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3 Simple Concepts That Will Make Your New Group More Successful (Part 3)

Recently I started a series of posts about the three principles that will help your new group start off right.  You can read part 1 here and part 2 here.  Today is about the third principle and wraps up this series of posts.

KEEP

Keeping people in your group is about creating “sticky” relationships. If the relational bond is strong, your group will be able to weather tough times and people will be less likely to jump ship. The first key in creating this bond is prayer. This not only refers to the leader’s commitment to praying for the group, but to the group’s commitments to praying for one another. Praying aloud for one another’s needs fosters a true sense of caring. Sharing those needs outside the group time and praying for them regularly helps small group members show genuine interest in one another. Praying for each other leads to group members taking action, becoming answers to prayer for one another.

The second important factor for keeping people is communication. Technology is a tremendous help with this. Copying the entire group via email is a simple, yet effective, communication tool. Starting a Facebook group and having your group members communicate via social media is also very effective. The bottom line is that people need and want to know what’s going on. If you don’t communicate clearly and regularly with all of your group members, someone will be left out of the loop. When that happens, they feel like outsiders and are more likely to leave your group.

The third key for keeping people in your group is being on mission together. Groups who serve the lost together, stay together. This is what I call the “Band of Brothers Effect.” Something interesting happens in wartime: those who are in combat together share a unique and unbreakable bond. Make no mistake; we are in a spiritual war and when your group takes to the battlefield together, a powerful bond will develop. Nothing in more uniting for a group than to reach out to a dying world together. We see this clearly in the way that Jesus led his own small group. When he recruited his disciples he called them to “follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). He didn’t say, “Follow me and I will make you Bible experts, and you’ll have sweet fellowship.” He called the 12 to an active, on-mission-discipleship. When all was said and done, this strangely diverse group was able to change the world and they were willing to die for one another (and they did). Whatever you do, don’t make the mistake of missing out on this key ingredient of keeping people in your group. Mission is absolutely necessary.

The fourth key to keeping people in your group is the one people want to avoid: suffering. Suffering is something we all hate, but it is a normal part of life. The natural result is that suffering will happen in the lives of people in your group. Will you and your group members commit to going through it together? Often times when suffering comes to our own lives we withdraw from others rather than being open about it and letting them go through the experience with us. Other times when suffering comes to others and we don’t know quite how to respond so we say an obligatory, “I’ll pray for you” and do little else. If you want your group to connect, and I mean REALLY connect, then you must embrace the notion of suffering together. Suffering together is what made the early church take off. Suffering together is what makes soldiers who experience combat together bond for life. There is great power in suffering; don’t be afraid to experience that power.

START-FILL-KEEP

So there you have it. Focus your attention on starting your group, filling your group, and keeping people in your group, and you chances of success are greatly enhanced. Write those three words inside the cover of your Bible. Memorize them. Hang them on your bathroom mirror. Talk openly with your church leaders and your group members about them. The simple Start-Fill-Keep concept is memorable, reproducible , and effective.

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alandanielson@churchleaders.com'
Alan Danielson is the Lead Pastor of a church that’s probably a lot like yours. New Life Bible Church is a church of a few hundred people, but not long ago he was on the executive staff of Life.Church in Edmond, OK. Now, along with pastoring New Life, Alan is a consultant and has worked with many of America’s largest churches. Despite this, Alan has a passion for the small church. That’s why he lives by the personal conviction that no church is too small for him to work with. Alan founded Triple-Threat Solutions to help leaders of and churches of all sizes grow. Learn more from Alan at http://www.3Threat.net.