In less than 2 minutes, here about how Rich doubled his small groups in one month after attending an Accelerate Small Group Workshop!
Somewhere, at some point, I started believing a lie about my ministry. I don’t remember when. It was not like I woke up one day and decided to believe the lie. It was just a slow drift. And because it was a slow drift, I failed to realize that I had believed the lie and the effects it was having on me and my ministry as a small group point person.
My guess is that many of us, if not all of us, at some point or another in our ministry will struggle with this lie.
Here is the lie I believed (Let me know if you have struggled with it): I am the sole person responsible for small groups in my church. It is up to me and me alone. I am on an island. I am the only person who cares about community. How ever you want to phrase it, the lie is: I am alone in this.
Whether you are a volunteer, or whether you are a full-time employee. Whether you are at a small church with a small staff, or whether you are at a large church with a large staff. Or anywhere in between. It is all too easy to settle and believe the lie that you are alone.
This job is not easy. This job is not natural. We are trying to swim upstream and teach others to do the same against the rushing current that the church and biblical community are not necessary, vital components for our lives. So there will be times where it does feel lonely, but you and I are not alone.
A little aside: this lonely feeling can be especially true if you and I are having a hard time bringing our lead pastor along to believe in small groups. (I have shared some ideas about this in a previous blog post here. You can also listen to a GroupTalk with Steve Gladen here.)
You could say I was awoken from my stupor when the kids director come in to my office and said, “How can we make small groups prominent in our kids wing so parents can sign up?” At first I dismissed her, but later in the week, I went back, and said, “Let’s talk about this idea.” Within 15 minutes, she had an awesome plan. We set up a living room and had young parent small group believers sit there to talk to people. Who knows what will happen? I don’t expect a deluge of new parents signing up for small groups.
The results were not really the point. The reminder was. The reminder that there are others on staff that want to help. They believe in the power of small groups. They want to partner with me.
Find those people in your church that love small groups. And make sure you hang out with those people a lot. Ask them for ideas. Collaborate with your kids ministry and student ministry. Finally, don’t forget to be part of a huddle. Spend time with other small group point people from other churches to learn from and share ideas with. Chances are you are doing something well that could help another church, and they are doing something that could help you.
Whatever you do, don’t fall for the lie that you are alone.
