Small Groups on Mission
July 29, 2008
Well, there is nothing like being in the cool of the mountains of New Mexico. Add to that an added bonus of a good conference and that is much like chocolate and peanut butter coming together!
Last week I attended a Sunday School Conference at Glorieta led by LifeWay staff. Ed Stetzer challenged us to wrap our minds around growth (or the lack thereof) in evangelical churches today, all the while encouraging us to press in to what we know is true, the need develop small groups that equip, encourage, and send believers into a world that desperately needs Jesus Christ. Ed reminded us of the simple, but powerful work of small groups, accountability with one another to love and good deeds!
To further equip, the leaders pointed us to a ministry of balance in our small groups using the Connect, Grow, Serve, Go model. Check out the the handouts and the informative webcourse.
Have you been refreshed in mind, body, and spirit lately? Find a great conference at a great location and go!
Easy Sunday School Training Tools
December 31, 2007
Are you looking for some user friendly, clear, and purposeful training resources for your Sunday School Leaders? Check out these:
1. Sunday School Done Right by Allan Taylor. He is the Minister of Ed at First Woodstock, GA. He is certainly fired up about Sunday School.
2. Power Up Your Sunday School by Bob Mayfield, state Sunday School Leader for Oklahoma. Bob is the real deal, and he is passionate about people finding a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Most of all, remember with whatever you use, as the leader, your enthusiasm and passion will communicate most powerfully!
Revealing
November 10, 2007
Recently, a colleague directed me to a most interesting site. Willow Creek Church in Chicago recently spent considerable time and effort to really take a hard look at the growth of the people they lead. It has helped me in a number of ways, like, am I currently thinking about where people are in their maturity with Jesus Christ? Do I have a way to really describe them? Am I actively aware of and facilitating growth for folks at these different levels of maturity?
But, you’ll also be confronted with some issues that I sensed were present in ministry, but I had difficulty describing, and therefore, improving.
Take just a few minutes, and watch this video.
Dual Sunday Schools: Schedule
September 29, 2007
As you move to a dual Sunday School schedule, here are some time schedules I have seen work:
9:30 SS/Worship, 11:00 SS/Worship (30 Minute Window for turnover/fellowship)
8:15 Worship, 9:30 SS/Worship, 11:00 SS/Worship (8:15 added to allow more space in 11:00 Worship service)
8:00 SS/Worship, 9:15 SS/Worship, 10:45 SS/Worship (Heaviest schedule I have been a part of where we had ABC Sunday School hours.)
I have also worked with 7:00 and 7:30 “early bird” Sunday School classes, which have been Senior Adult, or men’s classes.
Whatever the schedule adjustment, communicate clearly and for some time about the changes. Pray about it, and have fun!
Dual Sunday Schools: Space
September 29, 2007
If your ministry uses Sunday School for small group ministry, then space will be an issue for you. One way to easily make room on your campus for more Sunday School space is to meet multiple hours. Keep these principles in mind as you move forward in planning for multiple Sunday School hours:
1. Take your current facility and count the number of Sunday School rooms you have and multiply by 10. This equation is not very fancy, but it does give you a quick baseline number of how many folks you can minister with and to on Sundays.
2. Remember two important ceilings: preschool rooms and parking. If you move to two Sunday Schools, you cannot double use the parking lot or preschool rooms. You will need space in both of these areas for the max number you are planning to have on campus. One church where I served was in desperate need of moving to two Sunday Schools. But, there was no way to be able to accomodate this because of lack of preschool space and parking. Since then, the church has been blessed to move to a larger campus.
Ask the Lord to help you grow, in every way!
Sunday School? Small Groups? Passionate.
August 31, 2007
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit with a colleague locally who is serving in a similar position as I do. He mentioned that his church is searching for ways to reach young adults, and they are planning a small group ministry to go after them, as well as continue a traditional Sunday School. We also talked about the hot topic of the day for many in the work of the church, worship style. Our conversation was flavored with the difficulty many churches seem to face, an identity crisis. For churches in identity crisis keep in mind these things.
1. Be careful to not assume changing methods is the answer in reaching people. Careful evaluation of ministy method and target mission group counts, but it is clearly trumped by passion. If I have the doldrums about the effectiveness of Sunday School, that’s what I’ll get. If I believe small groups are a hassle and not worth the effort, I’ll get a half-baked deal. If I assume no one comes to Sunday night worship services and discipleship classes any more, I’ll not have anyone come.
2. Steady your balance of who you are and have been as a church, and who you will be. As a leadership team, be careful about where you are headed. It is a delicate trip ahead recognizing the need to address the “we’ve never done it this way before” mindset and at the same time not lose the richness of who you are as a church family.
I like to say that where I serve, we are radically traditional. We are simply using age old tools that people in our context immediately respond to, and are fond of in connecting with God. Here’s the deal again though…we are passionate about people and how the Lord is allowing us to connect with them in familiar, yet fresh ways. People recognize and respond to that kind of passion. The church has responded well to new ways of reaching our community too.
Pray, and ask the Lord to give clear direction in how you should proceed in reaching your neighborhood/world for Him. Go for it!
Reach and Teach
August 16, 2007
Reach and Teach
During August of each year, there are usually a number of Sunday School leadership training events that I am blessed to be part of, not to mention my own scheduled annual leader training for our SS leaders. For this year’s event, as every year, I reinforced our mission in Sunday School. Reach and Teach.
It seems interesting to me that it is quite possible to see the 5 purposes of the church through these two main tasks of Sunday School. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus tells us to Go and Make Disciples, Reaching and Teaching.
TEACH
Under Teaching, Discipleship as defined as knowledge based learning is necessary. Filling of the mind. Discipleship as it comes to knowledge of His Commands. Digging into God’s Word. Study. Memorization. Head Change for Heart Change. I believe this is easily seen in Sunday School with the teaching of the lesson. (Knowing)
Under Teaching as well though, this knowledge must be transferred to doing…action! Head Heart and Hands. So another learning, actively through Ministry, equips the disciple in growth. (Doing)
REACH
But, you can’t teach with no one present. We must go. One powerful and easy way to tell is to invite. Fellowship provides a natural setting for people to experience God’s supernatural family. For folks who may not come to a church, invite them to experience God’s love with Christian brothers and sisters. Many buzz about relationship evangelism, this is a great way. (Living)
But, we must tell, even in the face of opposition. Evangelism. The Truth. The Gospel. The Way. Your Sunday School class needs to know ways to simply and clearly share the Gospel and their testimony. Then, provide prospects and evangelism opportunities. (Telling)
With Reach and Teach, the cycle never ends. We are always in the process of discipling folks and reaching more. And through it all, our obedient lives are lifted up in Worship to the Living God!
Open and Closed Groups
August 4, 2007
One of the blessings we have experienced in our church is the ability to have open small groups on Sunday morning, and closed small groups on Sunday night. What do I mean by that?
Sunday mornings we have small groups (Sunday School classes) that are open, meaning the Bible study content is in a unit, but formatted in such a way that anyone one could jump in the class at any time. The study is also at a level that someone who is lost, to someone who has been a believer for many years, can feel right at home in the Bible study.
Our closed groups are driven by Bible study content that is a bit more intense in nature, possibly requiring completion of home study and workbook time during the week. Something that 4 weeks into it, a new person would be behind and know it. Also, closed groups can be closed because of a commitment at the beginning of the class to a confidentiality covenant between members, creating trust, transparency, and openess that may not be as prevalent in open groups.
Find ways to benefit from both of these groups where you serve!
Spiritual Gifts
August 3, 2007
In a continuing effort to help our church members learn more about who they are in the body of Christ and how they can serve, I came across a unique instrument to use. It is through the Church Growth group and it is an online spiritual gifts inventory identical to a hardcopy version I had used for some time.
The wonder of the online version though is impressive. It will automatically email me when someone takes the assessment with their results, and email them with a response from me for next steps. And, it will track all who take the assessment in our church so that I can access the information for general information, or specific tracking in a spreadsheet. Too cool.
There is a nominal set up fee, and annual fee, but the blessing is great. I use it on our website, and lead people to it in our new members class. Check it out at www.churchgrowth.org.
Dynamic Leader Meetings
July 25, 2007
One extremely helpful format for a leader meeting, especially for Small Group/Sunday School leaders is a VHS meeting. I learned this from a leader at our Baptist State Convention. In an hour spend 20 minutes in each of these sections:
Vision-Lay out your heart and passion for where you are taking this group. Remember, you are leading this group somewhere.
Huddle-Allow time for your leader teams to cluster and plan. Make yourself available to all and answer questions, pray, get resources, wash feet or whatever. Serve them!
Skill-Give your leaders something they can take away. Feed them, train them, grow them. Again, if you are not responsible for this, who is? Dream a bit on this one. Ideas: have someone speak on how to facilitate small groups, or how to handle crisis calls. Survey your leaders, or lead a skill based on a current issue.
Cancel boring meetings. Do not read the calendar. Image the meeting you would want to attend, and then make it yours. Stir your leaders!