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Church Culture
10.05.10
Three Options for Handling Unofficial Small Groups
Every high-quality small group ministry will have unofficial small groups, groups that start on their own after seeing what your organized groups are doing or groups of people who are living out biblical community organically. When the small group pastor is made aware of these groups there is one of three ways to handle these groups.
- Allow the group to continue as they are without interruption. Pray for these groups and honor them as gifts from God.
- Approach the most influential person in the group (or the designated group leader). Let them know that you would be honored if the group would consider becoming part of the small group system. Point out the advantages of becoming part of the church's small group ministry. Be sure to include training opportunities, a coach to help them in their growth as a leader, financial assistance from the church (if your church does assist in the purchase of materials or other things), networking with a other small group leaders, ongoing encouragement, and assistance with childcare (if your church aids in finding individuals to do childcare or financial assistance is available in paying for childcare).
- Allow the group to continue without interruption utilizing the group when the church is doing church-wide campaigns. If you believe it will enhance the church's ministry, at the end of each campaign invite the unofficial small group to join the church's small group ministry. In most instances the group leader will be more likely to consider this following a campaign as the leader has experienced what it feels like to be part of the small group team.
10.04.10
Can Someone Be in a Small Group and Not Know It?
I am convinced that many people are in a small group and just don't know it. For ten years I was a collegiate minister in Kentucky. There were about twelve other college ministers planted on various colleges and universities around the state. The years I spent with these incredible men and women unveiled small group life to me in amazing ways. While we didn't meet weekly, we really did do life together.
We lived out each of the one another principles without ever discussing them or agreeing to live them out…
Love Each Other:
1. to fulfill God's law (Romans 13:8)
2. to increase our love for one another (2 Thessalonians 1:3)
3. to overflow in love for one another (1 Thessalonians 3:12)
4. to cover a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8)
Connect with Each Other in Integrity:
1. to fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7)
2. to forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13)
3. to greet one another with healthy touch (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Peter 5:14)
4. to wait for one another to break bread (1 Corinthians 11:33)
5. to help one another through difficult times (1 Corinthians 12:26)
Serve Each Other:
1. to use our spiritual gifts (1 Peter 4:10)
2. to love, relinquishing our freedom when necessary (Galatians 5:13)
3. to show kindness and pursue what is good for one another (1 Thessalonians 5:15)
4. to show concern for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25)
5. to carry one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2)
6. to show honor as you "wash one another's feet" (John 13:14)
7. to work with one another (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 6:1)
Teach Each Other:
1. to teach and admonish one another (Colossians 3:16)
2. to instruct and model Jesus to one another (Romans 15:14)
Encourage Each Other:
1. to encourage one another to avoid deception and live for Christ (Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:25)
2. to speak the truth to one another (Ephesians 4:25)
3. to lay down our lives for one another (1 John 3:16)
4. to spur one another on to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24)
Build Up Each Other:
1. to strengthen one another in tough times (1 Thessalonians 4:18 and 5:11)
2. to share a psalm, a teaching, or a revelation (1 Corinthians 14:26)
Meet Each Other's Spiritual Needs:
1. to confess our sins one to another (James 5:16)
2. to pray for one another (James 5:16)
Live a Life of Humility Toward Each Other:
1. to honor others above ourselves (Romans 12:10)
2. to be in agreement or of the same mind one with each other (2 Corinthians 13:11; Romans 12:16 and 15:5)
3. so as not to criticize or judge one another (Romans 14:13; James 4:11)
4. so as not to complain or speak badly of one another (James 5:9)
5. to submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21)
6. to be clothed with humility toward one another (1 Peter 5:5)
Live in Harmony with Each Other:
1. to be patient with one another (Ephesians 4:2)
2. to live in peace one with another (Mark 9:50)
3. to accept and welcome one another with hospitality (Romans 15:7; 1 Peter 4:9)
4. to glorify God together (Romans 15:6
Was this band of passionate college ministers a small group? Only if you consider a dozen or so followers of Jesus living out biblical community a small group. Or maybe, just maybe we were something more than a small group. Maybe we were a band of sisters and brothers being the church for one another. Either way, I wish every person on the planet could experience what we experienced together.
Small group pastor… Look around you. You may have a substantial number of small groups already meeting, groups that don't show on your flow chart but are precisely what you're asking groups to be. And a word of advice… Be careful to bless them rather than curse them. They may have been put together by God Himself.
09.28.10
Leaders and Clarity... Four Essentials... Without Them Don't Expect Much
Followers need leaders who are clearly defining four essentials. Without doing so, followers will find themselves lost in a pool of confusion, doubt, and misunderstanding. Ultimately the leader will lose her/his influence and those they once led will find someplace else to serve or will not serve at all.
Those four essentials are…
Clear Vision… Without clearly and consistently describing the ministry's vision (a mental image of the final outcome) followers will lose passion for the work.
Clear Strategy… Without a clear understanding of the strategy being used to accomplish the vision, followers create their own and go to work. Chaos will ensue as there will overlapping of work, role confusion, and followers will become discouraged.
Clear Expectations (of all followers at all levels)… Without clearly laying out the distinct responsibilities of every person on the team followers will not know what to do and will wait to go to work until someone tells them. In time, if they are not given a job description (in writing or verbally) they will quietly drift away never to be seen again.
Clear Markers of Success (for all followers at all levels)… Without clearly defining what success is followers will struggle to accomplish the work with the proficiency and expertise you had anticipated they would.
Other Leadership Blog Posts:
Leadership Vacuum, the Reason Many Leaders Lose
What All Effective Leaders Do, Five Simple Necessities
Alan Danielson Interview, Triple Threat Leadership, On-Line Book and Consulting
The Leader's Preparation, Wisdom from Henry and Richard Blackaby
09.14.10
Recruitment Month... Going When You're Growing Tired... A Few Tips
It's one of the busiest times a small group pastor survives, yes survives… recruitment time. For months you've been building up to September, recruitment month. You've gotten your leadership team together for multiple meetings, together you've created what you believe to be an effective plan, you've been diagramming and deliberating and finding yourself waking up in the middle of the night asking the question, "Is there something I'm forgetting or have forgotten?," you've been calling and prodding people who would make good small group leaders because you have to have more leaders so that your anticipated number of new group members have someone to lead them, and you've been prompting your senior pastor to push groups from the pulpit.
It's now September and you're exhausted but there's no way you can slow down, at least not for a few weeks. You need more energy to be effective. So what do you do?
A few ideas that have worked for me through the years…
- Take a quick afternoon nap, even if you have to do it in your office. A power nap can be a powerful thing.
- Sleep in one day. That's right, just decide that tomorrow you're not going to the office until 10:00. If you wake up early, don't think about church stuff. Sip coffee, watch the news, read the newspaper, do life like you have no pressure at all. This will slow down your blood pressure and the relaxation will make you better when you arrive back at the office.
- Take an afternoon and do something you like to do (unless it has to do with church). I'm one of the worst golfers in the world but I love it. An afternoon at the golf course will take my mind off anything. And after playing golf, I normally am ready to go again but I'm ready to go again without the inner urgency that existed prior to hitting my first poor shot of tee box #1.
- If you can, go away with your wife or husband for an overnighter. Get out of town and enjoy one another's company. Ask her not to bring up church stuff and you agree to do the same. Go someplace that you've been to together in the past, a place where, when you were there the first time, there was no pressure. Your emotional memory will allow you to breathe without thinking about the present for a period of time.
- Sit around a campfire one evening. It's hard to think about work when you're staring at a fire, looking at the stars, and being invaded by God's creation.
- Don't miss your daily time with God. Your time with God should be one of the most refreshing times of each day. Rest in Him, be restored by Him, allow Him to remind you that the larger story is more vital to the Kingdom than the story of groups. And finally, while with Him, turn over all of your cares and concerns about recruitment to Him. Remember this passage as you pray… Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philip. 4:6-7
09.10.10
My Interview With Boyd Pelley, Small Groups Analytics IV, Churchteams.com... So Much More than just Small Groups
Today we're wrapping up a four day interview with Boyd Pelley. Boyd created Churchteams.com, a web-based analytic tool for small group ministries. It has become so much more. This is a tool that will not only enhance your small group ministry, it will make your church much more efficient and effective.
Rick: We've talked a lot about using Churchteams.com for analysis, what are some other benefits of churchteams?
Boyd: Well communication is huge. A church can text and email as well as send postcards and letters to the whole church, any group, set of groups or set of members with just a few clicks. It's really easy. Imagine a bad weather day being able to send an email or even text message to everyone in the church that a service is canceled from the pastor's home computer. Or what about a last minute change of plans for a small group where even email is too slow and text messaging is needed. You can imagine how much our student ministries love texting.
In addition, so many people have enjoyed Churchteams for small groups and they wanted us to expand it to be a full database. So we did that a couple of years ago. Now you can track membership, assimilation, contributions, children's check-in, recruitment, reporting, event sign ups and anything else a traditional Church Management System does. The only exceptions are accounting and calendaring. There are some great reasons we've not done these, but anything membership related, we can do. By the way, all for the same price. No extra cost for modules or training or support. It's all included.
Rick: So it does track contributions?
Boyd: Yes. Besides the obvious reason of needing to track individual contributions for tax statements, we wanted to include giving as one of the factors involved in evaluating spiritual growth. We're working on some innovative ideas on how to do this, but I'll save that for later.
Rick: Will Churchteams.com work for a church of 50?
Boyd: Yes. It will. Not just for small groups, but everything related to church membership including contributions. Small churches sometimes don't think they need a church database, but in reality web-based software makes it possible for any volunteer to help with whatever role they have to help with the church. This can be a tremendous help even for church plants with nothing more than a core team getting ready to launch.
Rick: Will it work for a church of 20,000?
Boyd: Four of the largest ten churches in the United States use Churchteams for their small groups. We don't yet have any churches running over 2,000 using it for a full database. But, I imagine that day will come in the next couple of years. In August, we had one church put 2,600 people in small groups using Churchteams.
Rick: Boyd, tell us about the cost. What can you tell church leaders about the cost of Churchteams.com?
Boyd: I managed a church budget for six years as the church administrator. I know church finances feel tight whether the budget is $12,000 or $12 million. A big church might have a $5 million budget. That would be a very small business. We wanted our pricing to enable the best stewardship possible for churches not reflect typical business pricing. So, for most of a decade we built the tool as a labor of love essentially front-ending development costs. That allows us to provide the highest possible quality tool for an incredibly reasonable price about 10-40% of other comparable web-based solutions. Here's a link to our prices. If any or your readers are interested, please invite them to join me for a webinar. I do like 5 a week.
09.09.10
My Interview with Boyd Pelley, Small Groups Analytics III, Connecting Every Person in the Ministry
Over the last two days this blog has been featuring an interview with Boyd Pelley. Boyd spearheads Churchteams.com, a web-based ministry helping churches utilize analytics to further God's Kingdom. Picking up where we left off…
Rick: That's fantastic. Hey let me jump back to the bigger picture of analyzing the ministry whole so that the small groups pastor can conclude what aspect of the ministry needs to be shored up. Would you tell us some of the categories of analysis that are required for a small group pastor to gain a correct snapshot of the ministry they're leading?
Boyd: I see the need for snapshots at three levels. First of all, the executive level. This is the most common one people have. Basically it is the number of groups, enrollment and attendance month to month. The second level is the ministry level. This metric shows the consistency rates of each group so that you can see which groups are healthy and which ones are stressed. I know of very few churches doing this without Churchteams. The third level is the individual level that shows leaders and their coaches consistency rates of individuals.
I've mentioned consistency because it is a far better indicator of individual and group health than mere attendance. We call this metric the "low-hanging" fruit because it is relatively easy to capture. Beyond consistency, we are also developing systems to measure things like ownership and spiritual growth progress in a number of areas. There's a lot to this that the next few years will flesh out more clearly.
Rick: You and I both know from working with small group churches, there are at least seven different systems for doing groups, everything from house churches to the free market system. Will Churchteams work for any of those?
Boyd: You know from the very beginning I knew that we'd have to build it for everything from Sunday School to G12 to Free Market systems. Our setup process allows you to customize the language, the tool and morph it so that it exactly reflects the strategy of small groups a church has chosen to use.
Rick: You just mentioned Sunday School. Are a lot of Sunday School churches utilizing this?
Boyd: We're starting to see more and more headed that direction. I have been pleased to see some churches using blended models be so pleased with what the tool does for their off-campus groups that they have moved to using it with their on-campus groups as well. One advantage over the traditional records room model for Sunday School is the way the tool communicates weekly to everyone enrolled. Typical inreach consists of directors and teachers calling folks. It gets awkward to continue calling after 4-5 times, but weekly e-mails showing attendance and sharing class prayer and other information seem to provide the right relational distance for connection without the awkwardness.
09.08.10
My Interview with Boyd Pelley, Small Groups Analytics II, Saving Your Ministry Money
One of my favorite guys in the small group space is Boyd Pelley. Boyd spearheads Churchteams.com, an on-line analytics website for churches doing groups. I once mentioned to Boyd just how important his role in the small group world was. I said it this way, "Without record-keeping we wouldn't know what was really going on." Over the next few minutes Boyd schooled me on the difference between "analytics" and "record-keeping." When he had finished I realized that every small group ministry that wants to flourish needs a strategic plan for gaining information about every group and using that information to reach optimal effectiveness.
Yesterday Boyd told us why analytics are essential. For many of us, if they save us money they become an essential. Check this out…
Rick: In order for a small group pastor to know what is broken and what needs to be fixed, they must first be willing to find out what is present reality. Why do you think some small group pastors are hesitant to do what is necessary to gain that information?
Boyd: Historically the logistics to collect the kind of data we're collecting today just wasn't there or it cost too much to do. Most small group pastors think the idea of trying to get weekly feedback from leaders is crazy and impossible. I know. I was one of them. We do a simple version of this for Sunday School, but the idea of doing it for decentralized ministry was overwhelming.
A second reason is that most pastors don't have the training, personality or spiritual gifting it takes to put together data in a truly meaningful way. This is where we come in. Software is really good at that stuff. Using today's technology, we automate for pastors both the logistics and the collated information they need.
Thirdly, there has always been a discussion about numbers in the church and using business systems. We've relied way to heavily on attendance and giving as spiritual indicators and intuitively most pastors know there is more to the story. So, there is legitimate skepticism that these metrics are telling the full story.
Rick: Okay, here's the deal. I'm working with hundreds of small group pastors, time is always an issue for these very busy pastors. So… how many days a week would it take for a small group pastor to gain the information, analyze the information and utilize the information that Churchteams will give them?
Boyd: The few churches that are trying to do it, with as few as 20 groups, hire part time staff just to make all the phone calls and manage their accounting-based info systems. We completely automate all of that for you by empowering leaders to communicate well and in the process provide the necessary info updates and summaries. If I were going to put a number to it, I would say you would need to hire someone an hour per group per month and provide them training in analytics to be able to put together equivalent feedback … maybe.
Rick: So you're saying then, with churchteams, that a church won't need to hire part-time staff yet they can still acquire and utilize the information as if they had taken on additional staff?
Boyd: Exactly. All the small group pastor has to do is open up his inbox and he can pray over the groups that met the night before and reply to the leader or forward to coaches and staff. We provide 4 steps to set up the system and a video on how to train leaders. Then the software is designed to run itself and to collect that information. Not only will it save them staff hires, it will also help them use their limited time most effectively.
09.07.10
My Interview with Boyd Pelley, Small Groups Analytics I, Why Analytics are Essential
One of my favorite guys in the small group space is Boyd Pelley. Boyd spearheads Churchteams.com, an on-line analytics website for churches doing groups. I once mentioned to Boyd just how important his role in the small group world was. I said it this way, "Without record-keeping we wouldn't know what was really going on." Over the next few minutes Boyd schooled me on the difference between "analytics" and "record-keeping." When he had finished I realized that every small group ministry that wants to flourish needs a strategic plan for gaining information about every group and using that information to reach optimal effectiveness.
This is the first in a series of four blog posts, my interview with Boyd. Hang on. You're about to realize a tool, that if used correctly, may take your small group ministry to the next level.
Rick: Boyd many people know you as the guy who helps them analyze their small group ministry. They may not realize that you are a small group expert. Would you tell everyone what your background is?
Boyd: For 18 years I served on church staffs in New Mexico, Nebraska, and Texas. My job titles varied from adult education to discipleship to administration to family pastor. Early on I realized the value of thinking about and organizing every ministry from a small group or team perspective. It makes administration more streamlined and brings alignment across the organization which serves both staff and volunteers well. I learned ministry in a small groups / discipleship atmosphere on college campuses and brought that experience and commitment to the church. I have had the privilege of learning from the best thinkers, consultants and authors on small groups in the last 40 years. Each one has influenced my thinking in some way. My primary spiritual gift is shepherding, not administration. This tool grew out of a pastor's heart that is passionate about doing a better, more effective job of caring for and discipling people. It became reality thanks to Mark Horan; my partner, co-founder and the software architect. He influences and owns this thing at least as much as I do.
Rick: You once said, "I believe analytics will do for ministry in the next ten years what the arts did for worship the past twenty." That's a huge statement. What has driven you to believe this statement to be true?
Boyd: When I think back to what church was like in the 70's and 80's, you could pretty much go to any church and you knew how it was going to work. There were three songs, announcements, a music special, communion (depending on the church) and then the sermon. When we opened up the church to the arts and began having worship bands with guitar solos, drama, dance, poetry, and video projectors showing printed art, media and sermon support images; worship changed. There was new life to what was happening on Sundays. Sunday began to relate to the rest of our week much better.
Of course, not everyone saw that the same way and the last twenty years have been filled with debate, discussion and a lot of change in churches. It has been a huge revolution in the church and I honestly think that analytics will do the same thing on the ministry side.
Right now, we can track and provide for staff the analytics that show the relative health of each group: healthy, normal, at-risk. This helps pastors better focus their ministry efforts where it is most needed. Very soon, we will be able to do the same thing for individuals helping them pay more attention to their spiritual growth goals and making leadership much more aware of the state of their flocks.
The discussion of the role of numbers and metrics in church life has been around a very long time. We engage in that discussion all the time. But, with the way technology has advanced, I believe we can revolutionize ministry and ministry leadership efforts. I relate it to Luke 15. The shepherd didn't count to brag. He counted so that he could clearly see the need and focus his efforts where it would make the most difference. This is our Father's heart and we should do everything we can with today's technology to reflect that same heart.
Rick: So with churchteams.com a church can actually peer into every individual group utilizing churchteams.com to know where they need to be strengthened so that that group doesn't die. Is that correct?
Boyd: Yes, it is. A quick story.
Damon is a friend of mine in Seattle using Churchteams. He's a master black belt six sigma expert who volunteered to lead a small group ministry in a church of about 250. In the summer of 2008, he called me and said, "Boyd I'm concerned about the health of my groups. Would you say that a healthy group trusts each other?"
I said, "Sure. Absolutely."
And then he asked, "Isn't trust, by definition, a function of consistency?"
I thought about that and said, "Sure. I trust you because you've consistently been there for me."
He asked, "Can you measure consistency?"
I said, "Yes, that's just attendance over time."
"So," he asked, "From your experience, what degree of consistency would you identify a group as healthy?"
Without much thought and based on 18 years of experience, I said, "I guarantee that any typical, off-campus, small group of 6-12 that averages 80% consistency is healthy."
"What about an at-risk group?"
Again, very quickly I answered, "Any group not averaging 50% probably has some issues that need to be addressed."
Well he took that, used the data we gave him and put it together for his groups. He called me up. "Boyd, I've got 12 groups. I know all 12 leaders. I know everybody in all 12 groups. What I didn't know is I have 5 healthy groups, 4 in between, and 3 are at risk."
He said, "So I decided to go to those 3 and test our hypothesis. All three of them, when I began asking the right questions, had issues that we needed to work on to restore them to health."
And he said, "Boyd I would have never known that without the analytics."
And that conversation began a huge learning curve for me and for Churchteams on how to use and present the data we had learned to collect from 2004 to 2007 in the most effective way to help pastors shepherd well.
09.03.10
Nine Things to Remember When Discipling Men
This past week my church asked if I'd do a session for our men on discipling men. I gotta tell you, it brought about a lot of personal soul-searching. When it was all said and done one of the outcomes was a list of "things to remember" when leading men. The list below may help you as you lead men in your small group, accountability group, or some other kind of group.
- Men need to see a vision. They need a mental image of the final outcome.
- Men need social time, not just meeting times. Social time on the golf course, at the pool hall, on the ball field, etc… is what will make the meeting time come to life.
- Men are warriors and need an enemy to fight and a battle to win. This is just the heart of a man. Be certain they know who the enemy is, Satan.
- Men need a bar raised high. Boredom sets in quickly when a goal is easily attainable.
- Men don't read. Many men are not going to pick up a book and read it. You may be a book junky, they may junk the book.
- Men will dodge real life issues by deflecting and talking about facts. For instance, you might ask a guy what God is teaching him during his daily time with God. His response might be to tell you he had his quiet time three times this week. You'll need to dig deeper.
- Men need a safe place and a safe person to tell real life stuff to but they need time to know they can trust you. You'll need to open the door to this kind of transparency by revealing your stuff first.
- Men will lie to you. Every accountability list I've ever seen had as the last question something like this… "Were any of your responses misleading or all out lies?" Don't declare a man the enemy because of this, he's been taught by society to protect his influence in this way. Simply help him step into the light of honesty so God can redeem his heart.
- Men need MODELS, not INFORMATION.
09.01.10
Leadership Vacuum, the Reason Many Leaders Lose
Many church leaders find themselves in a very awkward situation. Someone else seems to have the ear of their team members. You know the story… You're the senior pastor or staff member. But when you speak people aren't listening to you but they are allowing someone else on the team you lead to give direction to an initiative. This may simply be because someone else has a longer tenure with the team. But it may be that you as the key leader have left a leadership vacuum. A leadership vacuum is a hole that needs filling... a question that goes unanswered, a task that needs assigned, or a pre-existing responsibility that was never followed up on and has been left hanging. A leader can often realize when a leadership vacuum is being created if, during a team meeting, a question is asked or a task needing to be done is suggested but the key leader of the meeting remains silent. The awkward silence that follows may be a clear indicator that a leadership vacuum has just been created and, if you're a leader leading leaders, someone in the room will probably try to fill that vacuum. Someone once wisely stated, "If there is a leadership vacuum, someone will fill it." At that point the key leader loses some level of influence with the rest of the team members. The proactive team member has trumped the level of authority of the staff member spearheading the ministry. This is why it's important for those of us who spearhead a work to be certain we don't leave room for a leadership vacuum to appear.
A Leadership vacuum is perceived to be or is a reality when….
- A key leader stops casting the vision God has given them. Cast vision at least every 30 days.
- During a team meeting, a team member begins to describe a different vision that that of the key leader and the key leader allows the revamped vision to linger without graciously renouncing and redirecting the group back to the original vision.
- A question arises in a meeting and the key leader tells the team she/he will get back with the group but doesn't.
- There is an obvious job that needs to be done and others on the team are vividly aware of it, but the key leader ignores the need and assigns no one the responsibility to accomplish the task.
- The key leader seems to go AWOL on the team. She/he gets busy with other obligations and stops contacting team members, calling team meetings, and/or loses touch with team members.
- The key leader is poorly prepared when the team meets simply having meetings with no purpose and no meaningful outcomes.
