http://archive.aweber.com/sgr-monthlyA twice monthly newsletter for small group pastors, directors, and leadersThu, 24 May 2012 01:05:31 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/sgr-monthly/BhIbU/h/Just_In_Time_Coaching_from.htm Top 10 Posts - April, 2012 | Soul Detox: An Important New DVD-Driven Study from Craig Groeschel Ever Noticed Reveal's Crowd-to-Core Wrinkle? | How to Build an Effective Coaching Structure Equipping Life-Changing Leaders | Debunking GroupLife Mythology | How to Engage Everyone Memo: Leverage the Summer to Maximize the Fall May 23, 2012 Summer is days away for most of us. We're looking forward to some time away. Thinking about warmer weather. Relaxing on a beach somewhere in Southern California...oh wait, that's me! All good stuff, but I want to give you three things you can do this summer that will help maximize the fall ministry season at your church. Action Step #1: If you haven't done it yet, be sure you're talking with your pastor about the fall teaching calendar. It may already be set, but if you haven't thought about how small groups fit in, there's still time to work on it. Simply choosing a curriculum that matches the theme will go a long way towards the ability to say, If you want to get everything out of Pastor's message series, you need to be in a group that's using the curriculum that goes along with it! It's a notch off a church-wide campaign, but can still have a great impact and allows you to schedule a small group connection or launch some new groups. Action Step #2: Take the time in the next few days to think through your existing small group leaders. As you consider each of them, evaluate them based on their potential to mentor (another word for coach) one or two new small group leaders. I use the 30, 60, 100 fold metaphor that Jesus referred to several different times. As you identify some that are 60 or 100 fold players, why not invite them to help with a newbie or two this fall? You'll find more on this idea in my article, Recruiting Additional Coaches for Church-Wide Campaigns. Action Step #3: Help your small groups make a difference in their neighborhoods this summer. One of the most consistent observations in churches using the HOST method of launching groups is that only a small percentage of the hosts actually know their neighbors well enough to invite them to a group. If you think ahead, you can help your groups do some things that will change that (see my article Top 10 Ways to Get to Know Your Neighbors This Summer). You can do it! With some quick action now you can make a lot happen this fall. Open to a few more ideas? My article Top 10 Things You Can Do This Summer to Maximize Your Fall will help! Need help with this? Sometimes the best move you can make is to bring in a strategic outsider with fresh eyes to join the conversation. I'd love to help you. Why not Email Me to find out how easy it is to get started? Blessings, mark P.S. If you missed my recent talk on the Small Group Network's GroupTalk call, you can listen to the recording right here: How to Engage Everyone (in a Church-Wide Campaign) Follow Mark on Twitter This is a great time to schedule a coaching call or arrange a consulting visit. Athletes know the benefits of a coach. So do musicians and dancers. What if a one hour phone call helped you connect an additional 50 people? 150 people? What would it be worth? What if a consulting visit helped your church impact its community through a church-wide campaign? What if instead of connecting 80% of your congregation you could set in motion a strategy to connect 130%? Would it be worth scheduling an on-site consultation? Read what other churches are saying Find out more about a coaching call or consulting visit FROM THE ARCHIVES: How to Build an Effective Coaching Structure Building an effective coaching structure is one of the great challenges of small group ministry. Every church struggles with it. And I mean every church. This four part series will give you some of the tools you need to move your ministry in the right direction. READ MORE FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER? Are there people you know that would really benefit from Just-in-Time Coaching? Would you take a minute and forward this email to them? You can make a difference for them! If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up right here! EVER NOTICED REVEAL'S CROWD-TO-CORE WRINKLE? I don't know if you've ever looked at the Reveal study from this angle...but it turns out there's a significant crowd-to-core wrinkle. I don't know how many times I'd looked at it before I saw it, but once I noticed it...it's very hard to miss. Here's what I saw: As you probably know, Willow Creek's Reveal study identifies four distinct stages within congregations. Exploring, Growing in Christ, Close to Christ and Christ-Centered. Read More DEBUNKING GROUPLIFE MYTHOLOGY Ever heard these truths? You have to be a member of a group before you can lead a group. Only closed small groups can develop genuine intimacy. Coaching helps small group leaders develop better technique. Healthy groups grow and birth. Apprenticing is the best way to produce new leaders. What do you think? Believe they're true? Or could they be small group ministry old wives' tales? Read More SOUL DETOX: An Important New DVD-Driven Study from Craig Groeschel Every once in a while, a study comes along that just seems a perfect fit for the needs and interests of the culture. Soul Detox: Clean Living in a Contaminated World, based on Craig Groeschel's newest book, is one of those studies. With built-in elements of a church-wide campaign, this is a study that many churches will want to take a look at. An engaging look at five of the most damaging issues in our culture, this is a very practical study. Read More RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Send This to a Friend Know someone who could use some help with their Small Group Ministry? Forward this email and help grow Just-in-Time Coaching for Small Group Ministries. If you received this email from a friend, it's free to sign up and you can subscribe here. Thu, 24 May 2012 01:05:31 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/sgr-monthly/N.PVA/h/Just_In_Time_Coaching_from.htm Top 10 Posts - January, 2012 | Leading Small Groups with Purpose: New from Steve Gladen Most Popular Curriculum Reviews of 2011 | The Signature of Mediocrity Top 5 Advantages of New Small Groups | Take Advantage of Testimonies to Recruit Hosts 3 Action Steps You Can Take Today February 15, 2012 If you're like me, you have lots of ideas. It's implementation that's the killer. Acting on the idea is the point. Thomas Edison said, Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Great line...don't you think? With that in mind, can I suggest 3 action steps you can take today that will make a difference, a big difference, for the rest of 2012? Here's what I want to suggest: Action Step #1: Email the small group leaders in your ministry and ask them, What's the best thing that's happened in your group in the last 90 days? As the small group pastor or director in your church, you have access to some of the very best stories in your church. When you get a great story, ask for permission to pass the story on to your pastor. If you can get four stories a month, you'll begin hearing about the importance of small groups in nearly every message. Action Step #2: Make an appointment to meet with your pastor on a weekly or monthly basis. If you don't already have a standing appointment, get at least one good story from your small group leaders and find an opportunity to share it with your pastor. This is a very important part of your job. It's not unusual at all for the small group pastor or director to know more of the best life-change stories than anyone else. Don't keep them to yourself! Pass them on. Action Step #3: Make an appointment to meet for coffee with one or two coaches in the next 7 days. It's okay to meet with two at a time. The key is to get started with this excellent practice. If you're system is smaller, then make an appointment to meet with one or two leaders. The key is to make the appointment today. Make it your goal to meet with one or two every week, but start by making the first appointment. You can do it! You can set all three of these steps in motion in less than 15 minutes. All it takes is a little perspiration. You can do it. And imagine what God could do with in the next 46 weeks! Need help with this? Sometimes the best move you can make is to bring in a strategic outsider with fresh eyes to join the conversation. I'd love to help you. Why not Email Me to find out how easy it is to get started? Blessings, mark Follow Mark on Twitter This is a great time to schedule a coaching call or arrange a consulting visit. Athletes know the benefits of a coach. So do musicians and dancers. What if a one hour phone call helped you connect an additional 50 people? 150 people? What would it be worth? What if a consulting visit helped your church impact its community through a church-wide campaign? What if instead of connecting 80% of your congregation you could set in motion a strategy to connect 130%? Would it be worth scheduling an on-site consultation? Read what other churches are saying Find out more about a coaching call or consulting visit FROM THE ARCHIVES: Top 5 Advantages of New Small Groups In a recent article (What's the Best Way for People to Sign Up and Commit to a Group?) I made the case for providing opportunities to connect to new groups and recommended matchmaking only as a last resort. And yet...it seems many of us still feel that pull towards finding homes for new people in existing groups. You need to know that I believe this compromise is one of the main deterrents to growing the total number of people in groups. READ MORE FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER? Are there people you know that would really benefit from Just-in-Time Coaching? Would you take a minute and forward this email to them? You can make a difference for them! If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up right here! THE SIGNATURE OF MEDIOCRITY Small groups just don't work here, they said. When I asked them what they meant they described a history of flipping from one small group strategy to another, year after year, caught up in the enthusiasm of this conference or that new book. Sound familiar? Can you identify? The looming challenge for many is that the big issue isn't resistance to change. Instead, the biggest issue is chronic inconsistency (flipping from one strategy to another). Read More MOST POPULAR CURRICULUM REVIEWS OF 2011 I review a lot of curriculum every year. Some DVD-driven. Some homework intensive. Some story-driven visual media. I review everything. Although my blog is sponsored by several of the larger publishers (much appreciated), it was interesting to see that 2 of the 3 most popular reviews I did were for Not a Fan and Basic: Who Is God; both from publishers that don't sponsor me (hint). Why did I rank these reviews separately from yesterday's top 10 posts of 2011? I decided that this list may be an indication of sales strength. 8 of 2011's 10 most popular reviews were written in 2011. Read More LEADING SMALL GROUPS with PURPOSE: NEW FROM STEVE GLADEN If you've been looking for small group leader training resources, you're going to want to take a look at Leading Small Groups with Purpose. New from Steve Gladen, this is gem of a resource! Packed with real-life illustrations, how-tos, and ideas...this is a must-have for every leader. Gladen's earlier book, Small Groups with Purpose, was an excellent resource for point leaders (whether from the purpose driven camp or not). The same is true for Leading Small Groups with Purpose. The content is so relevant, it works regardless of the type of small group system in use. Read More RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Send This to a Friend Know someone who could use some help with their Small Group Ministry? Forward this email and help grow Just-in-Time Coaching for Small Group Ministries. If you received this email from a friend, it's free to sign up and you can subscribe here. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:16:10 -0500http://archive.aweber.com/sgr-monthly/7tX86/h/Just_In_Time_Coaching_for_Small.htm Top 10 Posts of November, 2011 | 2011's Christmas Reading List | My GroupTalk Notes (+ audio) Review: You Lost Me by David Kinnaman | 5 Assumptions That Stunt Small Group Ministry Growth You're Invited to Join My 2012 Coaching Network | Three December Keys to January Impact WHOSE FOREVER WILL YOU HELP ALTER IN 2012? December 7, 2011 Ever think about it that way? Whose forever will you help alter in 2012? I love the thought that what we all do can make an eternal difference! What an amazing thing to have that privilege. What an incredible responsibility! If you're like me, you definitely want to be a good steward of that opportunity. Right? I imagine it much like Jesus' story in Matthew 25. The Master's given each of us an opportunity, according to our ability, and one day He's going to say, What did you do with 2012? As I put the date on this email I realized that today is the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack the drew the United States into World War II. In January of 1941 an earlier generation had an opportunity to do what they could to alter some forevers. Some did. And on this day 70 years ago some destinies were fixed. Wow! Doesn't that put planning in a whole new light? Doesn't that make initiative completely different? Aren't you a little more tuned in to the calendar and the 24 second clock (to use NBA imagery, now that the lockout is over!)? I can't speak for you...but I can tell you I want to hear that I seized every opportunity in 2012. That said, can I offer you a post-it note challenge? Please take me up on this. Here's what you do: First...take out a post-it note. At the top, write, In 2012 I Will... Next, take some time and take an initial stab at three initiatives you will make happen in 2012. A word of caution. They don't have to all be you swinging for the fences! A word of challenge? They could be you swinging for the fences! Remember, what you don't try you will never do. So dream big! Reach farther than you've ever reached before! Stretch in at least one of the three efforts. Third, beginning with your team or your assistant or your closest confidants in ministry...start telling people about your dream. Put the post-it note where other people can see it. Write one or more of the dreams into your email signature. With me? Let's go there! Let's help alter some forevers in 2012... Blessings, mark P.S. 3 weeks ago I opened up applications for my 2012 Small Group Ministry Coaching Network. It's limited to 12 spots. I still have 5 openings. You can find out all about it right here. I'm hoping you'll come along! Blessings, mark Follow Mark on Twitter Coaching and Consulting This is a great time to schedule a coaching call or arrange a consulting visit. Athletes know the benefits of a coach. So do musicians and dancers. What if a one hour phone call helped you connect an additional 50 people? 150 people? What would it be worth? What if a consulting visit helped your church impact its community through a church-wide campaign? What if instead of connecting 80% of your congregation you could set in motion a strategy to connect 130%? Would it be worth scheduling an on-site consultation? Read what other churches are saying Find out more about a coaching call or consulting visit FROM THE ARCHIVES: Diagnosis: Brutal Honesty about Your Present Yesterday we talked about the core philosophy that drives an exponential group system. If you missed step one, you can read about having a crowd-to-core philosophy right here. Today I want to talk about step two in the process: Diagnosis: Brutal Honesty About Your Present. READ MORE FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER? Are there people you know that would really benefit from Just-in-Time Coaching? Would you take a minute and forward this email to them? You can make a difference for them! If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up right here! THREE DECEMBER KEYS TO JANUARY IMPACT I've mentioned previously that there are three key opportunities every year to launch new groups. If you're reading this on November 30th, you're about 60 days away from the second best opportunity. And there are several things you can do right now to optimize the impact of a late January launch. First, pull out your calendar and take a look at the first six weeks of 2012. You need to pencil in several action items: Read On... YOU'RE INVITED TO JOIN MY 2012 SMALL GROUP MINISTRY COACHING NETWORK Looking for an opportunity to grow in your ability to connect beyond usual suspects? I want to invite you to join my 2012 Small Group Ministry Coaching Network; an experience designed to give you the tools and strategies you need in order to build a small group ministry that works in the 21st century. The coaching network program will expose you to a new perspective. While it makes sense to many that in order to get different results you need to do different things...it's not always clear what those different things might be. The coaching network program is designed around the idea that different, not better, leads to the kind of strategy that connects beyond the usual suspects. I've just opened up applications for my next group. Find out more right here. 2011 CHRISTMAS READING LIST Have you put your Christmas wish list together yet? 2011 has been quite a year and no doubt there's been a book or two that you've missed. Here are a few books I think you should be reading: Community: Taking Your Small Group Off Life Support by Mars Hill's Brad House is a definite. If you haven't picked up this one yet, make sure you add it to your list. This is a great book, complete with plenty to wrestle with. Read More RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Send This to a Friend Know someone who could use some help with their Small Group Ministry? Forward this email and help grow Just-in-Time Coaching for Small Group Ministries. If you received this email from a friend, it's free to sign up and you can subscribe here. Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:45:29 -0500http://archive.aweber.com/sgr-monthly/70q3c/h/Just_In_Time_Coaching_for_Small.htm But We Have Adult Sunday School! | New from Beth Moore | James: Mercy Triumphs The Latest on Church-Wide Campaigns (2012) | 10 Essential Small Group Leader Skills Top 10 Posts of October, 2011 | 5 Signs Your Church Is Designed to Underperform at Connection TWO COACHING OPPORTUNITIES...and One's Free! November 10, 2011 Want help with a next step? Need to make sure you're headed in the right direction? I want to make sure you know about two upcoming coaching opportunities. And the first one is FREE! First, join me on GroupTalk, the Small Group Network's monthly conference call. Monday, November 14th at 11:00 a.m. CST. You can find out all of the info right here. Second, if you're looking for an opportunity to grow in your ability to connect beyond usual suspects, I want to invite you to join my 2012 Small Group Ministry Coaching Network; an experience designed to give you the tools and strategies you need in order to build a small group ministry that works in the 21st century. The coaching network program will expose you to a new perspective. While it makes sense to many that in order to get different results you need to do different things, it's not always clear what those different things might be. The coaching network program is designed around the idea that different, not better, leads to the kind of strategy that connects beyond the usual suspects. I've just opened up applications for my next group. You can find out all about it right here. I'm hoping you'll come along! Blessings, mark Follow Mark on Twitter Coaching and Consulting This is a great time to schedule a coaching call or arrange a consulting visit. Athletes know the benefits of a coach. So do musicians and dancers. What if a one hour phone call helped you connect an additional 50 people? 150 people? What would it be worth? What if a consulting visit helped your church impact its community through a church-wide campaign? What if instead of connecting 80% of your congregation you could set in motion a strategy to connect 130%? Would it be worth scheduling an on-site consultation? Read what other churches are saying Find out more about a coaching call or consulting visit FROM THE ARCHIVES: But We Have Adult Sunday School! Iâ€(TM)m frequently asked what should be done to launch small groups in churches where there is an existing adult Sunday school program. Is it an issue? Yes. Does it complicate the project? Only slightly. Is there a solution? Absolutely! Here is my prescription: First, you'll need to gather some important information. Three questions will provide a more accurate understanding of the situation. Here they are: READ MORE FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER? Are there people you know that would really benefit from Just-in-Time Coaching? Would you take a minute and forward this email to them? You can make a difference for them! If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up right here! THE LATEST ON CHURCH-WIDE CAMPAIGNS (2012) Saddleback released the 40 Days of Purpose church-wide campaign in 2002. Although they had previously launched internal spiritual growth campaigns, this one really was a just-add-water option. Of course, in 2002 it really was just about the only option. Today, there are lots of options and there are more all the time. I've reviewed many of them and cataloged them here for your convenience. How to choose? I'd highly recommend my article, How to Choose the Right Church-Wide Campaign. See My Almost Complete List Right Here TOP 5 SIGNS YOUR CHURCH IS DESIGNED TO UNDERPERFORM AT CONNECTION You may want to argue with me (and if you do, please use the comment section), but there are 5 easy to spot signs that your church is actually designed to underperform at connection. What I mean by that is that whether your church is growing or not (doesn't matter), there are several key factors that predetermine whether people are able to connect. And very importantly, it's been conclusively determined that people want to belong before they want to believe. So what are the signs? How can you tell if your church is actually designed to underperform at connection? Here's what I've found. Read More NEW FROM BETH MOORE JAMES: MERCY TRIUMPHS Had an opportunity today to preview the newest Beth Moore study. The highly anticipated James: Mercy Triumphs is out and will without a doubt be an immediate hit, used by women's Bible studies and small groups everywhere. DVD-driven, this 8 session study launches with a powerful teaching session that sets the stage and establishes James' identity, his relationship to Jesus, and the pathway that led to the New Testament book we know as James. Read More RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Send This to a Friend Know someone who could use some help with their Small Group Ministry? Forward this email and help grow Just-in-Time Coaching for Small Group Ministries. If you received this email from a friend, it's free to sign up and you can subscribe here. Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:02:09 -0500http://archive.aweber.com/sgr-monthly/FOHyc/h/Just_In_Time_Coaching_for_Small.htm Top 10 Posts - September 2011 | A Simple Change You Can Make with Huge Implications 5 Keys to Getting Everyone Involved in a Church-Wide Campaign | Review: Gospel Revolution Start with the End in Mind | Which Customer Is Your Ministry Designed to Connect? Making Time for What's Truly Important October 18, 2011 If you found out you had 30 days to live...what would you absolutely, positively want to make time for? You've heard that one right? What about this one, If your house was on fire and you could only go back in and get one thing out, and all the living things were already out, what would be the one thing you'd rescue from the flames? Great icebreakers. Works well to get everyone talking. Doesn't necessarily do a good job of setting your agenda for the rest of 2011. Can I give you something to think about as you step into the last couple months of the year? What you do right now will set the pace for 2012. What You Do Right Now Will Set the Pace for 2012 Believe me? I think you do. Can I give you a quick 3 item to-do list? Here it is: First, give some thought to a connecting opportunity. Late January is prime time to connect people who want to turn over a new leaf and start the new year on the right foot. A small group connection with a small group study that helps build a more solid foundation is a great incentive to take a six week test drive. If you act now you can reserve the room, calendar the event, choose the curriculum, and even line up a few coaches to help make it a big win. Second, schedule a leader development event. Late January or early February is also a great time to invite all of your small group leaders to a Friday night and Saturday morning getaway. Even if you don't leave town! You can get some great ideas from Bill Search's Simple Small Groups or Steve Gladen's Small Groups with Purpose and give your leaders an experience they'll really benefit from. Third, you might give some thought to bringing in a strategic outsider with fresh eyes to help you take some important next steps. Why not Email Me to find out how easy it is to get started? Blessings, mark Follow Mark on Twitter Coaching and Consulting This is a great time to schedule a coaching call or arrange a consulting visit. Athletes know the benefits of a coach. So do musicians and dancers. What if a one hour phone call helped you connect an additional 50 people? 150 people? What would it be worth? What if a consulting visit helped your church impact its community through a church-wide campaign? What if instead of connecting 80% of your congregation you could set in motion a strategy to connect 130%? Would it be worth scheduling an on-site consultation? Read what other churches are saying Find out more about a coaching call or consulting visit FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Role of the Senior Pastor Does the Senior Pastor need to lead a small group in order for a church to set group life as a high value? Is it enough for him or her to be in a group? These are just two of the questions I get about the role of the Senior Pastor in the effort to become a church of groups or as I like to say, a church with a pervasive small group ministry. READ MORE FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER? Are there people you know that would really benefit from Just-in-Time Coaching? Would you take a minute and forward this email to them? You can make a difference for them! If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up right here! START WITH THE END IN MIND This diagram has been at the heart of a lot of my consulting work for the last several years. There is so much meaning in it. I used a version of the diagram for yesterday's presentation in The Twelve...a Global Online Gathering. There's a lot to it. Way more than I can show in a single post. So today, I just want to point out a few things: First, the best place to start is by pointing out the circle in the upper right that is labeled Preferred Future. Read More A SIMPLE CHANGE YOU CAN MAKE WITH HUGE IMPLICATIONS Sometimes the simplest changes have the biggest impact. I'm frequently asked questions like, What's the best small group strategy? or When's the best time to launch new groups? Right on the heels of those two questions I'm asked, How to work around my senior pastor's lack of passion for grouplife? and How can we find enough leaders? And while those are great questions and they are part of the equation and getting it right will make a difference in your small group ministry, they're not really focused on the part of the equation that will have the biggest impact. What's the part of the equation that will have the biggest impact? It might not be what you think it is. Read More GOSPEL REVOLUTION: A New DVD-Driven Study from J.D. Greear Looking for a study that will take your groups deep into a better understanding of the gospel? You'll want to take a look at Gospel Revolution: Recovering the Power of Christianity by J.D. Greear, the dynamic senior pastor of The Summit Church, one of the 20 fastest growing churches in the United States. Based on Greear's newest book, Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary, the teaching centers on the idea that the gospel is not just the way we begin in Christ; it is also the way we grow in Christ. Read More RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Send This to a Friend Know someone who could use some help with their Small Group Ministry? Forward this email and help grow Just-in-Time Coaching for Small Group Ministries. If you received this email from a friend, it's free to sign up and you can subscribe here. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:49:33 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/sgr-monthly/6Pnd2/h/Just_In_Time_Coaching_for_Small.htm Top 10 Posts - August 2011 | 5 Things Senior Pastors Need to Know about Small Group Ministry A Bias Toward What's Next | 101 Ways to Reach Your Community: A Classic from Steve Sjogren Top 5 Ways to Multiply Small Groups | The Right Answer to the Wrong Question GroupLife Innovation Step One: Acknowledge What's Not Working September 7, 2011 Ever stopped what you were doing and became completely and totally 100% honest about the effectiveness of what you are doing? Whether you've done that in secret or right smack in the middle of a team meeting...if you want to know the truth...you absolutely must do that. You must! Denial...refusing to call a spade a spade...only leads to long term ineffectiveness. And here's the thing about long term ineffectiveness...it is right at the heart of the bad outcome in The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25). You want that outcome? Me neither! I have to tell you that as you're becoming open to the idea of building a culture of innovation (which I hope you are), you must become ruthlessly devoted to brutal honesty about the effectiveness of your current strategy. In other words, you need to become willing to acknowledge what is not working, On that note, I love this quote from Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel: If we got kicked out, and the board brought in a new CEO, what would he or she do? Why don't we just walk out, come back in, and do it ourselves? Andy Grove, Former CEO of Intel Andy Grove reflects a profound truth about long term effectiveness. If you already know what the new small groups pastor or director would do...if you already know what should be done...what's stopping you from doing it? I won't speak for you. I'll just say that the only times I've become aware AND unwilling to change have had their roots in things that aren't good. Pride. Preoccupation with saving face. Busyness reflected in the pursuit of the right answers to the wrong questions. And none of those are good things. None of those are things that will prompt a well done from the Master upon His return. Can I give you a little prompting? Follow my two step prescription: Become committed to what my friend Allen White calls autopsies without blame. Love that idea. Be willing to seriously evaluate the effectiveness of what you're doing; of your current strategies. Listen to the Andy Stanley excerpt from his great talk, Recent Random Thoughts on Church and Leadership. Don't go through the motions. Don't! Refuse to be the 3rd servant in the Parable of the Talents.Here's an excerpt from Andy Stanley's talk. Click here to listen in. Need help with this? Sometimes the best move you can make is to bring in a strategic outsider with fresh eyes to join the conversation. I'd love to help you. Why not Email Me to find out how easy it is to get started? Blessings, mark Follow Mark on Twitter Coaching and Consulting This is a great time to schedule a coaching call or arrange a consulting visit. Athletes know the benefits of a coach. So do musicians and dancers. What if a one hour phone call helped you connect an additional 50 people? 150 people? What would it be worth? What if a consulting visit helped your church impact its community through a church-wide campaign? What if instead of connecting 80% of your congregation you could set in motion a strategy to connect 130%? Would it be worth scheduling an on-site consultation? Read what other churches are saying Find out more about a coaching call or consulting visit FROM THE ARCHIVES: 5 Things Senior Pastors Need to Know about Small Group Ministry There are 5 things every senior pastor needs to know about small group ministry: First, senior pastors need to know that they are the most important champion of small group ministry. If they want grouplife to happen, if they want to be a church OF groups, they must accept this role. They might hope to delegate the role...but they can't. It's not about humility. It's all about influence. READ MORE FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER? Are there people you know that would really benefit from Just-in-Time Coaching? Would you take a minute and forward this email to them? You can make a difference for them! If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up right here! THE RIGHT ANSWER TO THE WRONG QUESTION Here are a few of the most common grouplife questions: Where can I find more leaders? How can I find more apprentice leaders? How can I help groups birth faster? Where can I find better coaches? How can I get more adults to sign up for a group? Ever asked any of those questions? I have. What if it turned out that every one of those questions...are the wrong question? Read More A BIAS TOWARD WHAT'S NEXT Think you've nailed the way small groups work? Think your current strategy or system is working as well as it can? Wait...before you answer, think about this: Willow Creek In the early 90s, Willow Creek switched from a thriving discipleship strategy (by many accounts) to a modified meta church model and over the next 10 years became the first mega church in America to have more adults in groups than they had at the weekend services. Why'd they switch? Read More 101 WAYS TO REACH YOUR COMMUNITY One of the most powerful ideas popping up in conversations with churches like The Austin Stone and Community Christian has to do with developing a rhythm in group meeting patterns. For instance, small groups (or missional communities) meeting every week with a pattern of two weeks a month doing what normal small groups do (fellowship, study, prayer, etc.) , one meeting to focus on reaching out to those far from God and one meeting a month to be a blessing to those who have physical needs (food, clothing, etc.). Sounds interesting, right? Read More RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Send This to a Friend Know someone who could use some help with their Small Group Ministry? Forward this email and help grow Just-in-Time Coaching for Small Group Ministries. If you received this email from a friend, it's free to sign up and you can subscribe here. Wed, 07 Sep 2011 07:26:27 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/sgr-monthly/Iwtvo/h/Just_In_Time_Coaching_for_Small.htm Top 10 Posts - July 2011 | Breaking: Add This Host Orientation Idea to Your Bag of Tricks Top 10 Fantasies of Churches WITH Groups | The Story: A New Church-Campaign from Zondervan Top 5 Advantages of New Small Groups | Take Advantage of Testimonies to Recruit Hosts 3 Last Minute Ideas That Will Launch More Small Groups August 3, 2011 If you're like me...you're days away from starting the biggest opportunity you have all year to launch new groups. Of course I'm talking about mid-September to early October. And we're just a few weeks away. But are there still last minute things you can do to launch more groups? Absolutely! Here are 3 that will make a difference: Ask your existing groups to take a small group vacation. It's an easy idea. It's also a powerful idea. You know how when you look at many of the best groups in your small group ministry there are many members who could be leading? Here's how to help them make a short-term commitment that often leads to new groups and a more fulfilling adventure: Take a Small Group Vacation Take advantage of testimonies to recruit hosts and/or members. Nothing is better at helping people see the value of community than personal story. Who can argue with it? I explain how to do it right here. Plan a late September or early October Small Group Connection. Don't know who to ask to lead a few new groups? No matter. The Small Group Connection strategy identifies leaders at the event! My five part series tells you how to do it. The key? It's not too late to take advantage of the best opportunity to launch new groups! Need help with this? Sometimes the best move you can make is to bring in a strategic outsider with fresh eyes to join the conversation. I'd love to help you. Why not Email Me to find out how easy it is to get started? Blessings, mark Follow Mark on Twitter This is a great time to schedule a coaching call or arrange a consulting visit. Athletes know the benefits of a coach. So do musicians and dancers. What if a one hour phone call helped you connect an additional 50 people? 150 people? What would it be worth? What if a consulting visit helped your church impact its community through a church-wide campaign? What if instead of connecting 80% of your congregation you could set in motion a strategy to connect 130%? Would it be worth scheduling an on-site consultation? Read what other churches are saying Find out more about a coaching call or consulting visit FROM THE ARCHIVES: Top 10 Fantasies of Church WITH Groups What prevents many churches from realizing their desire to become churches OF small groups*? Most of the time they're stopped in their tracks by one or more of these fantasies: Fantasy #1: We can keep the peace by making small group participation one of several menu items that are promoted equally as the way we help people grow in Christ. (see my prescription: A Plated Meal Leads to a Church Of Groups) READ MORE FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER? Are there people you know that would really benefit from Just-in-Time Coaching? Would you take a minute and forward this email to them? You can make a difference for them! If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up right here! THE TOP 5 ADVANTAGES OF NEW SMALL GROUPS One of the most difficult challenges any of us ever face is when we find ourselves wrestling with a new way of seeing an old problem. You've probably run across this drawing. It's frequently used to demonstrate the fact that what we see initially (an old woman or a young woman) makes it difficult to see anything else. In a recent article (What's the Best Way for People to Sign Up and Commit to a Group?) I made the case for providing opportunities to connect to new groups and recommended matchmaking only as a last resort. And yet...it seems many of us still feel that pull towards finding homes for new people in existing groups. Read More BREAKING: ADD THIS HOST ORIENTATION IDEA TO YOUR BAG OF TRICKS You know how when you're watching certain shows on TV they tell you, Don't try this at home? I think you're going to want to try what I'm about to tell you. Now most of you will hear the idea, feel a strong pull to try it right away, and then listen to the other voice that says, Wait until the beta is over and the after effects are known. But some of you will hear it and do it this fall. If you've been along for much of this ride, you know that I love adapting ideas that are beginning to work somewhere else and testing them on our own system here at Parkview. Read More THE STORY: A NEW CHURCH-WIDE CAMPAIGN FROM ZONDERVAN There are church-wide campaigns...and then there are church-wide campaigns. That is, some campaigns are bare bones and only include a small group study for adults and outlines of the weekend message series. Others (like 40 Days of Purpose) are very robust, providing the full range of curriculum (from Preschool Children all the way to the adult small group study) along with a book or devotional (like The Purpose Driven Life) and weekend service resources, as well as detailed implementation guidance. The Story, a new church-wide campaign from Zondervan has a lot going for it. There are a number of great aspects that deserve mention. There are also a couple things that should be pointed out and taken into consideration. Read More RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Send This to a Friend Know someone who could use some help with their Small Group Ministry? Forward this email and help grow Just-in-Time Coaching for Small Group Ministries. If you received this email from a friend, it's free to sign up and you can subscribe here. Wed, 03 Aug 2011 08:24:29 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/sgr-monthly/IHkuE/h/What_Must_You_Do_Differently.htm Top 10 Posts - June 2011 | 5 Things Senior Pastors Need to Know About Small Group Ministry The Catch a Moving Train Scenario | On the Verge: An Important New Book from Hirsch and Ferguson How Do I Train Leaders to Add New Members? | GroupLife Reading List for Summer, 2011 WHAT MUST YOU DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT YEAR? July 6, 2011 Albert Einstein famously said, The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Ever found yourself getting to ready to try something one more time, hoping that this time it would work? If you answered yes, you are not alone. I'm betting that's actually a pretty normal behavior. It's also the reason most small group ministries are stuck. Want to get unstuck? One thing you can do immediately is to add a question to your arsenal. Here it is: What must we do differently next year to get closer to our strategic intent? I want to give you a few ideas that will jump start your thinking, but first, let's define strategic intent. You'll really get the feel for how it might work in your setting by thinking about this quote: Companies that have risen to global leadership over the past 20 years invariably began with ambitions that were out of all proportion to their resources and capabilities. But they created an obsession with winning at all levels of the organization and then sustained that obsession over a 10-to 20-year quest for global leadership. We term that obsession 'strategic intent' (p. 7). Think about this statement. Have you got an ambition that is out of all proportion with your resources and capabilities? Want to be part of doing something that can't be done in a single season? Has it become an obsession yet? Want to hear mine? My personal strategic intent is to find a way to connect the 60% that will never be reached with the attractional model. Because I believe that the folks at crowd's edge, who are the least connected internally, have the strongest connections externally (and many of their strongest connections are with the 60%), I am always working on strategies that recruit hosts...from the edges. The simple phrase that says it all for me? I am about connecting the 60%. What's your personal strategic intent? Do you have one? Do you have a corporate one? I got this idea from Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad's excellent little book by the same title (It's a Harvard Business Review Classic that you can order right here). Three Jump-Start Ideas to Help Your Thinking: First, what will you need to do differently to recruit leaders or hosts? If you've ended up with the usual suspects for leaders, how will you recruit more broadly? Second, what will you need to do differently to provide an orientation for your new leaders? In order to make the orientation easier to attend for new hosts we're preparing to shoot our the videos that will provide a message to hosts from our pastor as well as short segments on how to fill your group and how to have the best sessions. I got the idea from Saddleback. You can see how Saddleback did it right here. Third, what will you need to do differently to sustain the largest number of new groups? There is a reason for the number of new groups you are sustaining. Thinking ahead about the next curriculum and the timing of follow-up communication are two very important aspects of sustaining what you begin. There you have it. Got what you need to get started? Let me encourage you to get started TODAY! Need help with this? Sometimes the best move you can make is to bring in a strategic outsider with fresh eyes to join the conversation. I'd love to help you. Why not Email Me to find out how easy it is to get started? Blessings, mark Follow Mark on Twitter This is a great time to schedule a coaching call or arrange a consulting visit. Athletes know the benefits of a coach. So do musicians and dancers. What if a one hour phone call helped you connect an additional 50 people? 150 people? What would it be worth? What if a consulting visit helped your church impact its community through a church-wide campaign? What if instead of connecting 80% of your congregation you could set in motion a strategy to connect 130%? Would it be worth scheduling an on-site consultation? Read what other churches are saying Find out more about a coaching call or consulting visit FROM THE ARCHIVES: Great Question: How Do I Train Leaders to Add New Members? Great question: How do we equip existing groups/group leaders to successfully assimilate new members? Let me start by saying, that is both a great question and a very frequent question. At the same time...I think it's actually the wrong question or the wrong way to look at the issue. Why is it often the wrong question? READ MORE FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER? Are there people you know that would really benefit from Just-in-Time Coaching? Would you take a minute and forward this email to them? You can make a difference for them! If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up right here! 5 THINGS SENIOR PASTORS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SMALL GROUP MINISTRY There are 5 things every senior pastor needs to know about small group ministry: First, senior pastors need to know that they are the most important champion of small group ministry. If they want grouplife to happen, if they want to be a church OF groups, they must accept this role. They might hope to delegate the role...but they can't. It's not about humility. It's all about influence. As I've said before, your senior pastor as champion leads to a church OF groups. There is no better example of this principle than Rick Warren and Saddleback Church. It is the real reason Saddleback connects so many in groups. Read More THE CATCH A MOVING TRAIN SCENARIO You know the feeling. No matter how many new groups you start, an equal number of groups lose interest and drop out. No matter how many apprentices you've recruited and trained, you're not starting new groups fast enough to keep up with the number of small group sign-ups. No matter that you even launched a record number of groups with your church-wide campaign, you're not sustaining enough of them to keep up with your church's attendance growth. Read More ON THE VERGE: AN IMPORTANT NEW BOOK FROM HIRSCH AND FERGUSON Worked my way through a great book over the last 30 days. On the Verge: a journey into the apostolic future of the church (affiliate link) by Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson is well worth the time. A great combination effort by one of the leading missional writers and theorists of our time and one of the most seasoned practitioners around; On the Verge is extremely meaty. If you've read any of Hirsch's previous work (particularly The Forgotten Ways) and you're familiar with Exponential (Ferguson's 2010 offering)...just imagine a mashup of the best aspects of both. Read More RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Send This to a Friend Know someone who could use some help with their Small Group Ministry? Forward this email and help grow Just-in-Time Coaching for Small Group Ministries. If you received this email from a friend, it's free to sign up and you can subscribe here. Thu, 07 Jul 2011 06:44:54 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/sgr-monthly/Ln2r./h/Just_In_Time_Coaching_for_Small.htm GroupLife Reading List for Summer 2011 | Top 10 Posts - May 2011 | Patching Yesterday's Garment Small Groups with Purpose: New from Steve Gladen | The Twelve Were Not Chosen from the Core Next Up in the Next Christians Reading List: Veneer: Living Deeply in a Surface Society THREE IMMEDIATE ACTION STEPS...THAT PAY OFF BIG TIME June 1, 2011 If you're like me, you're thinking about vacation. And you're not the only one. Your key leaders (small group coaches and senior, experienced small group leaders) are also thinking about vacation. Still...right now is the perfect time to take three action steps that will pay off big time. And the key is, these steps will pay off right away. They'll also pay off in about 60 to 90 days. And the best part is, they'll pay off in the long run, too! What action steps pay off three times? Keep reading. I think you're going to like this. Better, I know it will make a difference in your small group ministry. Three Action Steps...that Pay Off Big Time: The first step is to set aside an hour or two to think about your group leaders. You can do this alone...but it's even better if you've got an existing coach or another pair of eyes (or two) who know the group leaders in your ministry. And if you've got more than 25 leaders, you definitely need help with this. As you think about each one, ask yourself this question: Are they using their gifts and talents in the way that will hear well done at the end of their season? Follow me on this. When you look at the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25), it is very clear that we are given resources according to our ability. Not everyone is given the same the same thing to work with. I like to combine this understanding with Jim Collins' simple metaphor illustrating the importance of helping team members get into the right seat on the bus to point out that if you carefully and thoughtfully assess the small group leaders on your team, you might discover that you've got some 5 Talent people (who ought to be coaches) in a 2 Talent role. Do you see this? Get the concept? This is big. It's big because I believe a 5 Talent person in a 2 Talent role cannot possibly hear well done. Worse...I believe we're the stewards of the talent! As small group pastors and directors, I believe we're the ones that ultimately will be evaluated on whether we utilized the players to the best of their ability. So step one is pretty simple. Think through your group leader roster and identify the leaders who might have more potential than they're currently utilizing (by only caring for 8 to 12). Step Two is to set up an appointment with each of them to talk about their potential and what you see in them. It can be breakfast or lunch. It can even be just coffee. The key is to make the appointment for sooner rather than later. Get it done! For more on this, take the time to read my four part series How to Build an Effective Coaching Structure. Step Three is to offer them a toe-in-the-water opportunity to help mentor another new leader or two for the 10 to 13 week run of your fall church-wide campaign or alignment (I just know you're planning one for this September or October!). You might be tempted to go for the full-on commitment right off the bat (and it would be okay for some), but in most cases it's better to help them start with a short term (10 to 13 weeks) and limited assignment (one or two leaders). There you have it. Got what you need? Let me encourage you to get started TODAY! Need help with this? Sometimes the best move you can make is to bring in a strategic outsider with fresh eyes to join the conversation. I'd love to help you. Why not Email Me to find out how easy it is to get started? Blessings, mark Follow Mark on Twitter This is a great time to schedule a coaching call or arrange a consulting visit. Athletes know the benefits of a coach. So do musicians and dancers. What if a one hour phone call helped you connect an additional 50 people? 150 people? What would it be worth? What if a consulting visit helped your church impact its community through a church-wide campaign? What if instead of connecting 80% of your congregation you could set in motion a strategy to connect 130%? Would it be worth scheduling an on-site consultation? Read what other churches are saying Find out more about a coaching call or consulting visit FROM THE ARCHIVES: Where Can I Find New Coaches? A great conversation yesterday drew an important question. We're getting ready for a church-wide campaign and know we'll need coaches for our newest hosts. Where can I find new coaches? Ever asked that one? It's a good question. Important on a couple levels. First, it is important that your newest hosts have a coach who is available to help and who is checking in with them on a weekly basis. The first 10 to 13 weeks of their new existence is a critical time period, not unlike the first few days and weeks of a newborn's life. That said, it follows that if you recruit a wave of new hosts to open their homes for a church-wide campaign, you could suddenly need an additional coach (or 10!). So...where will they come from? READ MORE FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER? Are there people you know that would really benefit from Just-in-Time Coaching? Would you take a minute and forward this email to them? You can make a difference for them! If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up right here! PATCHING YESTERDAY'S GARMENT When you think about how you're spending your time, would you say that you're patching yesterday's garment? Or designing tomorrow's pattern? Need definitions? Patching yesterday's garment would be making incremental changes to try and improve less-than-optimal results. Designing tomorrow's pattern would be creating customized steps that lead to what you've clarified as a win. So what do you think? If you were totally honest, are you spending more time patching yesterday's garment or designing tomorrow's pattern? Read More THE TWELVE WERE NOT CHOSEN FROM THE CORE You probably know this...but the Twelve were not chosen from the usual suspects. I know for some that line all by itself might cause you to lump me in with the riffraff. Sorry about that. But sometimes the truth hurts. It's true, though. When Jesus selected the twelve apostles they were not first round material. They were clearly the b team. They were the riffraff. They were the 'am ha'ares; the people of the land. I like what John MacArthur points out in Twelve Ordinary Men (there's a first time for everything...I've never cited MacArthur before): "When Jesus chose the Twelve to be His official representatives ...He didn't choose a single rabbi. He didn't choose a scribe. He didn't choose a Pharisee. He didn't choose a Sadducee. He didn't choose a pries t...He chose instead men who were not theologically trained-fishermen, a tax collector, and other common men (p. 7)." Read More SMALL GROUPS WITH PURPOSE: How to Create Healthy Communities I've said this a number of times, but I want to be sure and say this again. Steve Gladen is a couple of things. First, he's one of the smartest GroupLife guys on the planet. He's also one of the most helpful small group experts on the planet. Steve's new book, Small Groups with Purpose: How to Create Healthy Communities is a perfect example of his brilliance and his extreme helpfulness. Even better? It is a great book, absolutely packed with wisdom and insight. You'll have trouble finding a chapter that doesn't get extremely marked up, underlined, starred, and dogeared for future reference. There are several things I really love about the book. Read More RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Send This to a Friend Know someone who could use some help with their Small Group Ministry? Forward this email and help grow Just-in-Time Coaching for Small Group Ministries. If you received this email from a friend, it's free to sign up and you can subscribe here. Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:04:25 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/sgr-monthly/1VTN2/h/Just_In_Time_Coaching_for_Small.htm 5 Keys to GroupLife at Crowd's Edge | Top 10 Posts for April 2011 The Controversial Jesus (featuring Erwin McManus) | The Ongoing Open VS Closed Group Debate Messy Comes with the Territory | How to Connect People No One Else Is Connecting MAY DECISIONS BRING EXPONENTIAL SEPTEMBERS May 3, 2011 We've all heard the saying, April showers bring May flowers. And no one questions that practical, Farmer's Almanac kind of wisdom. Did you know that May decisions bring exponential Septembers? It's true. When you have the right conversations and make the right decisions in May, you dramatically increase the exponential power of your fall ministry season. Here are five conversations you need to be having right now: How will you leverage the biggest opportunity to launch groups? Will you have a take advantage of a church-wide campaign? Will you use a group-launching strategy like the Small Group Connection or GroupLink? Will you implement a system like North Coast's sermon-based groups or Nelson Searcy's semester model? I have my opinion about the best way to launch groups, but now is the time to have that conversation and make that decision. Who do you hope to connect? This is a huge question that rarely gets asked. The answer to this question should determine the strategy you use and the topic you choose. Want to connect beyond the usual suspects? Better choose a topic that is understandable and relevant to the folks at crowd's edge. Want to help your congregation deepen their faith or learn to listen to God? It will take a different topic to do that. By the way, the answer to the question who do you hope to connect cannot be everyone. A lack of clarity here will derail your best efforts on every other decision. Need help on this question? Read Who Are You Trying to Connect? What does the launch timeline look like? If you're doing a church-wide campaign, when will you begin the weekend message series that holds it together? When will you provide training or an orientation for new leaders? When will you recruit leaders? When will you recruit members? How to Develop a Timeline might be a helpful article on this topic. Can you recruit some new coaches that will help you sustain a larger number of the new groups you will launch in September? Who are they? When can you begin to talk with them? When can you begin to train them to do what they'll need to do? My Top 10 Articles on Small Group Coaching is a good place to start, particularly How to Build an Effective Coaching Structure. Is your senior pastor committed to playing the part that only they can play? Do they understand what is required of them? Diagnosis: Senior Pastor Buy-In provides a good overview of the concept. Trying to figure it out? Sometimes the best move you can make is to bring in a strategic outsider with fresh eyes to join the conversation. I'd love to help you. Why not Email Me to find out how easy it is to get started? Blessings, mark Follow Mark on Twitter This is a great time to schedule a coaching call or arrange a consulting visit. Athletes know the benefits of a coach. So do musicians and dancers. What if a one hour phone call helped you connect an additional 50 people? 150 people? What would it be worth? What if a consulting visit helped your church impact its community through a church-wide campaign? What if instead of connecting 80% of your congregation you could set in motion a strategy to connect 130%? Would it be worth scheduling an on-site consultation? Read what other churches are saying Find out more about a coaching call or consulting visit FROM THE ARCHIVES: How to Connect People No One Else Is Connecting One of the most repeated quotes right now is the great Craig Groeschel line that if you want to reach people no one else is reaching, you need to do things no one else is doing. I remember where I was when I heard him say that. I think I'll always remember that moment. Honestly, it was like remembering where you were when JFK was shot. READ MORE FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER? Are there people you know that would really benefit from Just-in-Time Coaching? Would you take a minute and forward this email to them? You can make a difference for them! If this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up right here! THE ONGOING OPEN VS CLOSED GROUP DEBATE Where do you stand on the open vs closed group debate? I've written about this in the past (Open or Closed Groups, Do Good Groups Really Practice the Open Chair, and my spoof Top 10 Reasons I'm a Fan of Open Groups). I also like the direction Rick Howerton took the conversation in Open Small Groups Are More Intimate Than Closed Groups. It's an important conversation. In fact, it's probably more important than many realize. Believe me, both camps make a good case. We all have our arguments down. But at its very heart, I believe the open vs closed group debate is really about whose needs get prioritized. Open vs closed group philosophy surfaced again in the discussion around Belonging or Believing...Which Comes First? Read More 5 KEYS TO GROUPLIFE AT CROWD'S EDGE Want to reach people no one else is reaching? According to Craig Groeschel, you'll need to do things no one else is doing. If you want to reach people no one else is reaching, you need to do things no one else is doing. Craig Groeschel That makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? After all, if what we're doing now was capable of reaching them...it would already be working. I love Groeschel's line, but I like to add that the people we're not currently reaching are most likely the widening 60% who are unreachable with the attractional model. Where do we come in? Easy. While the 60% may be unreachable with the attractional model (come to our building), they are very reachable with a come over to our house approach. They may not ever accept your invitation to come to our Easter service, but they'll find irresistible the right let's have a block party approach. Read More THE CONTROVERSIAL JESUS (featuring Erwin McManus) What makes for an engaging DVD-driven study? To be sure, the topic of the study is a very important ingredient. Choose the right topic and people will sign up...they may even bring a friend. The topic is big. The other ingredient? There is no question that the charisma of the speaker plays a major role in what makes for a compelling study. Get the right speaker and you've got a winner. Get the wrong speaker...well, we've all seen what happens. Lifeway's The Controversial Jesus, a six session DVD-driven study featuring Erwin McManus is that unique combination of a very compelling topic and a crazily engaging speaker. Great topic. Who doesn't want to know more about Jesus. Throw in a little controversy and you've got the kind of thing that will keep members intrigued. And I know everyone has their own preferences, but McManus is the kind of speaker that grabs and holds your attention for the entire segment. Read More RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Send This to a Friend Know someone who could use some help with their Small Group Ministry? Forward this email and help grow Just-in-Time Coaching for Small Group Ministries. If you received this email from a friend, it's free to sign up and you can subscribe here. Tue, 03 May 2011 07:47:27 -0400