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10.08.10
Leaving LifeWay, Headed to NavPress... No Social Networking until November 1
I am now reminded of the first time our group birthed a new group. Leaving people you love seeing on a daily or weekly basis is a tough thing to do. I'll be doing that in just a few weeks.
Beginning November 1 I'll be spearheading the work of small groups at NavPress. This is a journey I am thrilled to be taking. Having the opportunity to shape the philosophy of a ministry is a great honor, one I have thought long and hard about.
I will miss the people and the ministry of LifeWay. She has been so very good to me. Every leader whose direction I served under, every person on the teams I've served with, every opportunity she has offered me, has blessed me more than I deserve.
So that I can reboot my own heart I'll be social networking silent until November 1. Phone conversations will be hard to come by and my e-mail address will be changing. Every once in a while each of us needs to get away and just "be" without feeling an obligation to be "doing." This is one of those times.
In case you're wondering… Yes, I will begin blogging, tweeting, and available to help you and your ministry in any way again on November 1. Please know that I will have a new blog site as the present one is a LifeWay site. I would be honored if you would continue to walk with me in my new journey at NavPress via the new blog. It will be up and running sometime around November 1.
I am looking forward to the next chapter of my life. Help me write it, will you?
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
08.30.10
Visionaries, God-Inspired Visionaries, and Taking Jesus to Every Street and Cul-de-sac
Throughout Christian history there have been Visionaries and there have been God-Inspired Visionaries. Visionaries are people who dream man-accomplishable dreams. God-Inspired visionaries are leaders who see in their mind's eye God-sized, humongous, unsettling, seemingly unattainable obligations. But unlike your run of the mill visionaries, God-Inspired visionaries are unable to consider that the vision God has given them is unattainable. In fact, when others discourage, discount, or try to dismantle the dream God has given them, they move forward undaunted, like a lion already in full pursuit of her prey completely aware that she will run it down and be successful. I spent the weekend in Tracy, California with some God-Inspired Visionaries.
Church leaders from various denominations, differing doctrinal ideologies, trained in seminaries with contradictory considerations have come together with a God-sized vision, to see 1,000 small groups started and accomplishing biblical community in a town of 80,000. I am dreaming this dream with them. Why? Because the passion of God-sized visionaries spills over on anyone who gets close enough to experience the intensity and intentionality of dreamers of this caliber.
Many senior pastors and small group pastors are simply visionaries. They envision having a healthy small group ministry for their church. They organize for it, build teams made up of individuals from their own congregation to make sure the machine runs smoothly, and get paid to do so. They do what the job description says and the Personnel Committee or Elders celebrate that they have a well-oiled small group machine for their one congregation.
Would it be that more small group pastors and senior pastors could become God-sized Visionaries, willing to join other church leaders to take on the entire community, the community where those far from Christ live, on streets and cul-de-sacs, in towns and villages, and urban areas and rural farmlands?
A few characteristics that will be necessary…
- A willingness to go on the adventure of a lifetime
- The courage to discount the dissenters and traditionalists
- An awareness that you will win the war but will be covered with the scars of the battle
- The ability to journey beyond ordinariness and settle in the land of extraordinariness
- A passion so cavernous that you will sacrifice more than those in your circle of relationship believe healthy or right
We can bring Jesus to the world through small groups but only if we can kill our competitive nature, agree that all believers are the church not just those attending my church or those who make up my denomination, embrace a unity of spirit setting aside secondary doctrinal concerns, make Jesus the centerpiece of the message, and become God-sized Visionaries.
I'm praying that there will be more God-sized Visionaries like the senior pastors, small group pastors, and volunteers I spent the weekend with in Tracy, California. Why? What is now "small group ministry" just might become a movement!
08.23.10
Small Group Twitter-ers... A Long List
Since diving into the twitter pool my ministry has been greatly enhanced. There are multiple reasons:
- Most of the great small group bloggers tweet each time they post a new blog. I read at least three new articles nearly every day about some aspect of small group ministry.
- Many small group bloggers, when posting a blog, link to other blogs on the same topic. In just a few short minutes I can read four or five posts on the same topic.
- A well-crafted 140 characters can reveal a truth much better than a paragraph can (at least for me). Some small group twitter-ers are masters at reminding me of or revealing some great fact about small group ministry that is enlightening and invigorating.
- Short conversations with other small group pastors take place on the twitter site. There are some small group pastors I've never met but would consider them friends and small group gurus, as I've connected with them through social networking and have learned much from them.
- You can join an organic network of small group pastors and leaders worldwide. I'm hearing from people from various countries who are small group pastors and leaders and learning much from them.
Below you'll find a list of some of the small group pastors that I follow. I'm sure they'd be honored if you followed them too.
@adamworkman
@AlviRadjagukguk
@AlanDanielson
@allenwhite
@ alyssadourte
@armckinley
@bdonahue80
@benreed
@BrettEastman
@carybranscum
@chiapperino
@colonkevin
@CShimanek
@DaveTreat
@DavidBuckner
@DavidBHull
@DavidLermy
@deantwan
@doyleBrookshire
@Eddiecberry
@eddiemosley
@ericdunaway
@gary4n
@gatortodd
@gregmbowman
@heatherzempel
@HerschelT
@Huddude
@ianhkirk
@JBBRAUN
@JillPBCCgroups
@jimbotts
@jimmeldrim @
@joelcomiskey
@johncatkinson
@johnratz
@JoshSurratt
@JulianneAugust
@kedamak
@maclake
@marcharvey
@markchowell
@MattWHarmer
@mbstockdale
@micmac1900
@mscottboren
@nathanayres
@pkspratt
@reid_smith
@RGNeighbour
@RicDiefenderfer
@scottim
@ScottWilliams
@secondchair
@spenceshelton
@SteveGladen
@timweems
@TravisTadema
If you're a small group pastor and are tweeting but not on this list, please let me know via e-mail (rick.howerton@lifeway.com) or by tweeting me at @rickhowerton. I'd love to cross paths with you via Twitter.
08.19.10
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting IV... Accepting Opinion as Truth vs. Seeking God's Truth
Seeking God's Truth and Accepting Opinion as Truth is not the same thing. In fact, when a small group leader allows "my truth," an individual's choice of what truth is, to trump God's truth, false teaching has just occurred. It is extremely important that small groups, when studying the Bible, be in search of God's perspective.
A small group leader accepting opinion as truth…
- utilizes a worldview other than a biblical worldview as a starting point for the conversation
- doesn't realize the importance of knowing the context of a passage when studying it
- doesn't realize the responsibility of guiding the group to search for absolute truth
- doesn't know what absolute truth is or hasn't yet embraced absolute truth as reality
- allows the final word of the conversation to be someone's opinion of truth rather than ending the conversation by proclaiming God's truth as the final word
- does not realize a red flag has been raised when phrases like, "my opinion concerning what this means is," or "my experience would lead me to believe…" or "a friend of mine once told me that…" or "with what we know because of psychology and/or philosophy and/or science God that can't mean that…" etc…
A group leader seeking God's truth…
- utilizes a biblical worldview as the starting point for the conversation
- prepares and knows the context of the passage being studied before arriving at the small group meeting
- understands their role and the responsibility of guiding the group to find God's absolute truth
- knows what absolute truth is and has embraced absolute truth as reality
- is careful to be certain that the final word of the conversation is God's truth, not someone's opinion, as whatever is left hanging is perceived as what most believe the leader is embracing
- allows honest conversation but knows a red flag has been raised when phrases like "my opinion concerning what this means is," or "my experience would lead me to believe…" or "a friend of mine once told me that…" or "with what we know because of psychology and/or philosophy and/or science the Bible can't mean that…" or "the world has changed so much since the Bible was written so we have to be sure we filter what it means to us today…," etc… are verbalized.
Other Posts in this series:
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting I... Recollecting vs. Reminiscing
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting II... 90 percent of the Story vs. The Full Story
Small Group Hairs Worth Splitting III... Advice Giving vs. Mining for Wisdom
08.09.10
What the Evangelical Small Group World can Learn from Anne Rice
This week, Anne Rice, author of 28 books including Interview with a Vampire, one of the best-selling novels of all time announced, "For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian. I'm out." Before you declare her once again an atheist, an ideology she once embraced but set aside in 1998 but then returned to the Catholic Church, read another statement made this week, "I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being 'Christian' or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to 'belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else." She goes on to cite her reasons for exiting the church, "In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."
Anne's statements reveal what many people's perception of today's church is.
- She is made up of a quarrelsome people.
- She is hostile to those whose moral values differ from her own.
- She is prone to argue and debate.
- She is an infamous group having a poor reputation with those outside of her ranks.
- Due to the reputation noted in the four points above many people's conscience will not allow them to continue to be associated with her.
Anne's statements also unmask some misunderstandings concerning those who are being the church as Jesus designed her to be.
- The church is not anti-Democrat (although I must confess, way too many followers of Christ equate being a Christian with being a Republican). She does find it her obligation to be a conscience to the community and will contradict either party when they espouse legislation contradicting God's expectations found in the Bible.
- The church is not anti-women. She embraces gender equality and the roles of each gender as they believe God designed them to be.
- The church is not anti-artificial birth. In fact, most denominations have no regulations against artificial birth control.
- The church is not anti-gay. She loves those who are gay and is willing to walk alongside anyone held captive by any sin as they journey towards freedom from that sin. Jesus-like followers of Christ embrace meaningful relationship with those who are living a gay lifestyle even if they are not striving to find the freedom Christ offers.
- The church is anti-secular humanism as secular humanism is a world-view that contradicts a biblical world-view. A biblical world-view is God's design so that humankind can be reunited with Him and so that humankind can exist in a safe environment as laws are built around the values found in the bible, values unveiled by God for the benefit of all people.
- The church is not anti-science as science proves the existence of God.
- The church is not anti-life, in fact she is pro-life for the unborn, for those who are in the process of dying, and exists so that everyone on planet earth has an opportunity to experience eternal life.
What Anne Rice is Telling the Evangelical Small Group World:
- Welcome those far from God into your inner circle/small group/home. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:10-13
- When inviting not-yet-followers-of Christ to your group, welcome them into your home to discuss spiritual matters, don't mention the name of your church or that your church sponsors the group.
- Be careful to speak more of Jesus than you do your church. Those far from God or those who have been spiritually abused by the church will shut down the conversation if they think you represent the organized church.
- Utilize the spiritual gifts of both men and women in group life. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10
- Exhibit humility and think more highly of others than yourself when hosting a conversational Bible study. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philip. 2:3-4
- Don't allow foolish debates during group gatherings. "Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels." 2 Tim. 2:23
- Don't allow discussions on political matters during group gatherings.
07.27.10
The Confused Group Movement... Sovereign Mayhem?
I just returned from the 4G Conference. The goal of the event was to draw church leaders from four group types together for open dialogue, networking with one another, to inspire them as they spearhead a group movement, and to offer training. Four group types were represented… Small Groups, Discipleship Groups, Missional Groups, and Sunday School. One of the big takeaways for me was that group types seem to have lost their own identities. When an individual would describe a small group a Sunday School person would say, "You've just described a good Sunday School class," and visa versa. When someone brought up a Discipleship Group, someone in the room who would ask the individuals in the conversation to consider that, when Christ followers gather together and are engaged in biblical community discipleship is taking place. When Missional Groups came into the conversation there ALWAYS seemed to be someone reminding the gathered group that all group types are suppose to be and must be Missional.
Not so long ago it was easy to determine what type of group a group was, simply find out what curriculum the group was using. Not so today. Group leaders are choosing what once was specifically designed for deep discipleship in community-driven small groups. Sunday School classes are using small group resources instead of quarterlies, the weekly Bible studies designed just for an ongoing Sunday School class. Discipleship Groups may not be using any curriculum as they believe that the Sticky Church method will accomplish life-change in the people they are hoping to turn into fully devoted followers of Jesus. It's obvious, there's pandemonium in our ranks.
I must confess… I am beginning to wonder if this mayhem is a God thing and that He is using these conversations to bring us back to the purity of biblical community life. Is it possible that…
- we church leaders found our identity in the group type we became known for so we differentiated some principles and practices, wrote the books and built a following, and have been protecting our own brand rather than blessing and honoring any group living out biblical first century community?
- if the leaders in all of these movements came together after spending serious time in God's Word finding out what a small biblical community does, we would all agree that we've missed the boat and that the entire book of Acts really is the guide for group life, not the latest book on the subject?
- if we set aside our own paradigms of group life and simply made a list of all that the early believers experienced, sacrificed, and practiced as we peered purposefully into the book of Acts we'd find out that all of our diagrams and lists and clever acronyms would be replaced with an ongoing, fresh, and chaotic movement of the Holy Spirit, a responsibility to call group members into Americanized martyrdom rather than church membership, and that group members actually need one another so they can survive a culture that sees them as radical, ridiculous, religionists who have bought into the Jesus thing.
- when we stand before God He may ask us why we didn't lead those involved in our small group ministries to be the church at all costs rather than simply requiring them to carry out the organizations (the local churches) request to attend a small group or Sunday School class, a group or class designed to involve them in church life, rather than engage them in the radical Christian life Jesus expected us to live?
These ponderings are haunting me this morning.
06.30.10
Dangerous Like Lyman... Today's Small Group Influencers... Not Dangerous Enough?
I just completed a phone call with a true pioneer, a legend, an adventurer, who changed the way we think about doing groups, Lyman Coleman. Lyman is now 76 years old and one of my heroes.
Lyman still dreams, still sees visions beyond the ordinary, still pushes many of us out of the box. He has never wavered in his commitment to seeing lives changed and he has never been willing to accept the status quo. And in so doing he has made small groups more transformational than informational, more community than meeting, more grace-oriented than legalistic, and more about people than programs. And he is still dangerous. That's right, he's dangerous.
This is the way he describes himself. He describes himself as dangerous. Maybe all of us should embrace this tag… dangerous.
Dangerous means we do what is right, not what is acceptable.
Dangerous means we sacrifice all for the sake of the right cause.
Dangerous means we will not be repressed by others if those organizations or persons keep us from accomplishing God-required Kingdom objectives.
Dangerous means we gather with other dangerous people so that the world might know Jesus and His healing power.
I'm asking myself this afternoon… Am I dangerous enough? The battle between comfortable and dangerous continues. The tension is heavy. Is it possible that God is looking for some of us to become dangerous like Lyman?
