What Some Small Group Pastors Know…that Others Don’t
There are a few things that all of us need to know. Some of them are obvious (i.e., how to identify and recruit small group leaders, how to train leaders, etc.). And some of what we need to know is just not obvious. In fact, I think it’s very possible to function in the role…
Read MoreBe the Message: A New Church-Wide Campaign from Kerry Shook
Spent some time this week reviewing a new church-wide campaign that I think you’re going to want to hear about. Be the Message is the newest campaign from Kerry and Chris Shook, founders of Woodlands Church, a multi-campus church with attendance of over 18,000 outside of Houston, Texas. No strangers to the development of church-wide campaigns, their…
Read MoreMy Most Intriguing and Haunting Takeaway from re:group
I don’t know about you, but I usually come away from a conference with lists of ideas to definitely try, statements to ponder and strategies to learn more about. This year’s re:group conference was no exception. I’ve got a notebook packed with underlined, starred and scratched out/rewritten takeaways. I’ve already written about Yesterday’s Big Idea…
Read MoreYesterday’s Big Idea (Literally)
I think this is a big idea. You might already be on to it, but it was big to me. Usually, when I tell you about the latest and greatest idea it’s pretty well baked. That is, we’ve already tested it or we’re about to tweak a strategy that we think you might like to…
Read MoreAndy Stanley on “Matters of the Heart”
I am at re:group today. Yesterday’s main session was so good and so important I thought I’d better let you in on one of my most important takeaways. In Andy Stanley’s main session to start the conference, he used a series of statements to make a point that all of us–every single one of us–need…
Read More5 Main Causes of “Failure to Thrive” in Small Group Ministry
Failure to thrive is a term used primarily in pediatric medicine “to indicate insufficient weight gain or inappropriate weight loss.” Because I write so often about building a thriving small group ministry, failure to thrive seemed like a good term for a small group ministry that struggles or where growth is stunted or blocked. There…
Read MoreGrowth’s Counterintuitive First Step
What do you do when you’re trying to grow your ministry? Read a book? Go to a conference? Hire a consultant? Brainstorm? According to Peter Drucker, “The first step in a growth policy is not to decide where and how to grow. It is to decide what to abandon (Inside Drucker’s Brain, p. 101).” Peter…
Read MoreQuotebook: Steve Jobs on Change
I love this line from the 2005 Stanford commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs: “For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer…
Read More6 Understandings that Changed the Game for Me
Have you ever suddenly noticed something and never looked at it the same way again? You know how sometimes you can get so used to the cracked mirror that you stand in front of it and never notice it…every morning? This is the opposite experience. This is that thing that you’ve seen a million times…
Read More10 Principles for Building a Thriving Small Group Ministry
Want to build a thriving small group ministry in your church? It won’t be easy. It will require a commitment to the long haul, major determination, a willingness to commit resources, disappoint the guardians of the status quo, and much, much more. But…if you believe that unconnected people are always one tough thing away from…
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