Frank's Blog

I've always had fun helping group leaders  get started with thier small group at our church. However, some young adults I've worked with recently have had a blast jumping head first into group minsitry.  Take a look at how they chose to promo their group with their friends on the web...

Step one - organize a core team

Step two - start a facebook group

Step three - Invite friends on facebook to join

Step four - create a really strange promo video

Take a look at this...

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December 10 & 11, 2009

Ebenezers Coffeehouse (National Community Church)
Washington, DC

Leading a single small group is a challenge, but running "point" on a church full of small groups can expose a whole new set of obstacles and opportunities. Discipleship, spiritual formation, missional outreach, and Biblical literacy happen best in small groups, and small groups happen best where organic growth is supported by strategic vision and purpose. If you are responsible for leading group life in your church, we can help!

Strategic Small Group Ministry Leadership is a one-and-one-half-day intensive workshop where you can learn from and interrelate with experts and peers. Insightful teaching and interactive group exercises lead you through a spectrum of strategic issues that affect the small group environments your church provides.

You'll learn how to implement:

• -Clear Ministry Objectives
• -Effective Point Leadership
• -Successful Coaching Structures
• -Ongoing Leader Development
• -An Open-Group Mindset
• -A Broad Bandwidth of Groups
• -Assimilation that Works

Format

Six interactive 90-minute sessions cover a broad range of training topics and exercises. You'll work with your peers on the specific obstacles you face, and collaborate on practical next steps to address your unique challenges. The workshop faculty will be available to help facilitate your discussion.

Faculty

Russ Robinson is the former Executive Director of Ministries and Small Groups at
Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago. He is a practicing attorney and has a
great passion for the church, small groups, and ministries. Russ is nationally known as a
consultant, speaker, and the co-author of Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry
and Walking the Small Group Tightrope. More...

Dave Treat is a former Division Leader and Area Pastor at
Willow Creek Community Church. He became Director of Innovation for the
Willow Creek Association's Group Life movement in 2006, managing content and experience
design for the Group Life Conference, the Group Life blog and Group Life TV. Dave trains and
speaks internationally and is the Chief Innovation Officer of thinkingsmall.net. More...

Video clips by Bill Donahue, Greg Bowman and others will expose you to additional strategic voices in the Group Life movement.

Who Should Attend

This workshop is for individuals and teams in strategic leadership roles of small group ministry. This may include:

• Senior or Lead Pastor
• Executive Pastor
• Small Groups Pastor, Adult Education or Ministries Director
• Staff and volunteers in ministries that utilize groups for men, women, singles, children, and youth
• Leadership Board Members, Elders, Deacons, or other strategic stakeholders
• Small Group Coaches, current and potentially strategic volunteer leaders

Those who will receive the greatest benefits from the Strategic Small Group Ministry Leadership workshop are:

• -Bouncing off a wall. Whether you have 30 groups or 300, you've tried everything you know and need some fresh ideas and tactical solutions.
• -Transitioning from volunteers to staff. Or... from paid staff to all volunteers.
• -Transitioning ministry models - moving from an existing framework to one that strategically integrates Group Life.
• -Just getting started in small groups. You'll learn how to avoid mistakes others have made and establish a framework for future success.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

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At the Group Life Conference this year Andy Stanley shared five reasons that he will be in a small group for life. Here they are:

1. It’s the easiest place to invite un-churched people to, especially if they are not ready for the whole Sunday morning experience.

2. It’s often one of the only contexts for pastors or church staff to engage in ministry with their spouse.

3. It’s the only environment where you get to engage others on their spiritual journey, where they are at. You are often forced to connect with people that you would not normally connect with. We often are exposed to the grace of God in a new way when this happens.

4. Your kids get to see a commitment to Christ and community in the in the context of your family and the church.

5. Life change happens in the context of structured relationships – something happens when we sit in circles and don’t sit in rows.

His last line of the talk, "Thank you for leading a group, it is difficult, but it is worth it."

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