John Ortberg’s latest, The Me I Want to Be is now available as a church-wide campaign (in addition to being a great study for individual groups to do).  Answering the question, “How can I become the best version of me?” the church-wide study will help your whole congregation take important steps in the same direction.

Delivered in the same format as many other church-wide campaigns:

• DVD-driven small group material
• Participant guides designed to be used in the group
• Available weekend sermon outlines
• Promotional resources including bulletin shells, postcards, posters, and powerpoint
• Discounts on group purchases

I like the feel of The Me I Want to Be.  The DVD reflects the learnings of the last few years.  Shorter teaching sessions make for a better more engaging experience.  Easy-to-use participant guide will encourage good participation.  More streamlined, with simpler implementation and fewer hoops to jump through.

If you’re looking for a church -wide experience that will take your congregation on a personalized journey…this is a good one.

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)?

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.  You can read it right here.  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 Holladay, 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.

When you’re talking about sequencing the launch of a church-wide campaign, one of the most underestimated and overlooked part of the strategy has to do with sustaining what you launch.  Much like the Space Shuttle, there are things you can do to help your new groups stay in the air.  In fact, there are a whole series of small steps you can take to give your newest groups the best chance of continuing.

One of the most important small steps that will help your new groups continue is promoting a next curriculum.  Here’s what to do:

1. Choose a next curriculum that is similar in kind to what you’re using for the church-wide campaign.  If you’re using a DVD-driven study that is easy to use you’ll sustain more groups if the study you recommend that they use next is also DVD-driven and easy to use.  Remember, when you recruited your new hosts, you told them it was easy to do.  “Just put in the DVD!”
2. Note: You need to choose the next curriculum because if you don’t, there will be someone in every group that has done a study before that is good, they loved it, and it’s just too hard for your new leader to pull off.  Don’t let that happen.
3. Choose ONE (1) curriculum for your newest groups.  They’re not ready to choose between two or three.  Much like a newborn baby…they don’t need to pick between available formulas.  You choose one that is a good next step.
4. Begin telling them what’s next in about week 3 or 4 of your church-wide campaign.  Don’t wait for them to finish.  Have each of your coaches begin talking it up.  Post it on your Small Group blog or website page.  Send all your leaders an email with a link to where they can see a sample clip from the DVD.
5. Have your Senior Pastor hold up a copy in week 3 or 4 and say, “We’re so excited about what we’re hearing from our 40 Days small groups!  We know many of you are really beginning to connect and are enjoying the time together…and some of you are beginning to ask “What’s next?”  Well, here’s what we’re suggesting that you use if you continue.  You can take a look at a sample out in the lobby.  If you haven’t yet connected with a small group here at _________, right now is a great time to do that.  Many of our newest groups are about to begin a new study.  You can take a look at it out at the small group table this morning.”
6. At a table in the lobby have samples of the new study and if possible, have a TV and DVD player playing a clip.  Post a few very friendly folks at the table.  Keep the DVD player on a segment that is really engaging.  It will help your groups know what’s coming AND it will help a few more unconnected people take a step toward joining a group.

I’ve listed two of my favorite next studies right here.

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.

The last piece I talk about in this series is how to sustain the new groups that you launch.  It has to do with telling your new groups about What’s Next? When and How to Promote the Next Curriculum?

I’ve written about this subject before here and here, but it is a critical step in a launch sequence and need to be sure you’ve got what you need to do it well.  Here are a few ideas that I’ve found very helpful.

1. When people sign up to host a group, send them a letter from your pastor thanking them for their willingness to open their home and take this step.  The letter should also give them a few keys to hosting.  It should also tell them that “in order to host a group you need to attend one of the following HOST orientations.”  It should list the days and times (you need to do more than one in order to get everyone to attend one).  It should give them a way to RSVP (by phone or email).  It is also a good idea to call each RSVP just before the day to confirm their attendance.
2. Be sure and be ready to greet people as they come in to the orientation and mix with them as they take a seat.  Introducing them to each other is a good step.  Definitely have them put on a name tag.
3. The format I use takes one hour.  I begin promptly and end right on time.  In fact, I make a joke about starting and ending on time being “one of the most important small group principles you’re going to learn tonight!”
4. The first thing I do is welcome everyone and thank them for stepping up to be a HOST.  I make a big deal about what they’re doing.  To me, it is a really big deal.  I talk about how they are the best link to some of the people they will invite.  I also talk about how much those people are depending upon them to swallow hard and invite their friends and neighbors.
5. Second, I usually take a minute right here, have them turn to the others at their table and share what they are most “terrified” about as they think about opening their home.  I give ‘em a minute or two, then ask them to share with me what they said.  It’s a fun moment.  It loosens up the room.
6. Third, I always include a card in their packet that they fill out that gathers info about their contact info, whether they should be listed on the website, what type of group they’re launching, the day and time of their meeting, whether they’re open to new members, and how many they already have.  I take 2 or 3 minutes and walk them through the items on the card.  They turn it in when they’re on their way out.
7. Next, I always include a prayer guide that leads them through a 7 day prayer calendar for the week leading up to the launch.  “Because what you’re about to do is so critical, you’d best not do it without praying daily.”
8. Another piece that I include in their packet is often referred to as “the 5 circles.”  You’ve probably seen it…it has a circle for each of the 5 spheres of their relationships (friends, family, work, church, fun).  I take 2 or 3 minutes and walk them through each of those areas, encouraging them to jot down names of people they will invite from each of those circles.
9. I take a few minutes and walk them through how the curriculum works.  I show a couple minutes of a DVD session, just to give them a feel for how engaging it is.  I also spend some time talking about how to use the study guide.  And I let them know that each week I’ll be sending them an email with tips on how I’d lead the session.
10. I take questions as they arise.  Repeat their question so everyone can hear.

At this point in your preparation for the launch you’re probably wondering about How to Recruit Members to Groups?  I talk about that right here.  Miss an article in the series?  You can catch up right here.

Preparing to launch a church-wide campaign?  There are some keys to doing it well (and it’s not too late to kick your campaign up a notch!).  Here are some ideas you can use right now:

• Take advantage of the website.  Keep in mind that many of the adults in your congregation only attend once or twice a month.  The website can be a way to make sure they hear about what is coming.  To take advantage of the site, make sure you’ve got the upcoming series on the home page (perhaps in a block midpage or in the rotating banner).  Need an example?  Take a look at Saddleback’s home page as they prepare for Life’s Healing Choices.  A second important aspect of leveraging your website is to link the homepage image of the upcoming series to a page that has more detail.
• A second important key to promoting your launch is your bulletin or program.  Be sure and include a weekly section with information about what is just around the corner.  You can use the bulletin to promote the series, HOST orientations, and how to find a group.
• A postcard size insert promoting the series can be included in the bulletin for 2 to 3 weekends leading up to the church-wide campaign.  “This is not for you.  This is for you to give to your neighbors and friends, inviting them to join us for the series.”  Since the most powerful invitation is a personal invitation…this can make a big impression.
• Direct mail is an effective way to build name recognition.  Whether you mail to your database or to the wider community, it can help but it should be done alongside personal invitation.
• Once you have your website ready, be sure and send an all-church email that links to the site.  Services like Constant Contact make it very easy.
• When your church-wide series is a national campaign you can usually obtain banners, postcards, bulletin shells, etc. easily and inexpensively from services like Outreach Marketing or from the campaign website.  One Month to Live and Live Like You Were Dying are two that have their own promotional resources.

Some of the ideas on this list will take preparation.  Others can be implemented easily and inexpensively with just a few days notice.  The key is to take advantage of a few to promote the series.  What if in choosing one or two ideas you could add another 3 to 10% response to your campaign?

Next, I’ll take a look at Host Orientations That Work.  Missed a post in the series?  You can catch up right here.

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.