Small Groups Ministry Training Resources
Hello All,
I need a reccomendation pretty fast of what you think is the best training tool for use in training small group leaders and creating a small group ministry for the chuch on the brethren. I know there are tons out there, I just was curious what people were using and to what degree of success. Thanks so much!!
22 Jan 2007 peacecovenant
This is a tough topic. We are trying to be a church of small groups as opposed to a church with small groups. Actually we have re-named small groups to cell groups to put emphasis on growth. BUT our best asset as COB’s gets in the way of doing cell groups effectively! — Community!!! It is almost IMPOSSIBLE for our groups to give birth!
And then there is the time issue…our lives are so busy. I’ve been wondering if we will see a time in the near future when growing churches circle back to a Sunday School model of small groups where they happen on the same day as the worship gathering but switch up regularly! Don’t know about that, just wondering. (SEE The Emerging Role of Sunday School post above for more…)
All that said, here’s the group model I like most… Life Transformation Groups. Google that and you will get a ton of info. Neil Cole wrote two books that are EXCELLENT in this regard… How to cultivate a life for God. And his most recent Organic Church. The model calls for groups of 3 (same gender) that meet weekly for accountability and quickly grow to 4 and then birth two groups of 2 making room for 2 more people and when each group grows to 4 birthing a new one. I love the model and have used it somewhat successfully here, but never sustained the groups due to the life journey of the folks in the group…time commitment is huge!