Have you ever been really stumped by something, really trying to puzzle out an answer, and then be shocked at how simple the explanation was? It’s easy sometimes to just be looking at something from the wrong angle and be really surprised by how different it looks from another angle.
I was talking about a grouplink event with some small group ministry champions recently and they shared with me that a pretty significant number of new groups never got started. That is, they tried to form, but they didn’t actually ever have their first meeting.
With a little investigation I learned that they didn’t have equal confidence with all of the grouplink leaders; that there were some that were a little iffy. Were those the ones that didn’t ever get started? What would you guess?
I talked recently with a small group ministry champion who shared with me that the semester concept was working well and they’d stayed pretty consistently at 20 to 22 groups over the past several years. ”We’ve added new groups…but we’ve also had groups die. We feel a little like we’re treading water.”
What can this ministry champion do to increase the number of groups? Ideas?
I am constantly reminded of the great Andy Stanley quote:
“Your ministry is perfectly designed to produce the results you’re currently experiencing.”
There are very few coincidences. There are some mysteries…but not that many. Almost everything has an explanation.
Not happy with the total number of groups in your system? Concerned that you’re not adding them fast enough? It’s the design.
Concerned that too many of your new group leaders aren’t actually getting their new groups going? It’s the design.
If you’re not satisfied with the results you’re currently experiencing…be sure you’re looking carefully at the design. That’s where the issue is.
Got some mysteries in your ministry? What’s happening that you just can’t figure out? You can click here to jump into the conversation.
