Recruiting others to help in achieving a mission is crucial in almost any sphere of leadership, but incredibly important in the role of a group leader. There are some basics to understand as we begin the vital task of recruiting leaders.

• Recruiting is not done one-time-a- year. It is a year round responsibility.  Recruiting is not just asking someone to lead. It is knowing an individual personally, seeking to understand their giftedness in God’s kingdom, and matching their uniqueness to a specific role. As leaders, we must continually be “on the lookout” for other potential leaders. By being in community with other believers, we have the opportunity of getting to know them in a myriad of experiences. The wise leader will use any means possible to truly know the potential leader and seek God’s guidance in helping them find their calling in a meaningful place of service. The time required to accomplish this is an investment in the person and the group.

• Recruiting is a process, not an event.  Once God has directed us to a potential leader, we must determine if they can catch the vision of where the group is going?  An easy mistake is to enlist someone to a position, a job description, without knowing if they can truly embrace the vision. If they commit to the vision, the appropriate role (or position) will naturally follow.

It is important to seek, and to trust, God’s leadership at this point. Don’t make the decision for people – either by assuming they will accept, or that they won’t.  There is strength in asking. The individual is valued. The process is valued. And, the sincere, personal call of God on someone’s life is lifted up.

• Our hardest work should go into the pre-enlistment process of recruiting. It has been said that the hardest position to fill is the one that already has someone in it. In other words, wrong person in the wrong job. Since Sunday School/Groups is a living, breathing organism, made up of people; then, it follows that our greatest potential for good, or harm, will be the living, breathing leaders we enlist.  The mechanics of groups – space, equipment, curriculum, schedules and the unexpected challenges that arise, become immeasurably easier to handle when we have the right leaders in the right places of service.

Volumes have been written about accurate job descriptions needed in enlisting leaders, asking with appropriate time for prayerful response, providing training to get people started off well in their new position.  All of this is very true.  However, we may be guilty of jumping ahead to these stated steps without considering laying the appropriate foundation.  In taking the time to build strong foundations, we build strong leaders who in turn build strong groups for the work of the Kingdom.

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Phil Miller is the Director of the Bible study/Discipleship team for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Any level of leadership has certain requirements. What does it take to do this job effectively? When we consider the strategic role of group leader, there is a foundational question that should guide our thinking. What does it take to be successful as a group leader?  There are three underlying principles that help in interpreting this question.

A successful group leader, must have ownership of their role.   Accepting the role is an important beginning, but embracing must occur to make this step complete. A person may accept a position, but not experience the embracing of that role for quite some time. Written requirements will never replace that aha moment of truly understanding the reality of the role accepted.

It’s getting beyond the “rental car mentality.” I travel a good bit, and the running joke is “don’t worry about it, it’s a rental.” Do you change the oil on a rental, do you rotate the tires, do you give it a wax job? No, because you don’t own it.  It belongs to someone else.  Some people only experience church as a rental. They don’t own it. They just drive it on Sundays.  Leaders must own their leadership in God’s church by accepting and embracing their calling to serve.

A successful group leader must know their group’s mission.  What is the goal of my group?  How can I as a leader know that I’m going in the right direction?  Leaders must set the course.

In the movie, “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” the high school principal tells Mr. Holland that part of a teacher’s job is to be a compass for the students.  Helping them to find a direction. Then, she pointedly states, “Mr. Holland, as teacher, you’re compass is stuck.” This was a turning point for him.

When you are guided by a compass, the slightest discrepancy of just one degree, can make a radical difference. And, the longer you stay off course, the end result can change your destination by countless miles. As a group leader, we must understand the mission of our group as it fits into the overall mission of the church.

To be successful, it’s more about being than doing. In 3 Roles, the terms “servant mindset” and “godly character” are dealt with individually.  However, there is a real sense in which the two are inseparable.  It is hard to think of having a servant mindset and not having godly character, and vice versa. The passage in I Peter 5: 2-4 gives such wise guidance at this point.  Some of the phrases are “Be servants of God’s flock that is under your care … not because you must, but because you are willing … eager to serve … being examples to the flock.”  Every time I read this passage I am reminded of Sunday School/Group leaders who I have served alongside. The application is natural. And, the end result is not only a successful leader, but a successful group.

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Phil Miller is the director of the Bible study/Discipleship team for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.