MarkHowellLive.com

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 [...]

Got plans for group life in the new year?  One of the things I love about being connected with so many small group ministries across the country (and around the world) is the opportunity to hear what many have planned.  After all, late January/early February is one of the most important connecting seasons (I believe [...]

One of the first books I read about small group ministry was Successful Home Cell Groups by Dr. David Yonggi Cho, the fantastic story of the “smallest and largest” church in the world, the Full Gospel Central Church in Seoul, Korea.  This served as my introduction to the Cell Church model in 1988.  In the [...]

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

Reminder: Two of my core assumptions are (1) if I want to make it possible for everyone to be part of a group, I need to lower the bar for leaders (and raise the bar for coaches and coaching) and (2) part of lowering the bar for leaders is that I need to provide material [...]

“I can’t find enough leaders to take care of the number of people who want to be in a group.”
“Many of the people with the most potential to lead are just sitting in groups as members and won’t leave to start a new group.”

Sound familiar?  Those are two of the most common complaints of small [...]

You may already be on top of it…but just to be sure, here are five steps you can take today to make sure January is extra effective in 2010.

Set the date for a Small Group Connection.  There are three very good connection opportunities every year.  Fall is a great time to launch a church-wide campaign.  [...]

Yesterday we talked about the core philosophy that drives an exponential group system.  If you missed step one, you can read about having a crowd-to-core philosophy right here.
Today I want to talk about step two in the process: Diagnosis: Brutal Honesty About Your Present.   Sounds harsh.  Brutal even.  But without an honest evaluation of [...]

What makes a group system exponential?  What makes a church exponential?  I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, but my convictions on the matter string together some important concepts acquired over the years.
But before we get to the keys to building an exponential group system, let’s define it.  In some ways it’s kind of [...]

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 [...]