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Q & A - Pastor’s Newcomer Small Group?
This is Kerrick Thomas - I’m the Executive Pastor at The Journey Church and the co-author of “Activate” with Nelson. Just a while back, Nelson asked me to answer the following question and then to share my answer with you:
Q: Our leadership team has asked me to have a “pastor’s small group” with new people.
We are seeing new people at church every week now and we’re really trying to do a better job of connecting them.
Any suggestions on what to do or how many to have? We think that after this, I may be able to direct them into other small groups.
A: Thanks for your question. Let me first say this: having new people attending your church is a good “problem” to have.
As far as having a “Pastor’s Small Group” for new people, of course you can do that - and you might have some success with early sign-ups. But that has not been our strategy or philosophy at The Journey.
Our goal is to get new people into a small group where they can develop relationships within the church as quickly as possible.
We really believe that a regular small group with regular people from your church has the potential to connect a new person to your church just as effectively if not more effectively than a group led by the lead pastor.We have faith that our Sunday service is the front door of the church and that our small groups close the back door.
If there is a reason why a regular small group wouldn’t be effective in connecting a new person to the church, introducing them to the church culture and assimilating them, that might be an indication that something is not quite right in your current small groups system.
The only advantage I can think of to the lead pastor leading such a group is that it might draw a crowd of people to it. But that purpose is served just as effectively by having a monthly or every two month Newcomers Reception for those new to the church hosted by the lead pastor after a Sunday service. Then you can encourage the newcomers at that event to sign up for a small group.
Another question to consider is this - is that where your energies are best served? As lead pastor are there other groups that you could lead that no one else could lead? Is this really where you want to spend your energies every semester? And is it really a scalable model as your church grows if it’s built on you leading it?
Yes - you could lead the small group for newcomers - and it might work. But we believe that it’s better to get newcomers integrated into our regular small groups immediately with our members and regular attenders so that they can naturally get involved in the life of the church.
Those are just my initial thoughts - I hope they are helpful!
God bless…
Kerrick
P.S. For an all-inclusive look at how to implement an effective Small Groups System at your church, check out The Small Groups Intensive.
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Q & A - Transitioning Small Groups
This is Kerrick Thomas (Executive Pastor at The Journey and co-author of Activate). I recently received these questions and Nelson asked me to share my responses with all of you.
Q: We’re in the process of creating and launching a new small groups system at our church and I’ve found the Activate system to have great potential for us. Our church is 150+ years old and we’ve hit a critical point in our history where we need some significant change if we want to be relevant for people in this current/future culture.
We have had small groups in our church for some 20 years (some that have been together almost that long) and we have no formal, regular system for creating new groups; they have just formed when a person said they’d like to start one.
With that in mind, here are my questions:
1) How do we transition from being a church “with” small groups to a church “of” small groups?
We have many “ministries” (as you can imagine with a church that’s been around this long) and I strongly agree with the idea in Activate that these ministries are actually competing with each other and therefore diluting our church’s impact.
I know we need to start making some tough calls, but is there a general strategy for transitioning from a church “with” to a church “of”?
2) How do we handle all the groups that have been together for years?
Any insight you could provide here would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your help!
A: First of all - know of my prayers for you this morning as you guys make this big transition in your church. It’s not easy I know - but I pray that it will bear much fruit.1) To transition to a church “of” small groups I recommend patience. Many of the ministries you have right now will probably transition quite smoothly into a semester-based small groups system.
For instance, you can run women’s and men’s ministries as well as community service through groups by offering those types of small groups specifically. If there are ministries that don’t fit in - you might have to gradually phase them out by not advertising or pushing new people toward them.
I have a book recommendation for you. It isn’t perfect for what you are doing - but it’s called “Transitioning” and talks about steps you take people through as you transition them from one system to another.
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0310242681/thejouchu-20
2) As far as moving from the old system to the new semester-based system with your old groups - remember, the key is “leader multiplication” not “group multiplication.” So, I would pull all of your group leaders together and share the new vision in a compelling way. Then I’d follow-up with each individually and ask them to lead a new semester-based small group for the upcoming semester.
Then I would find 2-3 people in each of the existing groups and just go directly to them to ask them to lead a group. Don’t try to split up the groups. Just tell them you are starting a new groups system and describe all of the benefits and tell them you want them to be the first leaders. The current groups will be wrapping up but everyone in them can sign up for a new group.
You might even have the one on one meetings before the big meeting and get as much buy in as possible. Maybe even get a few key leaders committed ahead of time to lead a new group.
If a few groups insist on staying together - and the group isn’t poisonous (if the group is poisonous and is hurting the church you have to shut it down) that’s okay. Let them meet - but just stop moving people toward them and let them exist isolated.
In the meantime, go ahead and identify individuals within those groups who you would like to lead and go and ask them individually if they would leave the group and lead a semester-based group. I really don’t think those groups will last too long when you get the semester-based groups up and running well.
The last thing to think about is that we might be starting a Small Groups Coaching Network in the fall. We have one going on right now with about 20 small group leaders from around the country that will be wrapping up in September. Keep your eyes open - if we kick off another one this fall we’d love for you to join us.
Also - keep your eyes on this blog - we often have helpful posts related to small groups.
http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/blog/category/small-groups/
Hope this helps!
God bless…
Kerrick
P.S. Looking to learn everything about the Activate small groups system? Check out The Small Groups Intensive.
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Q & A: CLASS Compatible with Activate Groups?
Q: I read in Activate how you should be a church OF small groups, not a church WITH small groups. And I agree. Here’s my question. Don’t classes 101-401 create drag on your small groups system? Or are your classes offered AS small groups?
A: Great question! We do, indeed, use the Purpose Driven C.L.A.S.S. series (101, 201, 301 & 401) to help our members grow and take next steps on their spiritual journey.
However, The Journey remains solidly a church OF small groups by strategically incorporating these classes and coordinating the timing of it into our overall calendar.
Here’s how: We offer CLASS 101 - 401 between group semesters. Since you only attend each class one time, it doesn’t compete with our semester-based growth groups. We offer each class from 1-4 on Sunday afternoon.
This allows us to be very intentional about helping people take specific next steps through the C.L.A.S.S. series AND to avoid creating drag on our two main activities (Weekend Services and Small Groups).
Hope that helps!
Nelson
P.S. Do your church members know the benefits of membership? Do your church members know exactly what is expected of them? Do you have an effective, realistic plan to hold your members accountable for their commitments?
We have put together a practical, proven resource package that provides everything you need to plan, implement, follow up, evaluate, and improve your own 3 hour maximized membership class in THE MAXIMIZING MEMBERSHIP PACKAGE.
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Q & A - Support/Recovery Groups in SG System
It’s Kerrick Thomas here again, Executive Pastor at The Journey and co-author of Activate with Nelson. He asked me to share my answer to this Small Groups question for you today:
Q:Thanks for taking the time to put your process on paper. Much appreciated. Quick question: How do your support and recovery groups look within the semester system. We too operate on the semester system, but many of our recovery groups have a look and feel of their own due to the nature of the group.
Your thoughts?
A: Thanks for your question. I’m glad that our small groups system has been beneficial to you. That’s the entire reason we wrote Activate in the first place.
To answer your question we do and have had support/recovery groups at The Journey in our semester-based small groups system. However - we run these groups through our semester based small groups system and not separately (not outside the system on an on-going basis as many other churches do).
This can work in two ways:
1) You have a group that meets for 10-12 weeks to support those dealing with a difficult topic that just ends after that semester. An example that we have seen in the past is a group that met for women with eating disorders. We had a couple of leaders who wanted to lead a group on that topic and found a great study. So, they led the group. It filled up. And though they didn’t lead on that topic every semester - those who attended that group were helped and some great life-long friendships and accountability relationships were formed out of the group.
2) You could also have leaders who really feel called to lead groups on specific support/recovery issues. And they lead on that topic semester after semester (with different studies/books). Some people might sign up for that group for muliple semesters. Some might just attend once and not again. But the mix in the group is different from semester to semester. An example of that might be a men’s group meeting on purity/lust issues or a group for those who have struggled with alcohol.
Again - we do have these kinds of groups - but we haven’t formed a separate ministry out of them - but instead operate them within the context of our semester-based small group ministry.
I hope that helps!
God bless…
Kerrick
P.S. For answers to all of your small groups questions, check out The Small Groups Intensive:
https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p285&navicat=39 -
Q & A - Small Group Curriculum
Q: I had a question regarding small group stuff. We observed that most of the subject matter of your small groups were book studies. There were a few actual studies on books of the Bible. What was it that guided your decision to lean in this direction?
A: We always use a book for our growth groups - you can do a Bible book but you need a book to help you approach the Bible and control the interpretation.
With the rate at which our small groups system raises up new group leaders, this provides a way to insure sound doctrine and helps to lighten the preparation load for the leader.
In case you missed it, I gave away our approved curriculum list a few months ago here on the blog:
http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/blog/2008/11/19/small-group-curriculum-free-download/
P.S. For everything that we know about small groups, check out The Small Groups Intensive, for the CD Set click here:
https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p159&navicat=39
or you can save $50.00 on the downloadable version:
https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p285&navicat=39 -
Q & A: How Big is Too Big for Small Group System?
This is Kerrick Thomas once again - Executive Pastor at The Journey and co-author of Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups with Nelson. Nelson asked me to follow-up on the following question regarding the semester-based small groups that we use and recommend:
We have been using one type of model for small groups (ongoing) and one type for some on-campus studies (semester based). We have definitely seen the most growth in the semester based system and have decided to merge the 2 models under one umbrella. Your book has been a great resource as we are processing through how that would look.
My question is this…In listening to your online seminar you mentioned that some experts have said that when you reach the 4,000 to 5,000 range of participants that your model will begin to break down. Have you given any thought to the adjustments you will have to make?
We currently have about 1500 people in groups, but an average weekly attendance of about 4500 adults and students (another 1000 kids). I expect we could bump that upper “limit” in the next year to year and a half. Any thoughts?
This is a great question. However, we don’t see why there would be any problems with the Activate semester-based small group system past 5,000 people. It just hasn’t been attempted yet. The people who said they weren’t sure if the system would work at a larger church were not using the system (they were doing on-going small groups). And honestly I think they said that as an excuse not to put in the work to give it a shot.
If a college can effectively enroll 30,000 students for a semester of classes - I don’t see why a church couldn’t get 5,000-10,000 people in small groups each semester.
The key is to have a scalable structure in two areas:
1) You must have total staff involvement. You aren’t just hiring people to do groups - but every staff person has a small group responsibility (that’s only a small part of their job description). So, as your staff grows to reflect the size of the church - the number of staff who are helping run the system grows as well. And each staff can effectively manage and help set up 15-25 small groups each semester each.
2) You must be constantly raising up new small group leaders. And that’s the best part of the semester-based system. With every new group you add the potential for raising up new future leaders is multiplied.
These are two issues we are going to cover in-depth in the upcoming Small Groups Tele-Coaching Network that Nelson and I will be leading. I would encourage you to consider being a part of it if you guys are implementing this model - I think it will be helpful.
You can read more about the Coaching Network and get an application at this link:
http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/coaching/smallgroupstelecoaching.php
It is just about to begin and consists of one 2-hour phone call each month for 8 months - please fill out an application if you are interested.
God bless…
Kerrick
P.S. For another great resource to give you an in-depth look at what’s involved in implementing semester-based small groups at your church, purchase a copy of the The Small Groups Intensive.
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Small Groups Q & A - Transitioning
This is Kerrick Thomas - I co-wrote “Activate” with Nelson and he asked me to share this recent question and answer about transitioning small groups in a church with a more traditional structure:
Q: Hello! I am currently reading your book Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups. I am the associate pastor at a Christian Church. We average a little over 200 in two worship services.
We have “tried” small groups in the past and I am very interested in your method. My question has to do with getting the rest of the work of the church done. You mention how people can’t be going to worship and a committee and a women’s group AND a small group.
So what do we do with our Worship Ministry Team, and Property, etc? Would that become a small group? We have three full time staff, the senior, me and a youth/children’s minister. We are a traditional structure with committees meeting monthly, Christian Women’s Fellowship meetings, elders, etc…
How do we focus on small groups but still keep the church “running”?
A: To begin with, The Journey is a staff led church and have the benefit of not having to ask our church attenders and members serve on committees. Instead, we try to get them more actively involved in front-line ministry. With your current structure, you would probably still have to have your committee meetings on top of your small groups.
However, our women’s and men’s ministries are operated through small groups. We don’t have other weekly or monthly meetings. We have women’s and men’s small groups. And then at times the small groups will sponsor retreats/events, etc.
We also do community service through our small groups. And though our Worship Arts Team works separately from small groups, we do ask our vocal team and musicians to be in Worship Arts Small Groups.
The goal is to have as many of your areas of ministry as possible running through the small groups system so that you don’t have competing ministries.
I hope that helps!
God bless…
Kerrick
P.S. For all the answers to your small groups questions, check out The Small Groups Intensive: https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p285&navicat=39
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Free Small Groups Reading
I have been humbled by how many of you have purchased my book, Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups. It has proven to be a useful resource to churches of all shapes and sizes in building a small groups system with 100% participation. I want to thank all of you who have already read and recommended it.
Many have settled for 30-40% small group participation and have even made that a worthy goal, but our experience here at The Journey tells us otherwise. In writing Activate, Kerrick and I really wanted to help people re-think a lot of the conventional wisdom we have been taught about small groups over the years.
I believe so strongly in helping people re-think how small groups should be done that I’d like to give you a free gift.
For those of you who haven’t yet read the book, follow this link to get a:
FREE COPY OF CHAPTER 1 OF ACTIVATE
If you’ve already read the book and are interested in going deeper into the nuts and bolts of the Small Groups System, you may want to purchase the Small Groups Intensive (now downloadable).
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Q & A: Activate Webinar Follow-Up
This is Kerrick Thomas - Executive Pastor at The Journey and co-author of the Activate book with Nelson. Nelson and I recently led the Activate small groups webinar and he asked me to share my reply to this follow-up emails:
Thanks so much for offering this webinar on the Activate small groups system.
We like this system and have serious intentions to work it in but would like some reassurance on a couple questions like this:
Does the semester-based small group system enable people to simply hop around from group to group between semesters without ever going deeper or committing to life-transformation?
Thanks so much for offering any additional insight on this that you can.
I’m glad that you found the webinar useful and am excited that you guys may be moving to the semester-based option for small groups. And thanks for the question.
A couple of quick thoughts. At the end of every semester the groups end. So, everyone signs up for a new group each semester that will study a new topic with a new group of people. However, there are a couple of traditional assumptions about spiritual growth and small groups that we believe are a little off base when it comes to thinking that this model won’t lead to real life-transformation and real life-changing relationships.
1 - It’s easier to remain stagnant in your spiritual growth when you attend the same group with the same people month after month and year after year. What you are doing is staying in a comfort zone. And whether you are speaking physically or spiritually - you don’t grow stronger unless you get out of your comfort zone and add stress to the environment.
For instance - a body builder doesn’t do the same exercises on the same body parts every day. No, to experience muscle growth the body builder must work out all the different muscle groups and then do different exercises on each muscle group. Then the body builder must also take time off to rest his entire body. All of those are physical growth principles.
The same principles apply to spiritual growth. You can just meet with the same people over and over again month after month and expect to grow. You need to (a) bring new people in the equation on a regular basis; (b) introduce new and relevant study topics; (c) and have time off when you aren’t meeting for rest (stress and release - the same principle as letting the farming groud lie fallow every few years or taking the Sabbath every week). The semester-based small group system allows for all of this.
By putting people in on-going groups of the same people - we actually keep them from deepening and growing their faith.
2 - Although you are changing groups from semester to semester - in each group you are making important and valuable relationships that will carry with you outside the group. In your small group perhaps you really click with 4-5 of the 12 people who attend. After the group the 5 of you may decide to be in a group the next semester together. Perhaps 2 of you will even decide to lead together.
That’s an example of close personal relationships developing within the safe social environment of the group and then continuing outside of the group where real life is done and even perhaps to another group.
Whereas if you force the group to stay together in the hopes of everyone developing deeper relationships, it’s not going to happen. Not all of the 12 people are going to click. And after a while the group will dwindle down to those who do click. You’d probably end up with no more than 5-6 in the group after a year. That’s what typically happens in the most successful of on-going groups anyway.
The semester-based model allows for those valuable relationships to form and then move outside of that initial group. And if I’m in that group and had a good time but didn’t really connect with anyone. That’s okay. When the group ends I can sign up for a new group, get plugged in and take another shot at it.
I hope that makes sense and helps answer your question. Let me know if there is anything else at all that I can do for you!
God bless…
Kerrick
PS - For even more information about how to implement semester-based small groups at your church, check out the Small Groups Intensive.
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Q & A: Moving to Semester-Based Groups
This is Kerrick Thomas - Executive Pastor at The Journey and co-author of the Activate book with Nelson. Nelson asked me to answer the following question about moving an existing small group system to the semester-based groups that we recommend:
The question I have for you deals with our groups that have done really well. Five or six of our small groups have been going strong for a full five years. They have invited people in and are still active. They have never gotten stagnant. How do you best get these groups to buy into breaking apart each semester? Most of these groups have met every week for 5 years. There are strong relationships there and I am afraid they will be hesitant to break apart and join a new group. Do you have any suggestions?
First of all - when it comes to groups ending - we never use terms like “break apart” or “split up” or even “multiply.” Groups just come to an end naturally because we are on a semester-based system.
If I were trying to convince already existing groups to join this model I would take several approaches:
1- I would invite the decision makers in each group to lunch/coffee/meeting. I would cast vision to them for the new direction and let them know why we are doing this. To get more people plugged in, to develop more leaders, to increase the spiritual growth in the church, more friendships developed, more variety in the small group system, etc. If you get them on your side - things will go well.
2- If you sense some hesitancy you can visit some of the groups yourself to cast the vision.
3- I would ask the leaders of the existing groups who in their group do they think would be a good group leader. They may or may not give names. Either way - identify people within those groups and go to them and ask them to lead one of the new semester-based groups. Ask them to just try it for a semester. It’s best to get two people who are in one of those groups to lead together. Once people in the existing groups begin to leave to lead new groups the group might have less hesitancy. Make sense?
4- If the groups are not trouble makers and there is a lot of resistance and some of them insist on continuing to meet together - continue the plan of pulling leaders out from those groups - but you might also allow them to keep meeting. Just be sure not to promote their group and make sure no one new signs up. It’s the philosophy of not fighting an unnecessary battle. Just move forward with the new system and make sure no one knows about the old group that’s still meeting. Usually the group will break-down after a while and get excited about checking out the new groups with the more diverse options.
Those are just my initial thoughts. I hope they are helpful!
Blessings…
Kerrick
PS - For more information about how 100% participation is possible in your church’s Small Groups system, get a copy of The Activate Seminar.
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New Small Groups Tele-Coaching Network
This is Kerrick Thomas – Executive/Teaching Pastor at The Journey Church. I’m writing to you today because I want you to be aware of a special tele-coaching opportunity for your Small Groups Pastor or for the staff person you have leading small groups at your church.
In just a few weeks (on Thursday, February 26) I’m kicking off our first ever Tele-Coaching Network just focused on small groups that will last for 8 months (through September 2009).
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS FOR SMALL GROUP PASTORS/LEADERS?
At The Journey we have experienced first-hand the power that life-changing small groups can have on the growth and health of a church.
In the Fall of 2002 when we began our first round of semester-based small groups – we didn’t know what to expect. We only had 80 people attending each Sunday. We started 7 groups and had 110 people sign up. By the end of that first semester – our average attendance had grown to over 100 people and we had 11 people ready to be baptized!
Fast-forward to the beginning of 2009. In the few years since we started semester-based small groups, The Journey has grown to 1,150 adults attending each Sunday and has seen over 650 people baptized. This semester we will have over 90 small groups available and close to 1,500 people will sign up!
And every semester we have seen over 100% of our average Sunday attendance sign for a small group!
Semester-based small groups have had an incredible impact on the growth and health of our church. And we believe that this coaching network can help take your small groups and your church to the next level.
In this network, each month we will connect for a 2 hour phone call to talk about issues directly related to improving and growing your current small group structure. But not just that – we will also invest time in growing the influence, leadership and competency of your Small Groups Pastor.
WHY TELE-COACHING?
By making this a tele-coaching network (as opposed to an in-person network in New York) it provides several benefits to you and your church:
(1) It saves you thousands of dollars on travel and hotel – as the network only costs $195 a month to join;
(2) It saves your church valuable time and money as your Small Groups Pastor/Leader doesn’t have to be away from your church to participate (only one 2 hour phone call per month);
(3) We will be providing those who participate in the network FREE resources throughout the network that they can make available to you and your entire staff.
So, your Small Groups Pastor/Leader can get all of the valuable, hands-on coaching from the comfort of their own office. And they will have unlimited access to me each month between the phone calls for questions or discussion.
If you are serious about the growth of small groups in your church and you believe that your Small Groups Pastor/Leader needs to be in my upcoming network, I want to challenge you to ensure that I receive their application for this network. We’ve already got a good group of Small Group Pastors/Leaders confirmed – and the network begins in a few weeks – so I need their application ASAP.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The Small Groups Tele-Coaching Network is a relationship-based coaching experience.
Your Small Group Pastor/Leader will have the opportunity to connect with me and other Small Group Pastors/Leaders from around the country once a month from February – September 2009 on a two-hour phone call (1-3pm EST) where we will cover the following topics/challenges:
* Build a small group ministry that will see 100% participation
* Avoid the same traps that small group ministries fall into over and over again
* Learn how to have small groups that are outward focused
* Discover what the ideal size for a small group is and why
* Create a small group environment that encourages friendships to form
* Understand the advantages semester-based groups have over long-term groups
* Develop a simple and clear sign up system that will multiply involvement
* Utilize the flow of the yearly calendar to maximize sign ups and life-change
* Grow new small group leaders without overwhelming them with trainings
* Multiply small group leaders without having to split up existing groups
* Implement a small groups structure that is clear, produces results and, above all,
can work in your churchAs a part of this network, your Groups Pastor will receive:
* Monthly hands-on coaching from me
* A proven coaching process that leads to growth and health
* FREE resources every month
* Unlimited email access each month to me and others on our staff
* A monthly small group environment where everyone is focused on personal,
professional and church growth
* Free access to other CLI events and on-line trainings during the network
* Plus much, much moreYou have already experienced the benefits of a coaching network as a lead pastor – imagine how much more would your church could grow in size, influence and effectiveness if your small groups were operating at maximum efficiency.
You can download the application for the Small Groups Coaching Network by CLICKING HERE
The network begins on Thursday, February 26. We are limited in how many people we can accept into the network – so the sooner you get the attached application back to me…the better.
Email me with any questions you might have or have your Small Groups Pastor/Leader contact me directly by email or phone.
Growing together…
Kerrick Thomas
Executive/Teaching Pastor
The Journey Church
kerrick@journeymetro.com
P: 212-730-8300 x206
F: 212-245-0620*Kerrick is Executive/Teaching Pastor at The Journey Church and has co-authored “Launch: Starting A New Church from Scratch” and “Activate: An Entirely New Way of Doing Small Groups.” Kerrick has been at The Journey from the beginning and was part of the team that launched The Journey Church of New York City in 2002. By 2008 The Journey has grown to over 1,100 attending each Sunday with 1,300+ in small groups.
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Small Group Curriculum (Free Download)
We are working on our groups for Spring 2009 and recently produced the list of approved curriculum/books for group studies. Since its one of the most frequently requested documents I thought you might want a copy. You can download it by right clicking the link here:
2009 SPRING APPROVED SMALL GROUP CURRICULUM LISTINGS
I hope you find it helpful!
Nelson
P.S. For complete details on our small groups system check out The Small Groups Intensive by clicking here. This goes way deeper than the original seminar or the Activate book.
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Q & A: Small Groups and Accountability
Here’s a frequently asked question about semester-based small groups:
If groups operate on a semester system and everyone rotates groups, how do you manage accountability?
Kerrick Thomas, co-author of Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups and Executive Pastor at The Journey, answers the question:
Thank you for your question about “accountability” in a semester-based small group system. I’ll do my best to answer concisely.
First of all – accountability is provided in the small groups during the 10-12 week semester. Each individual signs a small group covenant, commits to attend the group, serve, give, attend on Sunday and keep up with the reading during that time. And the members of the group help them be accountable for those important spiritual disciplines during that time.There are more people being held accountable through a semester-based small group system that has over 100% of the average Sunday attendance signed up than in a long-term small group system that only has 30% of the Sunday attendance involved.
And the goal is that personal accountability for issues that are more personal will develop naturally through longer term relationships that develop within the group and then carry on afterwards.
But secondly – as far as long-term accountability for members – church membership provides that accountability structure for us. Members sign a Membership Covenant and we hold them accountable for standards of membership (giving, serving, being in a small group, attending, living a godly life-style (as much as we can know).
So – I would say that having a Membership Class, a Membership Covenant and holding members accountable for the commitments they make serves as a strong primary accountability structure.
I hope that helps answer your question!
Kerrick
P.S. To go ‘in depth’ on semester based small groups, check out the Small Groups Intensive that Nelson and I - its goes into every aspect of the system. Simply click here.
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BONUS: Answering Your Small Group Questions — Question 4 — Doesn’t the semester-based system keep people from forming meaningful relationships?
Thanks to the great response we received from this week’s small group posts, we decided to give you one more Q&A. Think of it as a Saturday bonus!
Question #4: I like the idea of semester-based small groups that meet for 10-12 weeks and then end. But doesn’t that keep deep and meaningful relationships from forming? Doesn’t the group end just as people are really getting to know each other?
This is one of the most common questions about the semester-based small group system. But it is based on fundamentally flawed information. Here’s the deal:
Most church leaders assume that, if involved in a “standard” 18-24 month small group system, 10-12 people will sign up, love being together and become intimate friends. But that’s not what really happens…
In reality, some people will click and others won’t. If the group extends beyond 12 weeks, those who haven’t really clicked start looking for ways to get out. Their attendance gets spotty. And even those who do form strong friendships begin to get bored before that year and a half to two years is up.
The goal of the semester-based group is not to encourage intimate relationships, but to create a safe, healthy environment through which basic friendships can form. Those meaningful relationships that start during the semester will continue to grow naturally outside the group after it ends.
We would all be much better off if we stopped promising (and then trying to force) intimate relationships within our small groups. It’s a promise we can’t deliver on. What we can and should deliver is a safe, healthy social environment where people can meet other like-minded people so that relationships can develop naturally.
This truth takes a lot of pressure off of small group leaders. Too often, leaders feel like failures when the people in their groups don’t become great friends.
One side note – if you are like us, you are constantly trying to get unchurched men to sign up for small groups. Realize that these guys aren’t consciously looking for “intimate” relationships, But they would like to have a place where they can meet some other cool people, learn something new and explore what it means to know God more deeply. If you stop talking about the amazing, intimate relationships that will form in small groups, you just might stop scaring them off!
To learn more about implementing a Small Groups System that works, read back through this week’s blog posts and check out Activate: An Entirely New Approach To Small Groups.
Enjoy your Saturday!
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Answering Your Small Group Questions — Question 3 — How can we double our number of groups by next semester?
This is Kerrick Thomas with our final small groups question of the week. I hope that what we’ve been discussing has impacted you in a way that will translate into more effective small groups for your church. If you missed any of this week’s blog entries make sure to scroll down and check them out!
Question #3: We need twice as many small groups next semester if we want everyone in our church to be able to join. What’s the best way to double our number of groups?
There’s a common misconception around this question. Many pastors think that the way to increase their number of groups is to split/divide existing groups. It’s not! People hate group splits and they seldom work in the long run.
The key to quickly producing more small groups is to multiply small group leaders. How? By identifying them in current groups and raising them up to take on the responsibility of leadership.
At The Journey, we have learned how to raise up new leaders through lots of experience. New York is a transient city. People are always moving in and out, which poses a leader problem for us. In 2007, we lost over 60 strong small group leaders to moves. Can you imagine losing 60 leaders in a year? Needless to say, we have had to learn how to be continually raising up new leaders.
Here are some of the principles we live by:
1 – Don’t set the leadership bar higher than it should be. Our small group leaders aren’t required to be Bible scholars, counselors or have the gift of teaching. We simply ask that our leaders love God and people, and that they understand how to facilitate discussion. We let the curriculum be the teacher and give every leader the freedom to say “I don’t know.” If you keep your expectations for your small group leaders at a manageable level, you’ll have many more potential leaders to choose from.
2 – Make sure every group has a “Coordinator.” Create an official position within each small group where someone who would make a good leader serves as the current leader’s assistant/apprentice. The coordinator can get experience by leading one or two discussions during the semester and being involved in the details of running a group. By the next semester, he will be ready to lead a group on his own… with a coordinator.
3 – Keep current leaders on the lookout. At the beginning of each semester, let all of your current leaders know that you want them to be on the lookout for those in their groups who may make good leaders in the future.
Just over half way through each semester (6-8 weeks in), contact all of your leaders and coordinators. Ask them directly 1) if they plan on leading the next semester and 2) who in their group would make a good leader.
4 – Make the BIG ASK. When you ask potential small group leaders to lead for the first time, don’t ask apologetically or tentatively. You are giving them the opportunity of a lifetime; you are challenging them to take a bold step of spiritual growth – one that is important for them personally and for your church collectively. Approach potential leaders with confidence!
If this week’s posts have helped you turn some needed attention to your small groups system, let me encourage you to keep the learning going! Check out my and Nelson’s new book, Activate: An Entirely New Approach To Small Groups. I promise that you will find tons of information that will help you create an extremely effective, life-changing, God-honoring small groups system - one that includes every single person in your church!Have a great weekend!
Kerrick
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Answering Your Small Group Questions — Question 2 — What if a group doesn’t get enough sign ups?
Kerrick Thomas here again. Today, I’m continuing to answer the most common questions Nelson and I get about small groups. In addition to being the Executive Pastor of The Journey and co-author of Launch and Activate, I handled small groups at The Journey until not too long ago. Even though we’ve now passed that responsibility on to a Small Groups Pastor, I still take an active interest in making sure that we run and share a Small Groups System that works!
This week’s posts are my attempt to help you take your groups to the next level. If you missed Question #1 (What about childcare?), make sure you look back to Monday’s post. Here’s Question #2…
Question #2: What if a small group doesn’t get enough sign ups? We have a few small groups where just a handful of people signed up and I’m afraid the groups aren’t going to make it. What should we do?
When you do semester-based small groups, where people get to join the group of their choice every semester, you will inevitably have some groups that don’t get a lot of sign ups. But it’s not the end of the world.
The first step you should take is to figure out why the group has not filled up. Then, you’ll have a better idea how to correct the situation.
Here are three of the most common reasons groups get low sign ups and what you can do to turn things around:
Reason 1: Inconvenient Time or Location and/or Poor Topic Choice – Is the time or area of the meeting not convenient to the majority of your people? Is the book to be studied not something that’s resonating with your culture? These concerns pop out about a few groups every semester.
Solution 1: If you catch this issue early enough, you can make some necessary changes. Ask the group leader to move the meeting location to a more convenient place, choose a better time or reconsider the book to be studied. If it’s necessary, you can even postpone the start of that new and improved group for a few weeks to give more people a chance to sign up.
Sometimes if two groups have low sign ups and they are planning to meet on the same day or are geographically close to one another, you can combine the two groups to make one good sized group.
Reason 2: Lack of Leader Promotion – Has the leader been personally inviting people to join? Has she been volunteering to work the groups information table at the weekend service? Sometimes the problem is connected to a leader who hasn’t done a good job of promoting his or her own group.
Solution 2: Encourage the leader to start taking steps to promote the group. He can ask his friends to sign up, reach out to others in the church that he knows, or serve on a Sunday to help get word about his group.
Reason 3: Flawed Sign Up System – Are people having a hard time figuring out how to sign up for a group? If you are seeing low sign ups in several of your groups, there could be a system problem.Solution 3: Take a hard look at the structure and implementation of your Small Groups System. Read Activate: An Entirely New Approach To Small Groups again! We’ve put a system in place that can help ensure the success of your groups.
Unfortunately, sometimes there is no solution when a group’s sign ups are falling short. There are times when you just need to call it off. The most important thing in this scenario is to keep the leader encouraged. Let him know that these things happen and it is not a reflection on him. If you think the leader has potential, encourage him to try again next semester.
Check back tomorrow for the answer to another small groups question! I bet it’s one you have asked yourself…
Kerrick
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Where There’s Slack There’s Lack - Part 4 of 8
SYSTEM #4: THE SMALL GROUPS SYSTEM
Welcome back to our weekly Wednesday blog series, “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack.” If you’ve been keeping up with these posts each week, I trust that your church systems are beginning to undergo positive transformation. Hopefully, you’ve pinpointed some areas that have suffered because of slack and started turning that lack around!
Today, we are going to keep with this week’s small groups theme here on the blog by talking about The Small Groups System. This is the system that asks, “How do we fill and reproduce small groups at our church?”
A lot of pastors I talk with have a hard time believing that it’s possible to get 100% of their attenders involved in a small group. But it is possible! The Journey is a perfect example…
Since we started our small groups system almost five years ago, we have averaged over 100% participation each and every semester. How? By implementing a strong system that specifically answers the question I just mentioned about filling and reproducing groups.
Think about your Small Groups System for a minute. How are things going? Are you doing your part and seeing God’s blessing? Or have you been slacking off and experiencing lack? To take the pulse of this system in your church, ask yourself these questions:
- How many of your regular attenders are actively involved in a small group?
- Are you competing against your own groups by offering too many other activities?
- How many passionate group leaders do you have?
- Are you and your staff all involved in a small group?
If you have a weak Small Groups System, you will see problems in many of your other systems as well. But a strong Groups System will help you solve leadership, pastoral care, volunteer, and hospitality issues across the board.
Can you guess what the challenge is for this week? You got it – to spend some time taking a hard look at your Small Groups System. Be honest about the level of excitement in your church over small groups. Be honest about your participation numbers. Sketch out some ideas about what you can do to improve your system next semester.
To get the ideas flowing and to help you put a strong plan in place if you don’t have one, let me encourage you to take a look at my new book, Activate: An Entirely New Approach To Small Groups.
Make this your mantra for the week: In my Small Groups System, slack = lack, but
Effort = Excellence!
Nelson
P.S. – If you haven’t already, make sure you download the free Church Systems Report, to learn more about the eight church systems and how they work together to keep your church healthy and growing.
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Answering Your Small Group Questions - Question #1 - What About Childcare?
Hi Everyone. Kerrick Thomas here. I’m the Exeuctive Pastor at The Journey Church and Co-Author of Launch and Activate with Nelson. Today, Thursday and Friday, I’m going to be answering some of the most common questions we get about small groups. Tomorrow (Wednesday), Nelson will be back with the weekly Slack = Lack post, which will be centered on the Small Groups System. Lots to learn about small
groups this week! Let’s dive in:Question #1: What do you do about childcare for small groups?
When it comes to small groups, you should stay out of the childcare business, no matter how much pressure you get to take on the responsibility. Believe me when I tell you that, if you don’t make this decision on the front end, childcare will become a growth barrier and logistical nightmare as your number of small groups grows.
The best solution is to empower each small group to be responsible for its own childcare needs. Be prepared to give your groups some creative and workable options:
1 – Have everyone in the group who has children pitch in financially to hire a baby sitter or two every week. When all of the parents give a little the cost is surprisingly minimal.
2 – Set up a rotation where a different couple in the group baby sits the children each week. Make sure no one has to baby sit more that once or twice during the semester.
3 – Challenge every couple with children to find a solution before coming to group (baby sitter, relative, etc.). After all, they have to find childcare when they go out on a date or have a work function. Most parents have several childcare options.
4 – Create a child-friendly group where parents are encouraged to bring their children. This works best with moms’ groups who meet during the day and plan their group around activities for the children.
These are just a few of the many options available to you. The big point is: Don’t get roped into providing the childcare solutions for your groups. Let the groups come up with creative solutions themselves, with some helpful input from you.
Take a few minutes to brainstorm other potential childcare options. What have you seen work? What would you like to try? Get some other people involved in this conversation and see where it leads.
Kerrick
P.S. If you want to dig deeper into what it takes to have successful groups, make sure you check out the new book Nelson and I just released, Activate: An Entirely New Approach To Small Groups.
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Activate Hits Bookstores!
My latest book (co-authored with Kerrick) hits bookstores today! I’m very excited about this new book on small groups. The book has been available on-line for a few weeks and is doing great. In fact, I still think Amazon.com is the best place to purchase the book.
The goal of the book is to help you build a small groups system that motivates 100% Adult
Participation. We’ve been using these principles here in NYC for the last 6 years and regularly see 110% of our adults in small groups. In addition, I’ve seen similar results with several dozen churches that I have coached through the same process.Kerrick and I hope you find this book helpful and beneficial (especially for those of you who have struggled with groups in the past).
And if you’ve already read the book, I hope you’ll post a review on Amazon.com (they really do make a difference).
Your friend,
Nelson
P.S. If you have small group questions, use the Ask Nelson button on the right - I plan to answer a ton of small group questions in the blog shortly.
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Summer Small Groups - Are They Worth It?
This week, our summer growth groups kick-off at The Journey. So far, over 90% of our adults are in a summer group. We should settle in at around 105% participation this summer - a lot of people will wait until this week to join a group. (Our goal is always 100% of our adults in a small group . . . measured against weekend attendance).
For the next few days, you can see an example of how we do online sign-ups for groups by click here (I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t fill out the form, but feel free to steal anything you like).One of the big questions we get about our semester-based small groups system has to do with summer groups. A lot of people question whether summer groups are necessary at all.
I know where this thinking comes from… Summer groups are usually ‘flat’ in attendance compared with the spring and fall semesters. In fact, we’ve thought long and hard about skipping a summer semester but each year we continue to push summer groups.
Here’s why we keep doing summer groups:
- Summer allows for a lot of creative groups that will attract new people (bible studies in the park, fitness groups, bring your kids groups, bbq/cook out groups, etc.)
- Summer is the perfect time for new group leaders to get their feet wet (this summer almost 50% of our group leaders are new!)
- Summer is a great time for returning group leaders to take some time off. We ‘force’ our group leaders to take one semester off a year to prevent burnout. I’d rather them take the summer off since the spring and fall are the times when we need as many groups as possible.
- Summer is a great time for many people to join a group who otherwise have busy fall/spring schedules
- Spiritual growth shouldn’t stop just because it’s hot outside
Hope this helps answer your question about summer groups. If you have more questions just use the Ask Nelson button on the right or post them below. I’ll answer as many as possible.
Nelson
P.S. For more on the complete Groups system we use to attract 100% of our adult attendance to groups, check out my brand new book Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups.
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