Growing your Group :: Sunday School Leaders

Jan

Lead your Group to Start a New Group

By Kiely Young · Comments (0)

“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 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

Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Growing your Group, New Groups, Small Groups, Sunday School

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Jan

How to Keep a New Group Growing

By Kiely Young · Comments (0)

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.

Who are we trying to reach?
Why are we trying to reach that group?
When are we trying to reach them?
Where are we trying to reach them?
What do we plan to do for them when we reach them?
How will we measure success in reaching and ministering to them?
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

Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Growing your Group, New Groups, Small Groups, Sunday School

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Jan

Why Your Group Should Start a New One

By Josh Hunt · Comments (1)

I taught for several years that if we are going to see a doubling group movement in our country, the groups themselves must embrace the vision of growing and dividing. After all, a group of 10 that doubles every 18 months can reach 1,000 people in 10 years, and a group of 10 that doubles every 18 months would reach the whole world in approximately 43 years. (Yes, I do say this a lot.) What an incredible opportunity!

So, why isn’t it happening? My reasoning was: We don’t want it to happen. The group has to first embrace the vision.

I had good reason to think this. I have had lots of people over the years say to me, “But we don’t want to double our class. Our class is comfortable the way we are.” I assumed that groups that were growing were made up of a different breed of people—people who were fired up about the vision. With these race horses, we could grow using any method or no method. I reasoned that groups that were growing must be comprised of people who really embraced the vision of doubling groups.

Not so. There was almost no difference (2%) in the likelihood of growth between those in the top and those in the bottom of this scale. I was shocked. People who really embraced the vision were only slightly more likely to be doubling, when compared with those who didn’t embrace the vision.

How can we explain this? Here’s my attempt:

Imagine you’re rocking along, facilitating a group, but not overtly pushing it to grow and multiply. How aware are you of your group’s feelings about growing and multiplying? How likely would you be to report that your group is strongly opposed to the idea? Not so much, right?

Now, suppose you get bitten by the group multiplication bug. You start actively talking to your group about growing and multiplying. What kind of response do you expect to get?

In case you’re not sure, trust me, it’s highly unlikely that your group will openly embrace this. You start ranting and raving about growing and dividing, and they’ll start recoiling and resisting. How aware are you now of your group’s feelings about the vision? How likely are you to report that your group is strongly opposed to growing and multiplying? Very likely.

The more the leader embraces the vision of growing and multiplying, the more likely he or she is to be aware of the group’s resistance. Eventually, as the leader succeeds in growing and multiplying the group more people get on board with the vision. But it takes time.

In short, I still believe that if a group has embraced the vision it is more likely to be growing. Conversely, though, the more the vision is cast, the more aware the leader is of resistance. These factors offset each other, I think. But the facts remain the facts.

The lesson we can take away is this: If you want to grow your group and birth new groups, you don’t have to wait for your group to catch the vision. Sometimes they’ve already embraced the vision and sometimes they haven’t. Either way, groups usually only embrace the vision after they‘ve seen it work a couple times.

I had a man come up to me after a conference in the Houston area with this testimony: “I bought your book [You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less], read it, and put it into practice. Our group grew. I presented the idea of multiplying. They hated it! They hated me! They hated you, Josh! But we did it anyway. Attendance actually dropped for a while. But, we rocked along. We kept doing the things that had caused us to grow—having parties and inviting every member and every potential member. We had the group well-organized and lots of people involved. A year went by. I looked up and noticed we had as many as we had had before we divided. The other group was doing just about as well. I realized we would have never gotten that many to come to our small group. So, we divided again. People were grumpy, but not as badly as before because they had seen some positive results. We grew again, and recently divided again. I’m starting to think I can do this!”

Most people catch vision after they see results. It’s much the same way in other areas of life. You don’t have to be excited about grilled chicken, broccoli, and exercise to lose weight; you just have to eat broccoli and grilled chicken—and, of course, exercise.

Lesson: Don’t wait for your group to embrace the vision of growing and multiplying; just work the plan.

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This is an excerpt from Josh Hunt’s book “Make Your Group Grow”.

Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Growing your Group, Ministry

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Jan

Enlarge the Organization

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (0)

Quick! What is one thing that virtually any church, any where, of any size, large budget or small, can do that will reach new people with the Gospel and make more disciples?

The third principle in Flake’s Formula is “Enlarge the Organization”. Okay, you’ve been waiting for this, right? It is absolutely imperative for church’s to start new groups. There it is… it’s out there! Start a new group.

Of the five principles of Flake’s Formula, this principle may be the least applied of them all. Let’s face it: most of our classes and small groups are focused on themselves and branching out to start a new group is not in our DNA. One of the best things that a group can do to enlarge the Kingdom is something that many groups are firmly against!

I was visiting recently with an education minister of a large and fast-growing church and asked him about their growth. He response was that although they were experiencing a lot of growth, the groups that had been together the longest were not growing. Virtually all of their new growth was coming from new groups the church had started in the past year.

Know the Rule of 10
The “Rule of 10″ simply means that for every new group your church starts, attendance will grow by 10 people. So if you want your church to grow in attendance by 50 people this year… that’s five new groups.

Churches are becoming more creative and experimenting with new ways to start new groups. This week you will learn a couple of new ways that churches are starting new groups. Steve Gladen of Saddleback Church has a very aggressive and creative plan to starting new groups that you may need to consider. His post will be up Wednesday the 18th.

How is your church doing? Are you making new disciples? The proven strategy for reaching new people and making new disciples is starting new groups. Join us for a great time together this week.

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Bob Mayfield is the Sunday School/Small Groups specialist at the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. He also serves First Baptist Church of Moore as Interim Education Minister. Bob blogs at www.bobmayfield.com

Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Growing your Group, New Groups

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Jan

The Impact of One Leader

By Belinda Jolley · Comments (0)

My grandson has always been amazed by heavy farm machinery. Garrett has had many toy tractors and knows the names of all the farm machinery. As a first grader he now wants to ride with his dad or grandfather on the big tractors. However, he also understands these large machines can be dangerous, as well as helpful.

A bulldozer, for example, may be used to clear out an area on which to build a home—or maybe a barn. The same machine can be used to tear down something—maybe a building that is no longer safe to dwell in or that has been severely damaged by fire or storms. The same piece of powerful machinery can either build up or tear down.

I’m convinced Sunday School leaders hold the same influence—either positively or negatively. One Sunday School leader can have tremendous impact or influence. Whether you are talking about the entire organization or one Sunday School class or group, the truth applies to both.

Imagine Sunday School teachers who are so fearful that “they will split my class” that they deliberately undermine any efforts to start new classes. Their tactics may be open and bold or they may be subtle. The subtle may be more dangerous because people may not see what is happening. You know what I mean. “I just can’t imagine not having any of you in my class any more. I just love our sweet fellowship. “

On the other hand, imagine Sunday School teachers that know starting new classes are effective in the church’s mission to make and grow disciples. These teachers are constantly planting seeds that promote starting new classes. They constantly make note of peoples’ gifts or abilities and may encourage them in ways such as, “I’ve noticed how well you relate to our preschoolers when we have class fellowships. Have you ever prayed about how God might use you in a ministry with preschoolers?” These teachers will love everyone, but they keep forging toward the mission. These teachers will tell stories of changed lives and remind classes they would not have met or heard these stories without the folks who once came into their class as newcomers. These teachers celebrate growing and sending out leaders. They probably have photos on the wall of the “class missionaries” who are serving in other age groups on Sunday morning—people for whom they pray often.

The choice is yours. Will you lead in a way that builds up people and, most importantly, builds up the church? Will you keep your eyes on the mission and help others do the same? Or will you choose to lead in ways that tear down people and/or tear down God’s church? Again, the choice is yours. I pray you lead out of a heart that yearns for people to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and then come to grow in their lifelong journey of becoming more like Christ.

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Belinda Jolley serves as the Director of the Adult Ministry Office of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Belinda and her husband, Steve, enjoy starting new classes at First Baptist Church in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Flake's Formula, Growing your Group, Leadership, New Groups, Sunday School

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