Allen White's Blog, page 7

Budgeting for a Church-wide Campaign

As you think about the fall small group boom, one of the best ways to recruit new leaders is with a church-wide campaign or small group in a box. We’re just going to talk about curriculum in this post, but curriculum alone won’t get big results. You also need strategy. Add to strategy, prayer. Then, you’ll have something.

Image by fancycrave1 from Pixabay

Campaigns or alignment series can be rolled out in several different ways. I see sort of a Good, Better, Best in the approaches:

Good – Purchase a video-based curriculum that your pastor promotes.

Better – Purchase a video-based curriculum that aligns with your pastor’s sermon series and that your pastor is willing to promote.

Best – Create your own video-based curriculum with your pastor’s teaching. Not only will your pastor promote groups more enthusiastically, but your people will respond more enthusiastically.

What Curriculum Will You Use?

Will your church purchase curriculum or create curriculum? If you purchase curriculum, then you need to plan for $70-$100 per group. Creating curriculum varies widely as you’ll see below.

Will you sell the curriculum to the group members? I recommend providing the video and a study guide to the group leader at no cost, then charging the group members for their study guides at cost or less. Also, plan to give away a few study guides to those who cannot afford them.

If you are purchasing curriculum, what platform carries the video? Once upon a time, we bought DVDs at $25 each. That adds up. Is there a curriculum on Right Now Media, Studygateway, Amazon Video On Demand, or another source? If so, your current subscription might already cover the video costs. Otherwise, you’ll have to rent or purchase the content. This adds up quickly.

Creating Your Own Curriculum

The methods of creating curriculum vary widely. I’ve helped churches develop video-based curriculum with budgets ranging from $25,000 – $50,000 or more. I’ve also coached churches who created their curriculum with an all volunteer team or even shot the video with an iPhone. It all worked. It just depends on how you want to work it! Here are a few things to consider:

Who will produce your video? A professional videographer, a wedding videographer, your in-house production team, your volunteer team, you and your pastor (that’s how I produced my first one!), or an iPhone user? There are pluses and minuses with each option. Hiring outside expertise can cost a lot of money, but also guarantee a finished product on time. In-house production teams can save money, since the church is already paying them, but you are at the mercy of the 156 other projects on their list. The same flexibility goes with a volunteer team. They may have the skills, but they’re moonlighting. Patience is required. You have to allow plenty of time (read: If you’re shooting a fall campaign with staff or volunteers, start now!)

What equipment do you need to purchase or rent?

Where will you shoot the video? Is there a cost? (I recommend shooting in a large home and NOT at the church).

What are the costs of feeding the crew? A fed crew is a happy crew. A hungry crew will think twice about your next project.

How will you provide the video to your groups? Streaming on Youtube or Vimeo? DVDs? You can also stream your videos through your Right Now Media account.

Creating Study Guides

Will you produce a physical study guide or provide a digital download? If this is a major launch, then a physical study guide in people’s hands will show the effort you put into the study. For any other launch, a download will do.

Who will design your cover? You are not a designer. Don’t design your own cover.

How will you print your books? On demand printers like Kindle Direct Publishing or Ingram Spark charge about $2.25 each for a 120-page study guide whether you purchase one copy or 1,000 copies (plus shipping). You do need to allow 30 days for printing and shipping. You could go with a conventional printer, even a local printer, but to get $2.25 per book, you’d have to order 2,000 copies. And, if you need more copies, the price goes way up!

The most affordable way to deliver curriculum is with streaming video and a digital download. There are no costs. This is perfectly suitable for regular seasons and semesters. For major group launches, the extra effort of producing a physical book will create more interest in your church and net huge dividends.

As you work through these questions, you will find clarity for planning and budgeting your next church-wide campaign. If you need any help, I have produced curriculum for a wide variety of pastors and churches including Rick Warren, Dr. Tony Evans, Chip Ingram, Gene Appel, and many others. For more information, click here.

A new Small Group Ministry Coaching Group is forming now. Don’t miss this opportunity to exponentially multiply your small groups.

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Why the New Normal for Churches Won’t Look Like 2019

Wouldn’t it be great just to erase 2020 and its sequel, the first half of 2021, and get back to how things were before? After the last 14 months, you’re ready to get back to normal. Everybody is. But, normal won’t look like 2019 for churches or small groups. Here are a few new normal things to weave into your plans:

Image by Ulrike Leone from PixabayPeople Have Given Up a Lot of Things

Most people’s calendars were whipped clean in the last year. This didn’t keep them from being very busy. Between virtual school and endless Zoom meetings, people were certainly occupied. But, their calendars were divested of serving at church, volunteering in the community, travel sports, and so much. Families who were once out every evening of the week were now home watching Disney+.

While everyone longs for normalcy, most people’s involvement won’t snap back to 2019 levels. They ruthlessly eliminated hurry from their lives. Isn’t that a good thing? Why would they volunteer to resume hectic lives?

Part of this comes from the phenomena of being out of the habit. Sort of like when you stop going to the gym, but continue to pay for your membership. You intend to return. But, getting there is another matter. The same is true for church attendance. Should churches start allowing their members to eat brunch and wear their jammies during in-person worship? That’s just hard to pass up.

Some churches haven’t returned to a full slate of worship services yet. This isn’t due to COVID restrictions. They can’t add services due to the lack of children’s ministry workers. So many loyal people just haven’t returned. Now what?

People are Ready to Regather on Their Own Terms

Your people have been separated for a long time. While every state’s regulations are different, a significant number of people are still reluctant to gather. Different parts of the country have seen very different results, but the bottom line is that people are ready to return to community.

Fall 2021 just might be the biggest small group surge that you’ve ever seen. Are you ready? But, don’t expect the return of 2019. This will be different.

Remember that people have divested themselves of a great deal of activity. Why would they add a small group if they’ve never done that before? Why spend time with a group of strangers when they’d rather hang out with their friends?

Then, there’s the continued debate between the maskites and anti-maskites, and now the vaxers and anti-vaxers. Some people are ready to meet in-person with their groups. Others want to stay online. Some online groups can’t regather because people moved out of state. They can only meet online.

You don’t need to resolve these debates or solve all of your people’s problems related to groups. You just need to give them permission and opportunity to create a group on their own terms. Where are your people finding community? How can they start a group in that community – in-person, online, hybrid – wherever.

Hybrid is the New Normal

After the last 14 months, there are a few things I don’t want to do any more. I don’t want to wait in line at Walgreens while they’re trying to find the cashier. I would rather place my order through the app and have someone bring it to my car.

I no longer want to wait in the Chick-Fil-A drive thru. There’s an app for that too. I don’t want to wait in the lobby at my mechanic’s. I drop off the car, check the boxes in an email listing the suggested repairs, pay online, and pick up the car after hours. It’s an introvert’s paradise.

Think of all of the reasons you ask people to come to the church building. How many of those things could happen online? How many one-hour meetings could be a 20 minute Zoom meeting? How many Zoom meetings could have been an email? In-person meetings aren’t better if the room is empty. People’s habits have changed.

People Will be Pickier About Their Commitments

Your people have had 14 months to reevaluate their commitments. Some things will stay. Some things will not come back. Some new things will continue.

Signing up for small group will be a harder sell. As I say, setting your people up for “blind dates” with a group of strangers is just not appealing. But, if your people could gather a group of friends who they miss spending time with and do something intentional about their spiritual growth – they’ll jump for that.

This is not the dumbing down of small groups. Gathering with people they already know and love is part of it. The other part is gathering for a worthwhile reason. What really matters? What’s a compelling reason to invest their time? What’s truly going to help your people grow to become like Christ? What is meaningful to them?

What will this look like at your church?

If you could use a little help navigating this new season of small group ministry, my next Small Group Ministry Coaching Group is starting soon. Click here for more information.

The post Why the New Normal for Churches Won’t Look Like 2019 appeared first on Allen White Consulting.

Episode 4: Elliot Diaz from Manna Church on Church Multiplication at Every Level

Show Notes

Elliot Diaz has served at Manna Church, Fayetteville/ Fort Bragg since March 2013. He has served as the Small Groups Pastor, and is currently the Site Pastor of the Cliffdale Site and is a member of the Lead Team. Manna Church is a multi-site church of over 2800 people in weekly attendance led by Senior Pastor, Michael Fletcher. Elliot is a 19 year Army veteran, who currently serves as a Chaplain in the North Carolina National Guard.

Manna Church’s Multiply Conference

Analysis of the Free Market Small Groups Model by Mark Howell

Lifegiving Marriage Study

The Kingdom Study

Allen White’s Small Group Ministry Coaching Group

Curriculum Productio n by Allen White Consulting

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Leading a Post-COVID Small Group Ministry

I am foreseeing the post-COVID small group ministry happening in a big way. Actually, I see a small group boom in fall 2021. For some this is starting now. One church in my coaching group recruited 50 new hosts for their spring 2021 launch. Things are looking good for groups, but things are looking different for groups.

Small Group Ministry is More Decentralized Than Ever

As a small group pastor or director, you have been longing for a decentralized ministry. Well, COVID decentralized your ministry, now don’t reel it back in. Keep your small group ministry outside of the building. Here are a few things to think about:

Put your training online and push it out to your leaders.

Empower your coaches to serve the leaders. Don’t wrap this all around you. You’ve got to multiply yourself.

Get training into your leaders’ hands. Give them a copy of a book like Making Small Groups Work by Cloud/Townsend or Leading Healthy Groups by Allen White.

Keep your groups in neighborhoods as much as possible. There’s something personal about meeting in someone’s home. There’s also something powerful about meeting in a neighborhood. Let their light shine!

Pivot to a Hybrid Groups Ministry Amid This Unprecedented Pandemic

There, I got all of the COVID clichés into one subhead. The word for you to focus on is hybrid (online and in-person). It will be a while before everyone is ready or able to meet in-person. But, here’s the other thing – some people like this online world. If I don’t have to get myself to church for a meeting and arrange for childcare because the meeting is online, I’m in!

The same goes for groups. Some people are tired of being apart and are ready to get together. Let them figure it out. Encourage groups to review their group agreement and see what works best for everyone.

Some groups meett online and couldn’t get back together even if they wanted to. People moved away. But, the group can keep meeting together online. If schools no longer have snow days due to online classes, then online groups no longer have snow birds. Online groups keep everybody together.

The new debate is meeting in-person or staying online. Just like we had the debate between the maskites and anti-maskites last year, this year we have groups splitting over some wanting to meet in-person and others wanting to stay online (I posted about that issue here). Now, imagine if every group in your church became two groups. (Read that again: Imagine if every group in your church became two groups!) You would have twice the groups. You would have more opportunity for people who prefer to meet in-person to join the in-person half of a group. You would also have more opportunity for people to join online groups. HINT: Don’t combine your groups. Even if they’re small. Keep them separate. Let them grow. Double your groups.

Something I’m Piloting Right Now

This past weekend I led a host briefing at two physical campuses as well as an online campus simultaneously. I am serving as the Life Group Director for a church that is 747 miles from my house. Fortunately, it’s in the same time zone!

The senior pastor made the invitation for new hosts during the service. Folks responded by text to the church’s text service. They were given instructions by text about how to join the briefing – the room on-campus or the link online.

From my home in South Carolina, I led the three campus host briefing over Zoom. I was on the big screen at the physical campuses, then interacted with the folks online as well. Each physical location had a person assisting me. I could see the room. My assistants had a mic to pass around for people who had questions. I also answered questions in the chat on Zoom.

The prospective hosts at the physical locations had a hard copy of the briefing packet and the host application. Those who met online had a pdf of the briefing packet and a link to register online.

Experienced leaders were present at all three locations to meet the new hosts and begin walking alongside them for the next 12 weeks (a three week ramp up, then a nine week series. Nine weeks? – I’m just following the senior pastor’s lead).

I will keep you posted on what else I learn.

What are you learning about small group ministry right now? Leave your response below.

Join me for a webinar: Small Group Restart: Ministry in a Post-COVID World on Wednesday, April 21 at 2pm Eastern/ 1 pm Central/ Noon Mountain/ 11 am Pacific. Click here to register.

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The Danger of Half a Small Group Strategy

The small group in a box seemed like a good idea. The small group director secured the topic from the pastor and the logo from the graphic designer, then went into the hard work of writing curriculum, designing a study guide, gathering goodies for the box, and printing these branded boxes for the next small group launch. So far, so good.

As the launch approached, the small group director made an announcement in the service that anyone interested in starting a group could come to the lobby, grab a box, and do the church-wide study. This was the start of the trouble. A few people attended the online briefing for new leaders. The director reached out to a few others. The end result was disappointing. The small group in a box was not a bad idea, but it was only half a strategy. While I applaud the effort at trying something new, here are the problems I see in this director’s approach:

The Small Group Director Promoted the Study.

For most of my 30+ years of ministry, I’ve been the associate pastor or the vice president. You know — the #2 guy (or lower). In my experience, when I made the announcement about groups, it would receive only 30% of the result that my senior pastor would get by saying the exact same words. How do I know this? I recruited small group leaders for seven years and connected 30% of our adults into groups. We averaged 0-10 new groups each year…

The first time my senior pastor stood up on a Sunday morning, we doubled our groups in one day. Six months later, we doubled again to the point where we had 13% of our people leading groups and 125% connected in on-going small groups. Long story short: I have not personally recruited a small group leader since 2004 (and I serve a church of 6,500 since then). The small group director should have asked the senior pastor to make the announcement.

The Series was Only Promoted for One Week.

This small group director promoted groups for one Sunday and got a disappointing result. I’ve heard this story before. One year, I had two churches promoting groups on the same dates. One was in New York; the other in Florida. The New York church promoted for one week and recruited 20 new leaders. The Florida church promoted for three weeks and recruited 60 new leaders. Both created their own curriculum. Both had the senior pastor inviting people to lead. The difference was recruiting for one week instead of recruiting for three weeks. Oh, and on the first week, the Florida church also only had 20 new leaders, but they kept recruiting.

The Study was Only a Discussion Guide.

Most people don’t regard themselves as a leader let alone a Bible expert. What this small group director got right was encouraging their people to get together with the friends. What they got wrong was offering a discussion guide only. By creating a teaching video with the pastor’s teaching, you can make the series more popular with the people and with the pastor. You also remove the objection of “I don’t know enough about the Bible to lead a group.” The teacher is your pastor on the video.

You can invest tens of thousands of dollars into video curriculum production (I can help you), or you can shoot a video on your iPhone and upload it to Youtube (I can help you with that too). Either way you remove a barrier – the leader doesn’t need to be a Bible expert. The pastor is the expert.

The Box and the Training were Disconnected.

If you want to get people to your briefing, only allow them to pick up the box at the briefing. The first time I did “small group in a box” back in 2004. People picked up the bag of materials. They put their name on a signup sheet. We never heard from them again. When I started inviting them to a briefing after the service, which was the only way they could get the curriculum, not only did they receive enough training to get them started, they also walked out of the room with a coach and not just curriculum. Keep the training and the resources connected. They will come to training.

The New Leaders Lacked Support.

Most small group pastors and directors are overwhelmed with the current number of leaders in their ministries. In fact, sometimes this is why the small group ministry isn’t growing any faster or any further. You have to multiply yourself. The other side of the equation is that many prospective group leaders will never actually start a group because they can be easily discouraged in the time between the briefing and the start of the study. I’ll be honest – I’ve lost far more group leaders before the group started than after the series ended. If the new leader has an experienced leader to walk alongside them, this will go a long way to get the group going, support the new leader, and help the group continue.

Final Thoughts

I applaud this small group director on trying something new. That takes guts. But, I also agonize with this director at the opportunity lost. You’ve probably experienced the same thing. I have. Half a strategy just doesn’t cut it. Yes, take initiative and try new things. But, also realize that most strategies have a history and a few secrets to success.

Here are a few resources that might help:

Exponential Groups book and workbook

Leading an Exponential Groups Launch Online Course

12 Month Small Group Ministry Coaching Group (starts July 2021).

The post The Danger of Half a Small Group Strategy appeared first on Allen White Consulting.

5.5 Questions with Chip Ingram

Chip Ingram is my guest on the March 2021 episode of the Exponential Groups Podcast. Chip is the teaching pastor and CEO of Living on the Edge, an international teaching and discipleship ministry. A pastor for over thirty years, Chip is the author of many books, including Holy Ambition,  True Spirituality, The Invisible War, and the soon to be released book: Yes, You Really Can Change.  Chip and his wife, Theresa, have four grown children and twelve grandchildren and live in California.

Q1: In the last year, church ministry became more decentralized than ever. As the leader of a parachurch ministry, Living on the Edge, what insights can you give pastors whose flocks have scattered?

Chip: The first thing I would say is, and this may sound so counter-intuitive, the greatest thing a pastor can do is stand guard and make sure your own soul and your own family is in a healthy place. Protect yourself from the pressure, the stress, and the bad decisions that come from trauma. You are not going to please everyone.

Second, I think it’s really important to get your key leaders and go back to what is our mission and what is our vision? What are we really trying to accomplish? Don’t jump to what your tactics should be. Ask yourself if that’s our mission.

Q2: Let’s talk about spiritual transformation. You have a new book called Yes! You Really Can Change: What to Do When Your Spiritually Stuck , which releases on April 6, 2021. What do you mean by spiritually stuck?

Chip: We all get stuck in certain seasons. If you read through the Psalms, David, a man after God’s own heart, at times he’s dancing and praising God, and then there’s a couple of them where he sounds like he’s clinically depressed. Life isn’t even. Sometimes there’s spiritual malnutrition when you don’t take in enough of the truth. Some people over time get caught in moralism, which says the Christian faith is about just being a good person. Or you get stuck in legalism. Somehow you think that it’s all about your performance. Sometimes you get stuck because you have some bad theology that you just think that it really all depends on you. This book is about how life change really occurs.

Q3: You write that “evangelical Christianity has developed a culture in which no one is very surprised when someone prays to receive Christ and continues in a lifestyle of minimal change.” How did the church get to this place? How can we challenge this trend?

Chip: I think the movement to be more seeker sensitive got so seeker sensitive that we didn’t just get close to the culture, we fell in. But the Bible says, it’s the grace of God that teaches us to say no to all ungodliness and worldliness and to live holy lives. We’ve got three major enemies. I still have my flesh. I still have those desires from my old life even when Christ lives in me. I have a world system daily like never before with access with the internet on the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. So there’s great opportunity. I’m in a spiritual battle where there are actual evil angels seeking to tempt and to trick and to scheme. It’s a real battle. If we don’t renew our mind, if we’re not doing life together in authentic community, man, we are going to get killed. And I think that’s happened a lot, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I’m hopeful.

Q4: In the book, you talk about “passive faith.” What is passive faith and why is it dangerous?

Chip: I think passive faith is this idea that I prayed to receive Christ, and then if God is going to do something really significant, I’m waiting for Him to show me what I’m supposed to do. One guy in my church is a good example. He went to a good school. He was a football player. He became a doctor. He became a specialist. He came to church regularly. He became upwardly mobile. If you asked him, he believed in God, he could articulate the Gospel, but found a few cracks in his marriage. His kids were becoming more and more entitled. I had a major injury, and [went to this doctor]. We got to know each other.

I gave him the book, True Spirituality about what it means to become a Romans 12 Christian. He read that book and asked if we could meet. We got coffee and he said, “I’m not this, (meaning the book). I come to church. I like you. I even give some money to the church. We’re not super involved, but to be surrendered, I never understood. I have never even heard that before.”

We were talking a bit more deeply, and I asked him, “Have you ever told God not just that you believe Him for salvation, but, that you want to follow you wholeheartedly?” This is the Lordship of Christ.

He said, “Yes, I have.” I asked him when he prayed that. He says, “About three days ago when I read your book. I thought I was fine. I thought I was doing great. I’ve been reading. I was so off.” This changed his life, his marriage, his kids, and led him to actually take another job.

I think we have a huge percent of the population of very sincere people with a passive faith. But it’s different than when Christ is the center and the Lord of my life. I’m renewing my mind. I’m in authentic community. I’m a part of God’s radical agenda to bring light and love to the world. I think that people are looking for that.

Q5: We met about six years ago. You were pastoring a church in Silicon Valley and you set a pretty big goal. I think you had about a 100 groups at the time, and you wanted me to help the church get to 400 groups with the Holy Ambition curriculum we created together. How did that go?

Chip: What we knew was there’s a lot of old ways to do small groups. We were looking for a way to accelerate the growth of our groups. We decided with your help that we would try something new. We had good trust. So we literally said, “Hey, if you will just volunteer, we’ll help you. We’ll equip you.. You can invite believers or unbelievers because of the nature of the study.” Everyone wants to find their purpose and it was a tremendous success. “We had people say, okay I’ll do this.” Then they recruited their own groups even. We just had thousands of people go through it, and hundreds of groups launched.

Q5.5: How did all of that effort at creating curriculum and recruiting groups impact your church?

Chip: The neat part was pretty soon stuff started bubbling up. There was a guy who had never been involved very much. He was invited to a group. He saw a homeless person and said, “We should do something about that.” Taking action was built into the small group material. The study focused on what is your group going to do? I don’t mean this critically, but sometimes the group is focused on talking about what the text says and, and sharing your life and all that’s really important, but the missional part often gets neglected. This was a very missional focus. This guy found all his old coats and jackets to help some homeless people. And then he invited others to join him. I can still remember these huge bins with hundreds of coats. We saw people clothed and help and loved. That’s the story from one small group that got missional. So thank you. You did a great job on that, and God worked in the Bay area because of it.

Allen: Thanks, Chip. It was great to work with you and your church.

To hear this conversation: Exponential Groups Podcast Episode 3

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Episode 3

Episode 3 – Chip Ingram on Spiritual Transformation

Show Notes

Chip Ingram is the teaching pastor and CEO of Living on the Edge, an international teaching and discipleship ministry. A pastor for over thirty years, Chip is the author of many books, including Holy Ambition, Discover Your True Self, True Spirituality, The Real God, The Invisible War, and the soon to be released book: Yes, You Really Can Change. Chip and his wife, Theresa, have four grown children and twelve grandchildren and live in California.

Living on the Edge

Making Disciples in a Disrupted World Webinar Series

5.5 Questions with Chip Ingram

Featured Resource:

You will receive a complete system for growing your small groups online and in-person. 

Click here for more information.

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Are You Ready for the Small Group Boom?

Are you prepared for the Post-Pandemic Small Group Boom that I wrote about last week? It’s coming. You may not get a moment like this again. Your people have been kept apart for a long time. They are ready to get into groups, even if they’ve never been in groups before. Use the spring to make a plan for an exponential group launch this fall. Use the summer to execute your plan.

Image from canva.comChoose a Relevant Felt-Need Topic.

What is the greatest need in your community? Locate or create a study that addresses that need. Here are a few topics to get you started: relationships, marriage, parenting, stress, purpose, serving others, or something similar.

This is not the time for a series on fasting, tithing, or another mature topic. Those are important, but not to connect the most people possible this fall. You’ve had a lot of new people join you in worship services both in-person and online over the last year. What kind of a study would appeal to their friends? (For more on creating curriculum).

Reconsider Your Definition of a Small Group.

What is an “official” small group in your church? Once you define an official small group, then you can experiment with “unofficial” groups.

One pastor was struggling with recruiting enough leaders to meet the demand for groups in his church, yet he had very high qualifications for leaders which not everyone could meet. I asked him, “What number of people is too small to be a small group in your church?” His answer: Three people. So, he invited his people to join with two others (You plus two) and do the sermon discussion guide together. Once they get going, then he’ll invite them to fulfill the requirements.

How could you offer your people a small group test drive this fall? Could you call these groups by a different name? Key thought: Don’t advertise these groups. Don’t send anyone to these groups. Allow them to gather their friends. (But, give them a coach!)

Consider Delaying Some Requirements Temporarily.

Many people don’t consider themselves to be any kind of a leader. Yet, most people have the ability to gather a group of friends. This is leadership. As John Maxwell says, “Leadership is influence.”

But, to get there, you must decide: what are the minimum requirements for someone to “lead” a group in your church? Breathing or willing? A confession of faith? Church membership? Small group leadership training? A Coach? An interview? The more requirements you pile on, the fewer potential leaders you will have. As my friend Randal Alquist says, “You’re not recruiting elders here.”

Start Building Your Coaching Structure.

If you choose to launch groups “wide open” this fall, then you need help ASAP. The key to multiplying small groups is multiplying yourself. Which of your experienced group leaders could help you coach new leaders? If you’re not going to be picky about who leads a new group, then you need to be picky about who coaches them.

When you look at your current group leaders, what groups would you like 10 more just like? Ask those leaders to help coach new leaders. What groups do you NOT want 10 more of? Quarantine that group (sorry).

There is a lot of debate about coaching small group leaders. Some churches have the luxury of hiring enough staff to coach all of the leaders. If that’s you, go for it. But, that’s not where most churches are. There is also a struggle with giving up control (I was there), disconnecting from group leaders, and sharing leadership with others. Let me ask you this: if you had four times as many group leaders as you have right now, how would you support them? The answer is not “more meetings.”

How can you multiply yourself through coaching to support more leaders?

Final Thoughts

The fall of 2021 will be unlike any other season you’ve experienced in small group ministry. You need to be ready. But, let me give you a hint: the strategy for fall 2021 is not pulling out the same tired small group strategies that have connect less than 30% of your members into groups. It’s time to add a new strategy. It’s time to do something different. You may not get another moment like this again. Make the most of it.

How are you preparing for the PPSGB? Leave me a comment below.

The post Are You Ready for the Small Group Boom? appeared first on Allen White Consulting.

Preparing for the PPSGB

PPSGB, what? Are you prepared for the Post-Pandemic Small Group Boom? You may not get a moment like this again. Your people have been kept apart for a long time. They are ready to get into groups, even if they’ve never been in groups before. Use the spring to make a plan for an exponential group launch this fall. Use the summer to execute your plan.

Image from canva.comChoose a Relevant Felt-Need Topic.

What is the greatest need in your community? Locate or create a study that addresses that need. Here are a few topics to get you started: relationships, marriage, parenting, stress, purpose, serving others, or something similar.

This is not the time for a series on fasting, tithing, or another mature topic. Those are important, but not to connect the most people possible this fall. You’ve had a lot of new people join you in worship services both in-person and online over the last year. What kind of a study would appeal to their friends? (For more on creating curriculum).

Reconsider Your Definition of a Small Group.

What is an “official” small group in your church? Once you define an official small group, then you can experiment with “unofficial” groups.

One pastor was struggling with recruiting enough leaders to meet the demand for groups in his church, yet he had very high qualifications for leaders which not everyone could meet. I asked him, “What number of people is too small to be a small group in your church?” His answer: Three people. So, he invited his people to join with two others (You plus two) and do the sermon discussion guide together. Once they get going, then he’ll invite them to fulfill the requirements.

How could you offer your people a small group test drive this fall? Could you call these groups by a different name? Key thought: Don’t advertise these groups. Don’t send anyone to these groups. Allow them to gather their friends. (But, give them a coach!)

Consider Delaying Some Requirements Temporarily.

Many people don’t consider themselves to be any kind of a leader. Yet, most people have the ability to gather a group of friends. This is leadership. As John Maxwell says, “Leadership is influence.”

But, to get there, you must decide: what are the minimum requirements for someone to “lead” a group in your church? Breathing or willing? A confession of faith? Church membership? Small group leadership training? A Coach? An interview? The more requirements you pile on, the fewer potential leaders you will have. As my friend Randal Alquist says, “You’re not recruiting elders here.”

Start Building Your Coaching Structure.

If you choose to launch groups “wide open” this fall, then you need help ASAP. The key to multiplying small groups is multiplying yourself. Which of your experienced group leaders could help you coach new leaders? If you’re not going to be picky about who leads a new group, then you need to be picky about who coaches them.

When you look at your current group leaders, what groups would you like 10 more just like? Ask those leaders to help coach new leaders. What groups do you NOT want 10 more of? Quarantine that group (sorry).

There is a lot of debate about coaching small group leaders. Some churches have the luxury of hiring enough staff to coach all of the leaders. If that’s you, go for it. But, that’s not where most churches are. There is also a struggle with giving up control (I was there), disconnecting from group leaders, and sharing leadership with others. Let me ask you this: if you had four times as many group leaders as you have right now, how would you support them? The answer is not “more meetings.”

How can you multiply yourself through coaching to support more leaders?

Final Thoughts

The fall of 2021 will be unlike any other season you’ve experienced in small group ministry. You need to be ready. But, let me give you a hint: the strategy for fall 2021 is not pulling out the same tired small group strategies that have connect less than 30% of your members into groups. It’s time to add a new strategy. It’s time to do something different. You may not get another moment like this again. Make the most of it.

How are you preparing for the PPSGB? Leave me a comment below.

The post Preparing for the PPSGB appeared first on Allen White Consulting.

The Post-Pandemic Small Group Boom

A year ago everything stopped. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic. Almost no one had experienced a pandemic of this degree except a few centenarians who were babies in 1918 during the Spanish Influenza. The whole world came to an abrupt halt. Originally, a few weeks of quarantine were given in exchange for normalcy resuming quickly. Then, it stretched to Easter and beyond.

Image by Andrew Martin from Pixabay

COVID separated the church. The church did not “close,” because the church is a body of believers — not a building, not a service, not an institution. The church couldn’t gather for in-person meetings: worship, small groups, or anything else, but the church never closed.

Many small groups went to Zoom or other online platforms — synchronous or asynchronous. While many groups tolerated meeting online, some have discovered the opportunity of online groups to connect to others who are far from them and far from God. But, Zoom fatigue set in quickly. Online groups are just not the same as in-person groups. And, we found our way around that issue too by making online groups completely different and calling them by another name.

But, right now you are in an unprecedented moment – Small Groups are about to boom!

People have been separated and in their houses for a long time. Of course, restrictions and attitudes vary across North America. While some churches still haven’t regathered for groups or worship, I know of one church that never stopped their in-person services. I’m not judging right or wrong. I’m just saying “different” restrictions and attitudes. While this is also my first global pandemic, this is where I see things going in 2021 with small groups:

People Will Warm Up to In-Person Gatherings Gradually

While Coronavius numbers are declining, they haven’t disappeared. In most places the rate of infection is still higher than it was a year ago. While vaccine shots in arms are accelerating quickly, there is still some uncertainty, reluctance, or resistance to vaccines. Lastly, people have spent 12 months immersed in the stress and fear of a global pandemic. It will take them a while to turn things around. But, there are hopeful signs.

When the President of the United States announced in his speech on March 10, 2021 “…if we do this together, by July the 4th, there’s a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day. That doesn’t mean large events with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together…But to get there we can’t let our guard down. This fight is far from over” (Source) Politics aside, words from the leader of the free world are powerful. These words will do much to help people overcome their fear. The President of the United States is advocating for small groups.

In the meantime, what do you do? Do you just write off the spring semester? I don’t think so. This is the time to experiment. What are your people open to? How are they willing to participate in small groups? Pilot something. Gather groups of vaccinated folks. Be patient with those who are unsure. Try a new approach to online groups. If you’re not sure what your people might be open to, our church-wide assessment can help you find the right direction to go.

People Will Be Gone All Summer

Once people are confident to get out, they will be completely gone. They will be on vacation and will enjoy weekends away. Don’t be disappointed if the return to in-person worship is slow. It’s slow for every church right now.

Summer isn’t a great time to launch small groups anyway. You could try more social gatherings or service projects, but even then, your people will be gone for the most part. That doesn’t mean to avoid trying something. It just means not to expect dramatic numbers over the summer.

I’m not suggesting that you raise the white flag for summer, but your people taking a much needed break will create an even bigger fall launch. Use your summer to prepare for fall. Recruit coaches for new group leaders. Create your own video-based curriculum.

Small Groups Will Boom in the Fall

Your people have been apart for a long time. Their need for community is higher than ever. By fall, they will be ready for in-person small groups at a level you’ve probably never experienced. Barring a fourth wave of the virus, vaccine-resistant variants, or continued restrictions, people will be ready in reconnect in small groups like never before.

Are you ready? How will you make the most of this opportunity? This is not the time for business as usual. This is not the time to roll out the same tired small group strategies you’ve used year after year that produce the same mediocre result. What are people willing to say “yes” to this fall?

Final Thoughts

We’ve had a year, haven’t we? I hope we never have another year like this past one again. But, the pain of the last 12 months is producing an unprecedented opportunity. Are you ready to make the most of that opportunity?

Next Week’s Post: Preparing for the PPSGB (Post-Pandemic Small Group Boom).

Get a head start with the Exponential Groups Suite (offer ends 3/31/2021).

The post The Post-Pandemic Small Group Boom appeared first on Allen White Consulting.