I’ve been in full-time ministry for more than 35 years. During that time I’ve served in a number of different roles such as a missionary, senior pastor, associate pastor and missions pastor. No matter what role I have been in, I almost always lead a small group—sometimes more than one group. I think every pastor should lead a small group. Here’s why.
4 Reasons Why Every Pastor Should Lead a Small Group
1. Small groups are at the heart of church health.
The guys from Natural Church Development have done the most extensive research ever on church health involving over 50,000 churches. The results show that “holistic small groups” impact the numerical growth and the qualitative health of churches more than any other factor (Natural Church Development, p. 33). This is true of churches of all sizes, but the analysis reveals that groups become even more pivotal to health and growth as churches get larger.
RELATED: Leading Small Groups
2. Pastors’ involvement in small groups greatly multiplies the leadership base of the church.
As John Maxwell so powerfully communicates in his best-selling book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, leaders attract leaders, and the higher level of leader you are, the higher level of leaders you attract. When pastors lead small groups it pulls high level leaders into the relational life of the church, igniting much needed leadership multiplication.
