MarkHowellLive.com

What is the most powerful way to impact your entire congregation?  Many believe that a church-wide campaign, what Rick Warren refers to as a spiritual growth emphasis,  is the most important spiritual innovation in the last 50 years…maybe the last century.  Why?  Read on. Although there are very basic church-wide campaigns that simply offer a [...]

We had a great call today with my good friend Kent Odor, this week’s guest on the Small Group Fraternity. Definitely in the small group pioneer category, Kent has a long small group history and has had many great experiences along the way.  In today’s call there were a number of important insights.  Just wanted [...]

If the greatest fear that people have is public speaking…it only makes sense that many people will be hesitant to pray out loud.  Here are some ideas that I’ve found very helpful: Distribute index cards and pens and ask each person to write out a simple one sentence prayer request.  Swap cards and read them [...]

Q: “What is the best way to close a group meeting in prayer?” A: Great question!  There are several parts to my answer.  First, the entire meeting structure ought to vary according to the needs of the group’s members.  After all, new groups will be much less willing to share genuine needs.  Long-term groups may [...]

How do you know you’re succeeding at what you do?  If we were baseball players…it’d be easy.  At the end of the game we’d see who had the most runs on the scoreboard.  Would hits matter?  Yes.  Would RBIs matter?  Yes.  What about our pitcher’s ERA?  Yes.  But would they themselves be a win?  No.  [...]

As we’ve discussed previously, there is no problem-free.  Every solution comes with a set of problems.  Knowing that, wise people simply choose the problems they’d rather have and select the solution they like based on that. Is there a problem-free way to identify and recruit small group leaders?  No.  Every method of identifying and recruiting [...]

Churches make the decision to launch a small group ministry in a church with a Sunday School culture for a variety of reasons. There may be a growing conviction that while an on-campus solution may work for some…it isn’t working for everyone. There may be a sense that we need to provide a menu that [...]

Looking for a way to take your small group ministry to the next level?  You’re invited!  Join Mark Howell for a workshop designed to give you the practical tools you need to build a pervasive small group ministry. Three Essential Sessions: Getting to There: Building a Dynamic Small Group Ministry…Where Life Change Really Happens Debug Your [...]

Looking for a new DVD-driven small group curriculum?  Might want to take a look at Refuel: An Uncomplicated Guide to Connecting with God, the newest resource from Saddleback.  Billed as “an uncomplicated guide for connecting with God,” REFUEL offers an easy to read book and online video and discussion materials.  Instead of purchasing the DVD, [...]

If you haven’t seen the new blog over at SmallGroups.com you need to check it out.  Looks like it’ll be a good resource with a constant flow of tips, ideas and reviews of new materials.  When you head over…be sure and tell ‘em hello!