Posts by Mark Howell
The Best Thing I Learned at re:group Day #1
It was close and there were a couple other ideas that were almost as good…but the best thing I learned at re:group day #1 was about developing an organizational battle plan from Jeff Henderson. [quote]Henderson is currently the campus pastor at Gwinnett Church, one of North Point Ministries five churches in the metro Atlanta area. Prior to…
Read MoreTop 5 January/February Church-Wide Campaigns for 2014
I’ve written previously about the three best times to launch a church-wide campaign. As you probably know, January has a very different vibe than September. There are a couple main themes that make late January/early February a great opportunity to leverage a church-wide campaign to provide a toe-in-the-water for unconnected people. See also, When Is…
Read MoreGreat New Resource! STIR: Spiritual Transformation in Relationships
I got to take a look at a new book by Mindy Caliguire that I think you are going to really like. Even better, I think you’re going to figure out how to take full advantage of some very good content right away. STIR: Spiritual Transformation in Relationships takes what I’d call a very fresh approach…
Read MoreFAQ: How Can I Get My Leaders to Attend Training?
I get a lot of questions. Sometimes they’re very particular to a unique situation. Most of the time the questions are on a topic that I know will help everyone. Here’s the one I got yesterday: How can I get my leaders to attend training? Ever wondered that? I think this is one of my…
Read MoreThree Realities in the Hunt for Potential Small Group Leaders
How do you spot a potential small group leader? Facial recognition software? Identifying marks? Some kind of spiritual profiling? How do you know what to look for…when you’re looking for a potential small group leader? Here are three realities in the hunt for potential small group leaders: First, I almost never find that “desire to…
Read MoreFrom Here to There: The Preferred Future for Small Group Leaders
Yesterday’s post about the 8 Habits of a Life-Changing Small Group Leader prompted some good discussion about how you might help a leader move in the right direction. Makes sense. Especially when you consider how hard we’re working to create easy first steps into leadership that lead automatically to next steps. See also, 6 Keys…
Read More8 Habits of a Life-Changing Small Group Leader
I’ve written many times about the needless search for Jesus Jr. as prerequisite for effective small group leadership. In fact, I’ve argued that Jesus seems to have chosen his disciples despite the fact that they didn’t already seem to be on a leadership track. So if we’re to recruit small group leaders in a way…
Read MoreDon’t Miss This New Book from Scott Wilson: Ready, Set, Grow!
A couple years ago I was given the opportunity to help jump start a small group ministry at The Oaks Fellowship in Dallas, Texas. One of the people I got to know there was Scott Wilson, the senior pastor of The Oaks. Let me tell you…you’ve never met anyone with more enthusiasm than Scott. A…
Read MoreOrchestrate and Evaluate Everything
We had a dropped ball last week. A snafu that was too important to overlook. A very important church-wide email didn’t get scheduled and consequently, when we realized the oversight…it was too late. And the direct result of the miss was lower sign-up than we anticipated. Ever have this happen? Of course you do. We…
Read MoreEnvision, Encourage and Equip Your Leaders with This 25 Year Old Idea
What’s your plan to inspire your small group leaders? If they’re ever going to break out of the status quo, stay within the lines patterns of what you’ve already done, they need a regular dose of vision. What’s your plan to care for small group leaders over the long haul? And remember, whatever you want…
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