Determining the Minimum and the Recommended Dose
I was on a coaching call with several staff members from a church wrestling with a number of foundational grouplife issues. A fairly common situation, they had been following the conversation here and were not sure what their next steps were…so they set up a call to pull a pair of fresh eyes into their…
Read MoreChoosing What Not to Do
If you’ve been in on very much of this conversation, you are probably becoming very familiar with this diagram. I use it for all kinds of discussions (you’ll see many of them right here), but I’m not sure we’ve ever talked about choosing what not to do. Choosing what not to do is very near…
Read MoreThe Importance of Discipling People with Wisdom
Ever feel any responsibility for the spiritual development of the group members in your church? I do. And I bet you do too. I had an opportunity this week to ask Eric Geiger a few questions about the importance of discipling people with wisdom, one of the key benefits of LifeWay’s new Bible Studies for Life…
Read MoreQuotebook: Dallas Willard on Following Jesus
When I think about the objective of making disciples, I am reminded of Colossians 1:28: “He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.” For me, a big part of my objective is to present everyone fully mature in Christ. What would that look…
Read MoreNote to Self: Don’t Forget to Pray for Your Church-Wide Campaign
You’ve done everything you could to ensure that you’re ready for a powerful church-wide campaign. You’ve carefully prepared, planning the weeks leading up to the campaign, the campaign itself, and the series that follows. You’ve chosen a great series for the campaign. You’ve recruited coaches to help sustain as many new groups as possible. Can…
Read MoreTop 10 Posts of July, 2013
Miss a day? Here are my top 10 posts of July, 2013. Pretty cool to see that I had readers from 68 countries around the world! Thanks for stopping by! Top 5 Keys to Starting New Groups…Lots of New Groups (July, 2103) How to Launch Groups Using a Small Group Connection (May, 2008) New from Beth…
Read MoreDon’t Miss These Two Huge Barna Findings for Small Group Ministries
I tweeted the link to Barna’s July 31st report yesterday. I’m not going to go into the whole report here, but I wanted to point out two huge findings in their latest research. The report compares “Americans’ descriptions of themselves from the early 2000s until now, illuminating how much American life has changed in the…
Read More4 Secrets of Connecting People
Want to connect unconnected people? Want to connect beyond the usual suspects? Way beyond? Here are the 4 Secrets of Connecting People: First, make sure that being connected is always presented as playing an essential role in growing spiritually. Don’t miss this. I believe being connected is essential to spiritual growth. When this truth is clearly…
Read More5 Things to Do in August to Prepare for Your Church-Wide Campaign
Ready for your church-wide campaign to begin? Depending on your launch date, you’re probably approaching some of the most important weeks. Although the launch of the actual campaign (the sermon series alignment) is still almost two months away, what you do in August has a lot to do with whether your campaign is a win…
Read MoreTop 10 DNA Markers of Churches with Thriving Small Group Cultures
Every organism has DNA. So does every organization. They each have their own DNA. And no two are exactly alike. They share some traits and not others. And when you look carefully at the DNA of any organism or organization you will find a set of markers. The markers are often looked for in the…
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