difference.  Choosing a topic from the easy end is a make-or-break component.  But can you see the upside to recruiting from the crowd?  Let’s talk for a moment about the risks, and more importantly, controlling the risks.

Recruiting from the core seems less risky, but only when you limit your understanding of risk.  When you broaden your understanding to include the risk that they might only invite other members of the core…you can see there are risks there as well.  On the other hand, when you recruit from the crowd…you can end up with many folks that are less well known.  You can also end up with some that may not meet what you’ve determined are your minimum standards.  For example, you may end up with some couples who are living together and not married.  Isn’t that a risk?  Sure…and it’s why you have steps in place to help confirm who can HOST.

Although I’ll be talking about the HOST Orientation in an upcoming post in this series, let’s take just a moment and flesh out the idea of minimum expectations.  A few points to consider might be:

• Church membership: many churches require a HOST to be a member in order to host a group.  I’ve found that it works both ways.
• Must be a Christian: while this may seem obvious, it’s an interesting question.  If the curriculum guides the discussion and the HOST fills their own group, could a non-Christian be a HOST?  You’ll have to make that decision.  I’ve seen it work both ways.
• Attend the orientation: I always insist on this (and at the same time reserve the right to make exceptions).
• Connect with a coach during the campaign.  This gives me a chance to impact the outcome and influence the direction of the group.

You’ll have to develop your own list of minimum expectations.  The key here is to take the time to understand both the risks and the rewards of recruiting from the crowd.  Remember, the secret to an exponential launch is to recruit from the crowd if you want to reach the community.

In my next article I’ll be talking about promoting the launch itself.  If you’re not signed up to get my updates, you can sign up right here.