Archive for 31 Day Countdown – Page 5

Space for Our Groups to Operate

By Darryl Wilson · Comments (0)
Tuesday, August 11th, 2015

TinyClassroomDo you love or hate the space in which your group meets? The best space is nearly invisible. It fits. There are no distractions like noise, glare, smell, etc. The temperature is just right. The encounter with God in His Word is fresh, fun, and life-changing with never a thought about the room.

But space is also a function of group size. A small group in a large space can feel depressed. A large group in a small space can feel excited while at the same time feeling crowded, dangerous, and uncomfortable.

Going a bit farther, space and group size impacts social dynamics within the teaching and learning environment. Let me share about the three most relevant group sizes from Joseph Myers’ The Search to Belong: Rethinking Intimacy, Community, and Small Groups. Think about them this way:

  • INTIMATE. You tend to know a lot about these people. How you teach one or two persons is a lot different. You share more honestly. This might include subgroups during group time or even prayer partners. Teaching and learning is more conversational.
  • PERSONAL. These groups might include a dozen. You tend to know names and stories. As group size increases past six, watch the teaching-learning expectation shift toward the teacher talking more. Home groups and smaller classes, especially in smaller churches, often have groups this size.
  • SOCIAL. You know many names and some stories. There is not time for everyone to talk. Lecture is common. Involvement demands subgrouping, which is facilitated best in open space. These are often larger classes, often in larger churches.

Make the most of your space and group size. In order to make disciples (as Jesus commanded in the Great Commission), don’t allow your room size (space) to dictate your methods. Personal and social size groups can change up teaching-learning dynamics simply by breaking the group into subgroups for part of group time. Spend time with individuals away from group time. Your investment in these ways can change you, them, and the group.

Also, expect your group to grow maturationally and numerically. But with growth comes change in group dynamics. Lead the way with care and sensitivity. Make the most of your space!

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Darryl Wilson serves as Sunday School & Discipleship Consultant for the Kentucky Baptist Convention. He served as Minister of Education in five churches in Kentucky and South Carolina and is the author of The Sunday School Revolutionary!, a blog about life-changing Sunday School and small groups.

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Big Choice #2 When and Where

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (0)
Monday, August 10th, 2015

Choices

Following the first big choice of what type and duration for the group, the next big choice is when and where. The choices here, although very obvious, are critically important to the group.

There are essentially four choices when it comes to when a where a group meets. The choices are:

  1. Weekend on the church campus;
  2. Weekend off of the church campus;
  3. Weekday on the church campus;
  4. Weekend off the church campus.

Off campus groups

Off campus groups can meet just about anywhere. An office, home, coffee shop, even a park can be a meeting place for off campus groups. If the group is not meeting in a time that is not adjacent to a worship service, then the group can meet a good distance from the church campus. This would be ideal if many of the group members live in the same area and are a long distance from the church.

However, an off campus group that is “connected” to a worship service at the church will need to meet closer to the church. Homes, businesses, restaurants, or schools that are near the church campus are prime locations for off-campus groups of this type. Many of these locations can be used free or for a small rental fee. Usually, whatever expense the church may have in rent or bussing people to nearby off campus locations is generally cheaper than purchasing land and building facilities. Off campus groups usually have the advantage of having less time restraints on their small group meeting and they also offer flexibility of meeting locations.

On campus groups

On campus groups (like Sunday School), meet on campus. They do not necessarily have to be connected to a worship service. Participants may attend a morning worship service and then return in the evening for small group or Sunday School. Generally, most on campus groups are connected to the worship service and have the advantage of helping families participate in small group and worship experiences in one trip to the church.

The real issue of big choice #2 is that churches that have groups that meet either before or after corporate worship attenders generally involve more members in Bible study than groups that meet during the week and are not connected to a worship service. Research from Ed Stetzer and Eric Geiger’s book Transformational Groups reveals that an on campus group experience connected to a worship service is the preference of most guests.

On the other hand, a church must make an investment in parking lots and buildings, or rent nearby space and bus participants to nearby locations in order to accommodate this preference.

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Bob Mayfield is the Sunday School/Small Group specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. You can follow Bob on social media:

Facebook – TheBobMayfield

Twitter – @bobmayfield

Instagram – @rpmayfield

 

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Big Choice #1 What Type and Duration of Group Fits Our Purpose

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (0)
Sunday, August 9th, 2015

In our Countdown 31 series, the next eight posts are about eight major decisions that groups must make regarding their purpose.

Choices

Big Choice #1 – What type and duration of group best fits our purpose?

This is the starting point for any group. Even established groups need to revisit the purpose of their group. The issue here is what kind of group do we want to have and how long will our group meet? This choice is between ongoing or short-term groups; and open or closed groups.

Duration: Ongoing or Short-term

An ongoing group is a group that intends to meet regularly (usually weekly) for an extended period of time… like years! Many churches have an ongoing group or two that has been in existence for decades! Not all of the original members of the group may still belong, but the group has continued to meet regularly for an extended period of time.

A short-term group usually meets from four to thirteen weeks (one month to one quarter). These type of groups are excellent for discipleship (D-Groups) or other type groups that have a more intense period of study or a precise purpose that can be accomplished in a short term.

Type: Open or closed group

An open group is intentionally designed so that a guest or newcomer can join the group at any time. An ongoing group has a type of study and social network that allows people to move in and out of it as their schedule permits. Guest can participate or even join the group at any time. For a group to operate in this manner requires Bible studies that can be stand-alone. A guest or group member does not necessarily need to have any knowledge of previous lessons or even what the group is studying on the day they visit the group. In other words, registration or enrollment is always open.

A closed group on the other hand has registration deadline. Typically, after the second week the registration period closes. There are typically two reasons for a group to close.

  1. The study is more intense than an open-group’s study. The curriculum may require “homework”, Scripture memory, or even some type of learning activities. It will be difficult for someone who joins the group late to catch up to where the group members are in the curriculum. In fact, people joining late may even be detrimental and hold back the learning of the group.
  2. A group designed for accountability often needs to be a closed group. For an accountability group to work well, members must develop a growing degree of trust through ongoing relationships with other group members. Obviously, having new people coming in and out of the group will be a disruption.

So the first big choice a new group must decide is what type of group they are going to be, and what will the duration of the group be. For existing groups, it is an excellent idea to re-examine their purpose and determine if they are being consistent with their original big choice.

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Bob Mayfield is the Sunday School/Small Group specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. You can follow Bob on social media:

Facebook – TheBobMayfield

Twitter – @bobmayfield

Instagram – @rpmayfield

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The Key to Assimilation in the Church

By Mark Yoakum · Comments (0)
Saturday, August 8th, 2015

assimilation-puzzle

Each of us has heard of a church which has reached and baptized a lot of people only to see the church had no real growth in attendance from week to week. This is because the church had no real plan to assimilate the people it reached. Assimilation begins before the guests ever arrive at the church. It begins with making the right First impression. Are there parking spots reserved for guests? Is the entrance clearly marked? Are there people at the door to greet guests and help them?

“In our surveys of first-time guests, we hear repeatedly that one of the keys that caused them to return was a friendly first impression. Like it or not, it’s often a make or break issue for the guest”.    Thom Rainier-Blog on Greeters

The pastor was astonished. He had just arrived at a Coptic monastery in the day’s journey from Cairo. The monks were treating him as though he were the most important guest they had received since the monastery was founded in the 12th century

They served him a fine meal, showed him to a comfortable room, brought him freshly cut flowers, and then introduced him to the abbot.

“Wow! You really know how to treat a visitor here.”

Father Jeremiah replied, “We always treat guests as though they were angels–just to be safe.”

2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2 (NASB77)

Research continues to show that relationships are the key. If a person makes as many as five friendships in a new church research shows they will be more active and remain in the church. If they establish less than five friendships, they will likely be gone in a couple of years.

“Our studies show that a new member who gets involved in a Sunday school class is five times more likely to be an active church member five years later than one who attends worship services only…….. And leaders in these churches seek to conserve their evangelistic gains by seeking to incorporate the new believers into a small group, most typically the Sunday School.”  Thom Rainier, High Expectations

The key is to get Guests and new members into a Sunday School group where they can make friends and relationships. That requires work. There must be a process. Churches like LakePointe in Rockwall and Champion Forest in Houston have a written out plan of follow-up with the goal of getting them into a Sunday School group.

The plan must begin with the greeters, helping guest to find the appropriate Sunday School Class. Also it requires active follow-up.

According to Flavil Yeakley, there is a 36-hour window that makes all the difference in the world. If you make your first follow-up contact within 36 hours, there is a 50% greater chance the visitor will return next week. Jonathan Gainsbrugh, Winning the Backdoor War   Page 102

Even Coke realizes the importance of relationships in its new marketing campaign to “Share a Coke with a (Friend, Neighbor, Dad , Mom, etc).”

The best organization the church has for follow-up and establishing relationships is the Sunday School. A pastor is wise to help his Sunday School to accomplish the task of assimilation if he wishes to grow a church instead of just seeing a lot of additions.

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Dr. Mark Yoakum is the Director of Church Ministries for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. He has served as Minister of Youth, Minister of Music, Minister of Education and Executive Pastor in churches in Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas.

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Groups and Guests – Good for Each Other

By Mike Taylor · Comments (0)
Friday, August 7th, 2015

WelcomeGuests
When a group has embraced the Great Commission as its purpose, it has the proper foundation to build a great group.  Once that foundation is laid, the following principles can be applied.

  • Groups need to understand their purpose. If we understand the “why” of what we are about, then it will define the “how” of getting it done.  If the why is reaching and discipling people, then we have the direction for how we are going to accomplish the work.
  • Groups should be excited about themselves. When a person enjoys the fellowship, the teaching, and missions and ministry a group is doing, then they will want others to be a part.  We will invite our friends to something that we hope will bring as much to theirs lives as it has ours.
  • Groups need to anticipate guests. If we pray for God to grow our group and the group understands that invited guests are going to grow the group, then we need to plan for their attendance.  Having a place for them to sit, having people ready to receive them, and having a plan to follow-up with them shows that we are anticipating them attending the group.
  • Groups need to assimilate guests. When people attend a group for the first time, they need to know that the group wants them to be a part.  That means they are welcomed and introduced and immediately included in the planning of socials and mission activities of the class.
  • Groups need to follow-up with guests. Getting together with a guest outside of the group meeting space and time helps the guest know that we care about them. They sense that we are willing to use our time and resources to invest in them.  Immediate connections should be made on the day the group meets.  This can be done by text, email, or social media.  This will help to answer any immediate question that they might have about the group or the church.
  • Groups should be excited about their guests. This excitement comes from a sense of success that they are doing a good job reaching out to people.  It comes from a room filling up.  We all want to be a part of something that is successful.

If we stick to our purpose of reaching and discipling people, we have a benchmark to measure our success in doing kingdom work.

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Mike Taylor is a Sunday School state missionary with the Georgia Baptist Convention. Stay current with Georgia’s “Growing Groups” ministry at gabaptistgroups.org

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