Small Groups :: Sunday School Leaders

Jan

Everyone Needs a Class!

By Mark Miller · Comments (0)

Bad Lessons run off more people than good outreach programs can bring in. You will literally kill your church visiting if all you ever visit is Chronic Absentees. If you’re not enrolled in Sunday School, you ain’t got no class! Enrollment is the most important statistic in the church.

These were just a few of the snappy little sayings by Andy Anderson. Everyone needs a class, but If you’re not enrolled in Sunday School, you ain’t got no class! It is so powerful to hear someone share how a class of people ministered to them in their time of need and brought them to Jesus. In September of 2006, I arrived at my classroom to find a message from the pastor on the marker board: Pray for Beth Smith. I had no clue that Beth was sick. On Saturday, I had chaperoned the High School Band to a Band Contest and we returned at 2:00 in the morning. Both of Beth’s daughters were in the band. When they arrived home, Beth had responded to them. Beth’s husband, Chuck, was accompanying a terminally ill boy on a Elk hunt as a part of an organization like Make a Wish. The next morning Beth was very lethargic and was rushed to the hospital. The majority of the members of Sunday School class spent that day and Monday morning with Chuck, Jordan and Jessica at the hospital. Beth never came out of the diabetic coma that she was in and died on Monday afternoon. During the next few days, our class took the lead and ministered to the family and continued to do so to this day. That experience led me to the conclusion: That my desire is that every Tennessean would have a Sunday School class like mine to minister to them in a time of need.

Andy is shouting from the grave: If you’re not enrolled in Sunday School, you ain’t got no class! Sunday School leader do you understand the importance of enrolling people in Sunday School? In my opinion, every church member should be a member of a Sunday School class. After someone has been won the easiest and most efficient way to assimilate them is a Sunday School class. In fact, Thom Rainer’s, President of LifeWay Christian Resources, research indicates that if we get someone connected to a Sunday School class or small group that 85% of these people will still be connected to your church 5 years later, compared with only 15% of those who only attend worship. Join me in believing that every person needs a class.

As a young minister of education, Andy convinced me that enrollment is more important than baptisms, church membership, and attendance. He would declare, “Enrollment is the most important statistic in the church.” In fact, I agree with my friend Bob Mayfield who says, enrollment is the forgotten factor in evangelism today. Churches are dropping people from the rolls instead of adding people to the roll. When your enrollment increases, your attendance increases. When you enroll lost people, your baptisms increase. When your enrollment increases, your offerings increase. When your enrollment increases, your membership increases. A pastor from West TN recently took the Power Up Your Sunday School Challenge and his church enrolled 41 new members in 7 weeks and the attendance grew from 80 to 120.

Daniel Edmonds, the State Sunday School Director in Alabama, has a great definition for enrollment. He says that enrollment is a covenant making, attendance increasing, relationship building, evangelistic opportunity. Everyone needs a class that will enter a covenant to pray for them, to love them, to minister to them, to challenge them in their spiritual journey. But if they’re not enrolled in Sunday School, they ain’t got no class.
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Mark Miller, State Sunday School Director, Tennessee Baptist Convention

Categories : Flake's Formula, Ministry, Outreach/Evangelism, Prayer, Small Groups, Sunday School

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Jan

Basic Home Group Space Principles

By David Bond · Comments (0)

My family has relocated several times over the past fifteen years. While numerous tasks accompany this experience, one of the most important is finding a new home. Factors such as location, cost, proximity to school, work, and church, neighborhood, must all be considered. Deciding on the best home is the result of careful evaluation, establishing priorities, and wise management of resources.

What about finding a home for your small group family? For many churches, accelerated growth and limited space may require new groups to meet away from the church building. When churches seek to find off-campus locations for groups, many factors must also be considered.

The Purpose of the Group

For this post, assume the home group is an extension of the Sunday School and is designed to function as an open group. Assist the group members in identifying their target people group whether it is families in the neighborhood or already identified acquaintances from the social circles of group members. Some groups may not choose to meet in a home at all but rather a more neutral location such as a coffee shop in order to engage those who are completely unreached. Home groups should be able to clearly identify their people group.

The Environment of the Home

The host home should be warm and welcoming. While every host wants to be ready for guests, the message should be that real people still live in the house. No one wants to have a small group meeting in a museum. Furnishings, décor, and overall atmosphere should invite group participants to feel at home and in the company of others to whom they can relate. Space should be sufficient for a seating arrangement that allows group members to view each other’s faces. Other considerations such as ease of locating, access, and parking should also be kept in mind.

Participants in the Group

Who will attend the group meeting? Ten single people will arrive in a different number of vehicles than five married couples. If children will be present at the meeting, teenagers will require different space than preschoolers. If the group has children of all ages, the variety of space needs increases again. Access for disabled group members may also need to be considered.

Proximity to the Church

In some cases, groups may meet in a home while their children participate in a program at church. This solution may work, but travel time between the host home and church must be factored into the overall time allotted. Also, consider the strategy you will use to eventually connect small group members to worship and service in and through your church.

Elements of the Meeting

If a meal is a part of the meeting, preparation and serving space should be considered. If the Bible study content is video driven, quality picture and sound is a must. Should the group desire to break off into smaller groups for prayer/accountability, this also may need to be thought through.

Be thorough when selecting a home for your small group family.

Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Growing your Group, Mission, New Groups, Small Groups, Space and Facilities, Sunday School

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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

New People to New Groups?

By Steve Gladen · Comments (0)

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!

Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Leadership, Ministry, Small Groups, Sunday School

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