Archive for 5 Weeks of Flake – Page 2

Space for the Kids

The most important areas in a church building are the Sunday School rooms for the preschoolers and children.  Some might want to argue that point, but it’s important that the kids ministry area be top quality.

This is the area of the church that should be well-equipped and should “shine” as you enter the area.  When young families with children come to the church for the first time, they are evaluating the preschool and children space as they drop their children off for Sunday School and for preschool care during worship times.

Unfortunately some churches allow these areas to become cluttered, outdated and are placed in less than convenient areas of the church educational facilities.  Don’t let that happen.  Lead your Sunday School ministry to make preschool and children’s space a priority instead of an add-on.

There are several reasons for doing so.  Here’s a list of a few:

  • Preschoolers and children need more space than youth and adults (it is recommended that preschool rooms have 35 square feet per child and children’s rooms have 25 square feet per child).  This may seem like a lot, but preschoolers need room crawl and toddle around.  Children are active and need some space to move and do activities during Sunday School teaching times.
  • Parents are taking note.  If it’s not clean or updated, they probably won’t feel comfortable leaving their children in that room.  Make sure the floor coverings are clean and modern.  Have bright lighting and colorful painted and decorated walls.  Check the safety of the furnishings and equipment.  In recent years there have been new federal safety guidelines issued for baby cribs so make sure the cribs meet these standards.
  • If the preschool and children’s areas are in an inconvenient place or not near the worship center, consider doing a swap with other age groups.  With the exception of the senior adult classes (which should also be on a main level near the worship center) you could possibly arrange for adults or youth to be further away or on other levels of the facility.  Parents want their children fairly close by and they like the ease of dropping off children soon after they enter the building, so try to have preschool/children rooms in convenient areas.
  • It’s about the kids!  When Sunday School ministry started in the late 1700’s in England, it was a ministry for children.  Don’t forget the kids.  When children come to Sunday School, it is often an easy step or two to also reach their parents.

If you need to review the safety and security of your kids ministry facilities, here’s a link to a document  you can download.

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Richard Nations is the Church Health Team Leader at the Baptist Convention of Iowa.  Reach him at rnations@bciowa.org.

Add Supporting Leaders as you Grow

In starting a new adult group, one could begin with as few as one or two leaders. Numerous classes have been started through the years with a willing teacher and a list of prospects. On the other end of the spectrum, some start classes with a much larger number of leaders and members. Wherever you are on the spectrum, do not miss the opportunity to add supporting leaders as you grow.

Arthur Flake in his book, The True Functions of the Sunday School, speaks of the Sunday School as the employment agency of the church: “With proper executive leadership any Sunday school in any church can be so organized that a place of useful, joyous service may be made for every member of the church (42).” Flake even responds to those who say we should not rush people into a place of service; “It is false reasoning to say that they cannot serve until they have grown in Christian experience. Jesus used the twelve when they were yet immature (32-33).” Giving people an opportunity to discover and grow into the good work for which they have been created is not being “pushy” (Ephesians 2:10).

I co-authored a book with Dr. Lawrence Phipps, Growing Sunday School TEAMS, in which we demonstrated how to help people discover their place in the Body of Christ through “building Bible study groups in the church.” The invitation is for everyone to discover their place on one of the TEAMS. A modern picture of the Body of Christ is a team of people with a variety of gifts, talents, and abilities coming together to accomplish a mission. The five major positions are Teaching, Evangelism, Administration, Ministry, and Service. A variety of roles are available in each position to enable every member an opportunity to grow and serve. Each position should provide “entry-level tasks” so that new members can serve. I have posed the question to leaders, “If a non-believer began to attend your class, would there be an opportunity for that person to serve?” Watching people come to know Christ because they served in a mission project alongside believers who shared their faith is a true joy.

As you add supporting leaders, you are allowing people to take a “baby-step” toward a life-time of service in the Kingdom. These supporting leaders will have the opportunity to grow into the key leaders of the near future.

Arthur Flake said, “As it was in New Testament times, so it is today. In all our churches we have capable people of varied gifts and talents who, if enlisted and trained, will be able to do valiant service for Christ. Let us see how all these may be utilized in a practical way through service in our Sunday schools (34).”
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Daniel Edmonds, State Missionary, Office of Sunday School & Discipleship, Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.

Lead your Group to Start a New Group

“We have a great idea. Let’s encourage ALL of our classes/small group Bible studies to birth a new group with their group.” I shared that idea with one class one day and I was told immediately that I could leave room. They wanted no part of this plan.

New groups do not just happen because we think they should happen. This must be built into the DNA of each new group from the beginning. They must know that the optimum maximum size for a small group is not more than twenty five. When a class or group gets larger, it loses the small group dynamic.

So just how is this done. We must develop disciples within the group to make this happen. We have found a structure of five leaders can best begin a new group: Teacher, Evangelism Leader, Administrative Leader, Ministry Leader, and Service Leader. These leaders seek out those individuals within their group who can best fit their same position as their group grows. They will be seeking to reach their friends and those who are attracted to this group. As the group begins to reach the optimum size of twenty to twenty five, they need to intensify their work of discipling and equipping prospective leaders for the new group. The whole class must be in prayer about this opportunity. This does not “divide” or “split” the class. Rather, you have the joy of birthing a new class with whom you will continue to have

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fellowship, ministry, and sharing together. You may or not meet at the same time or even the same location. But, you will share mutual vision, purpose, and passion for reaching and nurturing believers in Christ. You may even work together to start more new classes from within both groups.

All new leaders must be prayerfully and carefully enlisted, equipped and encouraged in their new responsibilities. They must never be left alone to fend for themselves. That could result in failure in their minds. Rather, we must continue to encourage them and work with them to see them reach their friends as they were reached by their class. This really can be contagious!.
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Kiely Young
Mississippi Baptist Convention Board

How to Keep a New Group Growing

This week I sat in a meeting talking to a Pastor and Minister of Education whose church has regularly started new groups over the past several years.  They have done so in an environment of declining population in the heart of the Mississippi Delta region.  Their church has experienced steady growth.   I asked them to explain how they have done this and how they have help keep these groups growing.

They quickly responded. “We have not seen success with ALL the groups.  It depends on the leadership team we have enlisted and their passion for the group we are trying to reach.  Those with passion to reach those in need grow spiritually and numerically.  Those who are just enlisted and equipped to teach a class do not always put their hearts into the work of the class.”

Those statements say a lot.  When we begin new groups we must ask some key questions if we want success in meeting the needs of the group we are trying to reach.

  1. Who are we trying to reach?
  2. Why are we trying to reach that group?
  3. When are we trying to reach them?
  4. Where are we trying to reach them?
  5. What do we plan to do for them when we reach them?
  6. How will we measure success in reaching and ministering to them?
  7. Do we have a plan for nurturing them to multiply and reach others through another new group?

Far too often, we just enlist a teacher, give them a list of “suspects” and expect that person to do all the work.  That class will often be doomed to fail because of lack of purpose and organization.

But, if those enlisted, understand their roles, the purpose of the class, and they have a passion to reach the people they are trying to reach, they are far more likely to succeed.  They must add prayer, hard work, determination, patience, and persistence to their efforts.  As my friend Daniel Edmonds, from Alabama states, “Start small, do it right, build it strong”.  Another pastor friend was asked by a dear senior adult lady how long they were going to continue to use this strategy of starting new groups to reach more people.  He quickly responded, “Until Jesus comes, that was His Commission to us.” Let’s keep up the strong work of growing new classes and small groups.
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Kiely Young
Mississippi Baptist Convention Board

New People to New Groups?

This is part two of two. View part one here.

At Saddleback Church, we have adopted a methodology that has helped us take our small group ministry from 280 adult small groups to over 3,500 adult small groups over the last twelve years. Since 2004, we have had more people in our small groups than in our weekend attendance. How has this happened? What is our methodology for ensuring evangelism still takes place?

We have found two things to be true. One, it is far easier to start a new group than to get an existing group to multiply. I learned to avoid division by stopping talk of multiplication. Now we add. Two, it is also easier to empower a new person to start a new group with a couple of friends they already have than place them in an existing group of people they may or may not know (or like). We call this the Two Friend’s Rule—if you have two friends you can start the journey and begin a group! If you don’t have two friends…well, uh…there might be another issue.

Our primary strategy, and we

have many sub strategies, is our Campaign Strategy. See Small Groups With Purpose, Chapter 17 for more information. This Campaign Strategy is something we do once a year, usually in the fall. We align the five learning modes around a central compelling question and implement it throughout the church, from the children to the adults. Everyone is on the same page, with a similarly themed sermon series, and delivery of additional materials through the small group system. Roll these factors together and the result is exponential growth and alignment in your small groups. If you don’t have small groups, this strategy is the perfect way to begin them. If you do have small groups, but they all seem to be going in different directions, this is the perfect way to align them.

So, how long do we allow our groups to continue meeting? We let our groups go for life, if they like. We don’t tell them that ahead of time, we let them discover that! Letting our groups focus on building community helps instill some natural by-products. First, it helps them see that you care about their spiritual health and the community needs they have. It also builds trust and opens communication for you to teach evangelism in a safe way that won’t disrupt community in the process.

A common question I get asked at almost all of our conferences, is if you don’t encourage groups to multiply, won’t they become “Us Four and No More” or “Us Seven till We Get to Heaven”? Again, just because we don’t birth groups, it doesn’t mean we don’t have the people in the groups do personal evangelism—we do! So if they don’t add people to their group, but still effectively do personal evangelism; then it is a win/win. Also, my experience has been, even when you don’t plan to add people to the group—you do. People move, schedules change, life stage changes happen. There are many factors that influence the dynamics of the group. Whatever the factors, however, a group has two options: either it will dwindle to nothing or organically grow.

A key component to launching Groups For Life is to use the yearly Campaign to give people a reason to leave their group. The pastor needs to challenge the people in the group to leave annually. Why? Because leaving a group is hard when you launch it for life. People need a reason to leave, and the pastor asking them to is a great reason. It may be that they just aren’t gelling with their current group, or it may be that God as plans for them to step it up and begin leading another group. Whatever the reason, you need to provide them with an easy out. Over the years three couples have left my small group and started new groups during a Campaign…never to come back. Is that bad? No. Is that strategic? You bet!