Do you have clarity on what you’re trying to do?  Are you flexible on how you do it?  I’ve found that those are two of the really big rocks in small group ministry.  I’ve also found that when a small group ministry struggles, it’s often because these two foundational ideas are not in place.  Here’s what I mean:

First, you really do need to have clarity on what you’re trying to do. That is, you need to know for sure what your mission is.  Peter Drucker famously asked the question, “What business are you in?”  In order to really have impact, you need to be absolutely certain about the business you are in.  You need to know what you’re trying to do.

The first grouplife mission statement I ever heard was Willow Creek’s:

To connect people in groups where they can grow in Christ, love one another, and further the work of the Kingdom.

Knowing their mission enabled Willow to say yes to the things that would keep them on course and no to things that would take them off course.

At the same time, let me point out that a match between the corporate mission and your personal mission is what produces longevity.  A mismatched corporate and personal mission makes it tough to stay the course.  For example, reaching unchurched people is a big part of the corporate mission at Parkview.  Helping people grow in Christ is another big part of our mission (raise).

While the weekend service is really well designed to attract and bring back unchurched, unconnected people in big numbers, we have the conviction that the optimum environment for authentic life-change is a small group (not an auditorium).  It’s about life on life.  That makes for a great match between our corporate mission and my personal mission of helping the largest number of people connect in small groups where they can be known, loved, nurtured and challenged.

And that leads to the second foundational need:  The need for flexibility on the how.

Flexibility on the How

Can I tell you something?  Clarity on the what without flexibility on the how leads to a very frustrating and ineffective experience.  Why?  There’s always a better way to do what you’re trying to do.  Always.  Even when you’re firing on all cylinders and you’re really hitting it out of the park with your current strategy, your current model, there will come a time when you’ll begin to notice that it’s not working as well as it used to work.  When that happens, you’ll have a choice.  You can rationalize and accept the lack of effectiveness or you can be open to the idea that there is a better way, a more effective way.

Example: The development and implementation of the small group connection strategy was an awakening for me.  It really was an awesome to thing to watch.  Room full of people looking for connection.  Sort them out by affinity.  Help them identify a leader from amongst themselves.  We launched over 120 groups in the first year we used it.  It totally matched my personal mission and it was great!

When my friend Brett first suggested the HOST strategy, I resisted.  I argued for the old idea.  I couldn’t believe anything could be more effective than the connection strategy.  Guess what?  We launched an even larger number of groups with that idea.  Two things happened:

1. I became a fan of the HOST strategy.
2. I became a fan of the next idea.

Here’s the insight that drove those two developments:

• The connection strategy connected the people who came to the event and identified leaders (when we didn’t think we had any).  That’s big!  If there was a downside it was that you had to come to the event to get connected.
• The HOST strategy connected the friends of the people who said “yes” to hosting a group.  That had really, really big implications.  It allowed us to connect people who didn’t come to the event.

I have absolute clarity on what I’m trying to do.  I am always looking for a better how, a better way to do it.

In case you missed them…here are my 10 most popular articles for September, 2010:

1. Top 10 Reasons Saddleback Has Connected Over 130% in Groups
2. Groups Interactive’s New Version Take a Big Step in the Right Direction
3. Add 5 to 10% More Hosts with This Jedi Move
4. How to Launch Groups Using a Small Group Connection
5. How to Choose a Small Group System or Strategy
6. 5 Keys to Sustaining New Groups
7. The Why Behind the Way of Your Small Group Ministry Strategy
8. 10 Essential Small Group Leader Skills
9. Top 10 Articles on Small Group Coaching
10. Cultivate Identity Before the Host Ask

Developing a deep understanding of the business you are in is one of the most important things you will ever do.  Right on its heels, you must develop an awareness of who your true customer is.  Without an accurate understanding of those two certainties…your only chance for success will be based on chance (or providence, depending on your world view).

This is very, very important.  And it is not the way many of us think.  For the sake of time, I want to skip ahead to the customer issue today.  Although you might have a different idea, let’s just say that the business we are in is building environments where real life change can happen.  Once we have that understanding, the next conviction we must develop is an awareness of who our true customer is.

So the question today is, who is your true customer?  How you answer that question will determine a lot about the way your small group ministry comes together.  For example, if you determine that your true customers are the members of your existing groups, you will often choose topics or curriculum that they will request, not realizing (or at least not acknowledging) that their tastes and interests do not reflect the interests of those who are not yet in a group.

Now, you get to choose who your true customer will be.  You get to choose whether your true customer will be the people you’ve already connected or the people who have not yet found grouplife.  Sometimes right here I know I need to acknowledge that there are advocates for the idea that to grow your business you need to focus on delighting your current customer.  Let me say that while there is truth to that…it’s not a very biblical notion (Philippians 2:3-4).  That’s part of the reason  I’ve always gravitated toward the great William Temple line that “the Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.”  That said, I determined a long time ago that my true customers are those who aren’t yet in a group and I make decisions about topics based on that understanding.  By the way, embracing the notion that there is no problem-free makes this understanding acceptable.

Stop and think about the topic you’ve chosen for your upcoming connection or church-wide campaign?  Who will be attracted to that topic?  Will it primarily appeal to the people in your congregation who are already in a group?  Or will it appeal to those who aren’t yet in a group?

This is a really big understanding.  And don’t kid yourself either.  Although there are topics that connect with both…they are not easy to find.  This is why the 40 Days of Purpose had broad appeal and Walk Across the Room did not.  It is all about an awareness of the customer and careful selection of topic based on that understanding.  Is there anything wrong with offering Walk Across the Room?  Definitely not.  Just understand that that topic will not have broad appeal (regardless of how much you believe the Great Commission is for everyone).  If your target customers are the people who aren’t yet in a group…better choose the right topic.

Putting the Concept into Practice (Case Study):

One of the classic illustrations of this important principle was a church preparing for a church-wide study that had chosen as their topic the idea that the Holy Spirit could provide power for daily living.  Based on the Book of Acts, their title was Catch the Wind and the cover art was a very cool image of a sailing ship with full sails.  See where they were going?  Is the concept true?  Absolutely.  Would it interest people who aren’t yet in a group?  Maybe.  You might be able to engage folks who are already attending church but not yet in a group.  What about friends or neighbors who aren’t yet attending the church?  Not a chance.

How’s Your Understanding of the Customer?

This is one of the first discussions I have with many churches.  You can find out about my consulting and coaching opportunities right here.

When I consult with churches about building small group ministry, one of the first discussions we often have is about what’s probable and possible for existing small groups.  Almost every church as groups already in place; many times these groups have been around a long time and often predate the pastor or small group director.

Why do we have the discussion about what’s probable and possible for existing groups?  Mostly because I believe there’s an upside and a downside to everything and I want to help them manage their expectations.

The Upside for Existing Groups

Here’s what I believe to be the upside and downside for existing small groups:

One upside is that existing groups are often a great source of encouragement for a churches most involved members.  They are often the one place, the one activity where they are not the leader or not serving.  Instead, it is an opportunity for them to receive.

Another upside is that every church has people who are naturally drawn and attracted to community.  For them it is an essential ingredient…it’s actually the most important part of the of their spiritual life and actually trumps the worship service.  They end up in small groups whether a church provides any help or not.  They’ve often been in groups elsewhere, loved the experience, and know how to pull together others who have the same bent.

Finally, a third upside is that existing groups provide a level of care that has made a significant difference for many of their members.  When they’re asked why they love their group they will quickly tell you that “when I had surgery” or “when my wife left me” or “when I lost my job”…my group helped me through the toughest time of my life.

The Downside of Existing Groups

Remember I mentioned that there is an upside and a downside to everything?  Here’s the downside of existing groups:

Existing groups are very poor connecting opportunities for unconnected people.  Once a group has been meeting longer than about 4 to 6 months an almost impermeable membrane forms around them that makes is extremely difficult for anyone new to break through.

Existing groups only rarely see the needs of unconnected members as their concern.  Remember, this is often the one place that members of existing groups are receiving.  This is where they get refreshed.

Existing groups are often repositories for some of the most capable potential leaders (that you know about).  Drawn to community, they end up in groups together and are unaware of what they are missing.

What’s Probable and Possible for Existing Groups?

Although there are always exceptions, these assumptions about the upside and downside of existing groups are the probable.  What’s possible?  Here’s what I’ve found:

• Given the right motivation, some members of existing groups will be open to short-term ideas like taking a small group vacation in order to help start new groups.  The best part?  Some existing group members who take a vacation will see their own contribution potential in a new way and will not be able to go back to being just a consumer (i.e., they’ll want to stay with the new group).
• Stories about the experiences of members who previously ventured out of existing groups, helped launch new groups, and saw God use them in the lives of newly connected people offer a very compelling pathway.  The willingness to “give it a try” often comes in waves the next year.

Have you ever been stuck and couldn’t figure out what was keeping you from taking a next step or reaching a next level?  All of us are there at one point or another.

I had a comment on one of my articles this week that led to an email exchange with a small group director.  In the email she made this comment:

We seem to be stuck at the 50-60% mark and I’m not sure how to get past that.  Our groups usually meet for 6 weeks in the fall and 6 weeks beginning in February.

When I read that line I immediately formed a diagnosis.  You might have, too.  Here it is:

1. Whether you’re launching new groups or getting existing groups back together after the summer or after the holidays, it is essential to give them a curriculum to do next in about week 3 or 4 of a 6 week series.  Lyman Coleman said, 6 weeks is short enough for people to commit to and long enough for them to begin to build community.  I’ve found that one of the most important keys to building grouplife is to keep groups meeting beyond their first 6 weeks (in fact, it is one of the 5 Keys to Sustaining New Groups).
2. Although this might be a totally new philosophy, it is essential to begin thinking about the year…not just the next season.  My article, How to Build an Annual GroupLife Calendar provides some important help with this task.
3. You might want to look at the kind of curriculum you’re choosing.  It may be that choosing a similar topic every season is limiting your reach to the usual suspects.  If you want to connect new people, you’re going to have to try new things (How to Connect People No One Else Is Connecting).

Along with my diagnosis, I want to point out that 50 to 60% in groups is nothing to sneeze at.  It actually puts you in a pretty high category…if it’s based on real numbers.  To determine that, I think you have to use your adult attendance for Easter or Christmas Eve, which in most cases is larger than your average Sunday adult attendance.

Why do you need to use that number?  If you’re like most churches, it’s not the same group of adults every Sunday.  Depending on the kind of people you’re reaching, it might be that your average adult might only come 2 or 3 times a month.  That’s why you need to use Easter or Christmas Eve.  Those are services that nearly everyone attends at the same time.

Got a Question?

I love answering questions.  Got one?  Use the comment section or send me an email.  Your question is probably one that is shared by many other people.

Here’s reality.  The best way to sustain the momentum of what you are about to do…is to be ready for the turn at the end of this straight-away.  Much like a NASCAR race, there are straight-aways and there are turns in every ministry season.  Preparing for and then launching a church-wide campaign (or a fall kick-off) can generate a lot of momentum.

Eventually…you come to the end of the campaign and it’s time for what’s next.  The time to begin to make the turn is not when you reach the bend in the road.  Like what happens in a NASCAR race, you need to start thinking about the turn before you get there (so you’re in the right spot to begin making the turn).

Here are a few things you need to be thinking about now (before you even hit full speed on the straight-away:

• What curriculum will you provide at the end of the campaign to help your newest groups continue?  Remember, new groups are much more likely to continue if you begin talking about what’s next in week 3 or 4 (out of 6) of the launch series.  This is so important, I call it one of the 5 Keys To Sustaining New Groups.  It’s also one of the Secrets of a Successful Small Group Launch.
• How will you promote what’s next?  Remember, your senior pastor is best promoter.  It’s also helpful to actually script the promotion of what’s next.  Here’s how to do it.
• Remember, sustaining what you launch is actually part of the definition of a win for a church-wide campaign.
• How will you help those who missed the campaign join a small group for the follow-up study?  This isn’t a bad time to hold a small group connection.

These are just a few of the most important questions you should be asking right now.  And trust me…right now really is the time to be thinking this way.  If your church is like mine, you really don’t want to get into the turn to start thinking about coming out the other end.

If you’re still working on the details of a church-wide campaign, here are my Top 10 Articles on Church-Wide Campaigns.  You might also want to take a refresher Thinking Strategically About the Fall Season.

We all have reasons for the way we’ve designed our small group ministries.  You use a particular strategy or system for a reason (or a lot of interrelated or barely related reasons).  You may have chosen your system or you may have inherited it when you came on the scene.  Sometimes the system was very intentionally selected.  Other times it just became “the way we do things around here” without much thought.

I want to get you thinking today about taking a serious look at the why behind the way of your small group ministry strategy.  Another way of saying it is that you need to take a serious look at the assumptions that are driving the way you do small group ministry.

Why?  Why is it so important?  Examining the assumptions that drive what you do is important for a number of reasons, but one huge reason is that you may find them out of date or incorrect.

In When Growth Stalls, a really helpful article over at HBR, authors Matthew S. Olson, Derek van Bever, and Seth Verry share some powerful ideas about the causes of stall-points in organizational growth. Let me be quick to add, you may not see what you’re wrestling with as a stall-point.  I get that.  But the truth is, if you’re stuck on the way to a church of groups, if you’re consistently averaging 55% of your weekend adult worship attendees in small groups, or if you just have a hard time convincing very many of your adults about the importance of being in a group…you probably need to examine your assumptions.

Here are two of the key reasons for growth stalls they discovered in their study:

• Leaders must bring the underlying assumptions that drive company strategy into line with the changes in the external environment.
• Assumptions that a team has held the longest or the most deeply are the most likely to be its undoing.

Let me unpack these statements.  First, one of the main reasons for a growth stall is that the leaders have underlying assumptions that don’t match up changes in the external environment.  For example, participation in sermon based small groups might have leveled off at the same time your student or children’s ministries are attracting large numbers of unchurched families.  It may be time to look at the assumptions that drive your use of the sermon based approach.

Second, lets say you have a perennial challenge finding enough leaders for your free market small group ministry.  The people who are enthused about leading a dog training or fly fishing group, or for that matter a Bible study group, are not reproducing as fast as the need for groups.  What do you need to do?  You may need to reexamine the assumptions that drive the why behind the way you’ve organized your ministry.

Examining underlying assumptions is a challenging venture for many of us.  I’ve written quiet a bit about it over on StrategyCentral.  You may want to take a look at these articles:

• The Danger of Unexamined Assumptions
• Is It Time to Change Your Strategy?
• Ready to Go on an Assumption Hunt?
• Andy Stanley on Assumptions

At the same time, it may be that the best thing you could do is get the perspective of some fresh eyes.  Click here to find out about scheduling a coaching call or a consulting visit.

“We are committed,” he said.  It is time and this is the year that we become a church of groups.  Being a church with groups is just not getting it done.  We’re all in this together to make it happen this year.”

Love the determination in those words.  Love the spirit.  Love the hope.  Cannot embrace the assumption that it will happen this year.  It just won’t.  For several reasons:

First, moving to a significantly new trajectory almost always requires persistence over several seasons (contrary to the fantasy that you can move from a church with groups to a church of groups in one ministry season).  You can get there from here…but you can’t do it overnight.  It takes a steady hand and commitment to a new destination.

Second, continuing on a new trajectory requires determination and resilience in the face of the tension to go back to the land of previous, the land of familiarity, the land of comfortable.  Only determination and resilience will sustain a trajectory that can escape the gravitational pull of the status quo.

Third, commitment to a new trajectory requires a locked on sense of ultimate destination.  Like a rocket to the moon, you might only be on course 98% of the time, but you need to be unwavering about where you’re going.

Fourth, arriving at a new destination requires a commitment to the last 10%.  Regardless of how passionate you are, how fervently committed to the vision of church of groups…there will always be a determined resistance more passionate than the Taliban or the Tamil Tigers.

You’ll find the rest of the top 10 fantasies of churches with groups right here.

You never really know where the next idea will come from.  If you’ve got your eyes open…they really can come from almost any source.   My latest ideas come from Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard (Chip and Dan Heath’s most recent book).  You really need a little set-up to catch this one…so follow along.

One of the core tactics of the HOST strategy is to build in a series of messages that precede the launch of the church-wide campaign by 4 to 6 weeks.  In that series of messages there is a weekly ask, an intentionally designed invitation, for everyone who has a heart for unconnected people, and is willing to open up their home for 6 weeks, serve a few refreshments and tell a few friends to step up to be a host for the upcoming church-wide campaign.  With me so far?  Pretty standard stuff to here.

It’s my belief that when the ask is made correctly, virtually everyone ought to have a little bit of a pull toward responding.  Not everyone will…but almost everyone should have a pull toward saying yes.  After all, almost everyone knows a few people they could invite.  Still with me?  If you are, then you know what’s next.  More often than not, a really strong response is about 10 to 15% of the average adult attendance.  The average is more like 5%.  In other words, if you’re averaging 350 adults on Sunday, you ought to be getting host commitments from 17 to 52 of your adults.

So here’s the question…what if there was a way to set up a stronger response?  I think there is.  I think there’s a simple step that could be done first to cultivate a better response.  And I got this idea from Switch.

Here’s the Idea:

In a fascinating study cited in Switch, a researcher went door to door in an upscale neighborhood in Palo Alto, CA, asking residents if they’d allow a billboard reading “Drive Carefully” to be installed on their lawns.  Further, they were shown a picture of a large, unsightly billboard so “crudely constructed and so enormous that it obscured much of the front of their house.”

83% of the residents said “no.”  And no one is surprised.

Here’s where the study gets interesting.  In another upscale neighborhood the residents were asked to place a tiny “Be a Save Driver” sign in their window.  A little sign…”less than half the size of a postcard.”  As you would expect, a large number of homeowners said, “yes.”  And no one is surprised.

What is surprising is that 2 weeks later the researchers returned and ask those same homeowners to put up the large, unsightly billboard…and 76% accepted it!  Why?  They had already begun to cultivate an identity.  The postcard size sign helped them answer three identity questions, “Who am I?  What kind of situation is this?  What would a person like me do in this situation?”

Here’s what I’m thinking.  You know and I know that the people in our congregations should have a heart for unconnected people.  That is a no-brainer.  Not only do we know that, we believe that most of them do have a heart…they’re just not quite ready to be the one who says yes.

What if we helped them by painting the picture first and asking for something smaller?  For example, what if we used an insert for 2 or 3 weeks with space for names of people they would commit to be praying for, maybe with a tear-off commitment to pray for their friends.

Easy to do.  Easy to say yes to.  Your congregation wants to see themselves as people who care about their neighbor.  You can start by cultivating that identity.

What if it led to the host ask 3 weeks later.  Think it might influence the response?

This is the 1st of several posts with ideas from Switch.  If you want to be sure and catch them all, be sure and sign up to get the update right here.

What prevents many churches from realizing their desire to become churches OF small groups*?  Most of the time they’re stopped in their tracks by one or more of these fantasies:

• Fantasy #1: We can keep the peace by making small group participation one of several menu items that are promoted equally as “the way we help people grow in Christ.”  (see my prescription: A Plated Meal Leads to a Church Of Groups)
• Fantasy #2: It is enough to promote small groups once a year, annually every fall, along with everything else that’s starting up with the new ministry season.  (see my prescription: Narrowing the Focus Leads to a Church of Groups)
• Fantasy #3: An announcement at the end of the service is all our people need.  Anything more is overkill.
• Fantasy #4: We can make this happen without the senior pastor’s vocal and continual support.
• Fantasy #5: We can go from a church “with” groups to a church “of” groups in one ministry season.  (See my prescription: The Last 10% Leads to a Church of Groups)
• Fantasy #6: We don’t need our senior pastor to be the small group champion.  What are we paying the small group pastor (or director)  for if we can’t delegate the champion role to them? (See my prescription: Your Senior Pastor as Small Group Champion Leads to a Church of Groups)
• Fantasy #7: We don’t need to start new groups until we fill up the groups we already have! (see my prescription, New Groups Lead to a Church OF Groups)
• Fantasy #8: All of our groups use the same curriculum.  It provides everything that every group needs.  (see my prescription, All Kinds of Groups Leads to a Church OF Groups)
• Fantasy #9: We don’t need to provide next steps for our newest groups.  They’re all adults.  They can figure out what to do.
• Fantasy #10: We don’t really need to change our approach.  Trying harder or tweaking what we’re doing will fix it next fall. (see my prescription, Different Leads to a Church OF Groups)

By the way, even healthy churches on the way to becoming a church “of” groups often have a fantasy (or two).  At the same time, when fantasies go unchallenged they will prevent or delay the decisions that lead to “of”, where nobody stands alone.

* It probably needs no explanation, but a distinction was made at Willow Creek between churches “of” groups and churches “with” groups.  To be a church with groups means that you do have small groups…but it’s not the expectation that everyone be part of a group.  To be a church of groups means that everything happens in groups and everyone is expected to be part of a group, where life-change happens.