What Will You Call a “Win” for the Groups in Your Ministry?

I’ve written several times in the past about clarifying the win for your small group ministry.  It’s an important concept and it’s an essential strategic step.  Peter Drucker referred to this concept in his question, “What are you going to call success.”  I listed it as the third thing I’d do if I was starting today.

Need an example?  I spelled out in detail what I think are the 5 non-negotiables for true small group ministry success right here.

What will you call a win for the groups in your ministry?

What will you call a win for the groups in your ministry?  I intentionally used the word “groups” instead of “small groups” because I want you to think more inclusively.  Every type of group should have its own win.

Your church has off-campus small groups, on-campus Sunday school for adults, adult Bible fellowships, Wednesday night discipleship groups, Men’s Fraternity and a Beth Moore Bible study?  No worries.  What will you call a win for each of them?

We ought to be carefully clarifying the win for every type of group in our ministries.  This is important: there might be a different win for every type of group.  That is, you might conclude that for the small groups in your ministry is that every group member would feel “connected, cared for and urged to grow” and the win for the Beth Moore study would simply be that women would grow in their love for the Bible.

With me?  We ought to be carefully clarifying the win for every type of group in our ministries.  This is a key strategic step.  Only after clarifying the win can you determine whether your ministry is succeeding or failing.

Is your win as simple as grow in attendance by 20%?  It could be…but hopefully you’ve identified a win that is more robust.  For example, you might have studied my 8 essential ingredients for life-change in groups of all kinds and determined that a win is that your groups are experiencing 6 of those ingredients.

We ought to be carefully clarifying the win for every type of group in our ministries.  This is a key strategic step.  Only after clarifying the win can you determine whether your ministry is succeeding or failing.

What do you think?  Have a question?  Want to argue? You can click here to jump into the conversation.