Posts by Mark Howell
Media That Promotes Small Group Ministry
How are you promoting small groups at your church? If your idea of a great promotion is an announcement, maybe by your pastor, you may want to take a look at a few more creative options. A few minutes on Sermon Spice or Willow Creek’s Drama catalog should give you plenty of new ideas. Here…
Read MoreTop 10 Reasons to Abandon Small Group Ministry
Ever get pressure to give up on small group ministry? Find yourself in the middle of a dark night of the soul agonizing about what just happened? Here are my top 10 reasons to just throw in the towel and end it now: 10. Information much easier to deliver in a classroom setting 9. Not…
Read MoreWhy Some Groups Jell…And Some Don’t
Let’s get this out of the way right from the start. I loved Sticky Church by Larry Osborne and got a ton out of it. The measure of a book for me is how marked up and bent up it is when I’m finished. This is one that is packed with valuable takeaways. An overall…
Read MoreMoney Talks: New from Liquid
Looking for a creative way to jump-start a discussion about finances and stewardship in your congregation? You may want to take a look at Money Talks, a new 5 week small group study from Liquid. Similar to other studies in the Liquid series, Money Talks takes a look at the Penders, a California family with…
Read MoreHow to Choose Curriculum to Start a Group
What curriculum helps a group get off to the best start? I’m asked this question (or one like it) almost every week, so I thought I’d take a day and answer the question. If you’ve asked it…here you go! If you already have a favorite…use the comments below to add your favorite to the list! …
Read MoreJohn Ortberg on “Doing Life Together”
Looking for a sample message that casts vision for life in community? You can download the audio of a great example by John Ortberg right here. Here’s a link to the transcript. Given in preparation for Menlo Park’s 40 Days of Purpose experience in 2004, this message provides a look at how Ortberg encouraged a…
Read MoreMessages That Recruit HOSTs
What are the secret ingredients of a message that recruits HOSTs? Maybe that begs a question. Maybe we should start by asking this question: “Are there certain ingredients that make HOST recruitment easier or more likely?” What do you think? Think there are ingredients that make it easier to recruit HOSTs? I’ve found that there…
Read MoreLive Like You Were Dying
Inspired by the Grammy Award winning song recorded by Tim McGraw, and developed by a group of incredible church-wide campaign experts, Live Like You Were Dying offers a great experience for your congregation. Designed to help your congregation wrestle with how to live life to the fullest, this church-wide campaign has everything you need to…
Read MoreOne Month To Live
What if you had one month to live? Think you’d make any changes in the way you spent your time? Would you spend more time with family? Would you tell friends what they really mean to you? Would you take steps to seek or give forgiveness? What would you do differently if you found out…
Read MoreHOST Recruitment and the Launch Sequence
One of the most important components of the launch sequence is HOST recruitment. Many churches make a crucial mistake right here when they overestimate the risks and underestimate the rewards of crowd-to-core recruiting. The secret to an exponential launch is to recruit from the crowd if you want to reach the community. I know…it sounds…
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