Five Ways to Help Your Small Groups be Successful

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Five Ways to Help Your Small Groups be Successful

Sunday, September 27, 2015

The following is a guest post by Chris Surratt. Chris is a ministry consultant with the Unstuck Group and has over twenty-two years of experience serving the local church. Most recently, Chris served on the Executive Team at Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN. Before coming to Cross Point in 2009, Chris was on staff at Seacoast Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Chris’s first book, Small Groups For The Rest Of Us: How to Design Your Small Groups System to Reach the Fringes, will be released by Thomas Nelson on September 29, 2015. You can find Chris blogging regularly at www.chrissurratt.com on the subjects of community, discipleship and leadership.

Whether you are starting from scratch at a brand-new church plant or blowing up a large system at an existing church, there are some principles that can help set up your new plan for success down the road. Here are five guidelines to think through.

1. Define the Win

Every ministry has to decide what its win looks like, and this is especially true for groups. If you don’t know what success looks like, how can you celebrate it? As you dream about what groups could look like at your church, start with the end in mind. What results would you like to see if your system works perfectly? Andy Stanley says, “Your system is perfectly designed to get the results you’re getting.” If my church is not producing disciples, there’s probably a systems problem. If only a small percentage of the congregation is involved in groups, it’s probably a systems issue. If we are not developing enough leaders to keep up with our growth, it probably has something to do with our leadership development system.

2. Choose a Champion

I talk to a lot of small-group pastors who cannot get any traction with groups at their churches. The first question I ask is, Is your senior pastor in a small group? Almost every time the answer is “no.”

It’s not impossible to build a successful groups system without the senior leader being fully on board, but it’s extremely difficult. The congregation is going to take its cues from the leaders, and if the senior pastor is not engaged in community, they will follow his lead. It does not matter how much he talks about the importance of groups from the pulpit if there are not consistent stories circulating from his own small group.

3. Put It in the Budget

When it comes down to budgeting for small groups, a lot of churches follow the example of Pharaoh in Exodus:

That same day the king gave a command to the slave masters and foremen. He said, “Don’t give the people straw to make bricks as you used to do. Let them gather their own straw. But they must still make the same number of bricks as they did before. Do not accept fewer.” (Exodus 5:6–8)

We are asking our point people for groups to build a successful system without the necessary straw but still expecting big results. As much as we want to believe community happens organically, it still takes resources for them to be strategic and effective.

4. Make It Scalable

Your church may never triple in size overnight (although it could), but now is the time to start planning for God to do the unexpected. What happens when you activate your first all-church campaign and suddenly need to triple the number of current groups to meet the demand? Do you have enough coaches? How difficult is it to become a small-group leader? Can you fast-track the vetting of new leaders? You should always be ready to go when God moves.

5. Make It Replicable

Think through not only what could be replicable across different locations, but also what do small groups look like in different layers of your church? The heart of student and kids ministries are small groups, and those ministries can benefit from partnering with the adult groups system for training, leadership development, and structure ideas. What if the same team that develops Sunday message studies works with the student leaders on theirs? What if a few adult group leaders mentor small-group leaders in the kid’s ministry? Replicating successful systems will help break down silos within a church.

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation

Risking Crazy

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

I recently had the opportunity to connect with Jason Taylor, Lead Pastor of The Vertical Church in Yuma, AZ and talk about his new book Risking Crazy. The following are highlights from the conversation. You can follow this link to get your hands on your own copy of his new book.

In a world where following Jesus increasing looks crazy, Jason’s personal story of planting Verticle Church in Yuma, AZ challenges readers that following Jesus is still the best way to live life.

Paul: Where did the idea for your new book “Risking Crazy” come from?

Jason: Ever since a young age, I felt a deep desire to be a part of something bigger than myself. Acts 17:6 where the Bible speaks of the early disciples having a reputation of “turning the world upside down” really resonated with me from an early age. I know that I have not risked as much as those early disciples or even what believers around the world are risking everyday; however, I began to think what would it look like if every Christian took the words of Jesus to “deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him” seriously. From that thinking came the term “Risking Crazy”. Everyone risks at different levels for Jesus; however, for all the idea of doing what Jesus is asking you can sometimes seem crazy.

Paul: You talk about calculated risk in your book. Some may ready that and respond by saying that, “calculated risk isn’t risk at all.” What are your thoughts on that?

Jason: The calculation part comes into play knowing that God has already calculated the cost and outcome of the risk He is asking you to take. It is not that you calculate yourself and know the outcome, but that you are trusting in God who has already planned your life in advance for His glory. Proverbs 3:5-6 tell us that if we “Trust in the Lord”, “lean not on our own understanding”, and “in all our ways acknowledge Him” that He will “make our paths straight.” I truly believe that this is a promise that God has already calculated the risk for us and we can trust in His calculation for the outcome. Knowing and believing this can help you take the “calculated” risk that God has planned for you.

Paul: How do you view the connection between faith and risk?

Jason: They are deeply connected. Godly faith leads you to take the risks that He asks of you. You can risk in your own strength all day long. But, if Godly faith is not involved, you are not risking for Jesus. There is a self glory that takes over. Some people just love the feel of adrenaline. What I am talking about is different. It is trusting in Jesus for the outcome while doing something you never dreamed possible. People might want to ask themselves “Is what I am risking so big that unless God does it I am doomed to failure?” If you can do it in your own strength you do not need faith in a big God to do the big thing through you. So faith and risk are deeply connected if you are doing it for the glory of Jesus.

Paul: In the book you tell the story of the start of Vertical Church, the church you’ve planted. What did you learn about your own ability to “risk crazy” during that time?

Jason: Church planting is hard. We parachuted into a place neither my wife nor I had connections in and from day one had to learn to step out of our comfort on a minute by minute, day by day basis. The book Risking Crazy speaks about much of that experience. I learned that God wants us to surrender, but at the end of the day, the outcome is not ultimately up to me. To truly make a dent in a city for the glory of Jesus, the Holy Spirit has to be your senior partner on a daily basis. Learning to commune with the Spirit and listen to His voice and then obey that voice was the risk for me. It seemed like once we conquered one risky hurdle, the Spirit of God was asking us to jump another. Thankfully, He has and still gives us the power to jump those risky hurdles.

Paul: What do you hope readers walk away with as they read “Risking Crazy?”

Jason: After reading Risking Crazy, my dream is that readers will look at the world around them differently. That God has placed each of them in their corner of the world for one reason: to take risks that bring glory to the name of Jesus. I am praying that people will read this book and walk away saying “yes” to the call to plant churches, feed the homeless, care for the sick, reach out to a neighbor, and impact their pocket of the world. Last, I believe if the readers take the words of Jesus to “deny self and follow Him” seriously, together we can “turn the world upside down”.

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation

Leadership Summit 2015: Albert Tate

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

If you missed the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit this year, no worries I’ve got you covered. I’ll be posting my notes and thoughts from each presenter over the next couple of days.

Albert Tate, founder and Senior Pastor at Fellowship Monrovia in Southern California gave a great challenge on how to lead with leftovers.

What do you believe: a lie in truths clothing or the naked truth?
We’re not supposed to leave it all on the field because we don’t live on the field, we live at home.
We need to learn to lead with left overs.

There’s times Jesus wants us to do the math just so we know it’s not successful because of us, but because of Him.
When is the last time you were in awe of how much Jesus did with your scarcity?
Give God what you have and get out of the way.
If you’ve got a spreadsheet but you’ve missed being able to spread out on the floor and trust and follow Jesus you’re missing the best part of following Jesus.

What would it mean at the end of the day to have something left for your family?
Sitting on empty isn’t a win.
You don’t have to go home on Empty, you don’t have to leave it all on the field. Because Jesus left it all on the cross!

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation

Join me at Transform 2016

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Dates: January 11-14, 2016
Location: Jacksonville, FloridaGet all your registration info here

I want to invite you to join me at Transform 2016. Transform is not the typical church conference. And here’s why. Instead of mere inspirational talks and leadership theory, you will interact all week with ministry peers discussing leadership practice and implementation. Student Pastors will meet with Student Pastors, Lead Pastors of churches 500 – 1,000 will meet with other Lead Pastors at churches of 500 – 1,000, Executive Pastors will meet with Executive Pastors (I’m leading that room), and so on…you get the idea.

Peer-to-Peer Discussions

Participants connect with peers who understand and appreciate the challenges they face and the solutions they’ve found. You’ll find answers, camaraderie and new friends.

Participant-set Agendas

In each group, peers set the agenda based on real-time ministry issues and needs — not top-down, cookie-cutter, quick fixes. You’ll receive realistic help and encouragement for what you’re facing.

Interactive Facilitation

Respected, experienced pastors and leaders facilitate candid, to-the-point interaction of key topics selected by the group. Bring your questions and your team. You’ll be heard, understood and appreciated.

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation

5 Articles from June that will Help Your Church Make Vision Real

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Thank you for making June an incredible month here at Helping Churches Make Vision Real! It’s great staying connected with you through social media and hearing that these articles have been helpful. So, thank you for connecting with me through the content on this blog! You made these the top 5 Posts from this last month. If you missed out on any of them, here they are all in one place for your convenience!

#1 “7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Church Leaders”

It’s much easier to identify poor leadership in others than it is in yourself. We have a tendency to judge our leadership based on our intentions and the leadership of other based on the results.

An old Russian Proverb says it this way, “The eye cannot see the eye.”

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to observe all kinds of different Church Leaders who are leading in different sizes and “flavors,” churches. No matter the size or the flavor of the church I’ve seen the following 7 habits come up over and over again. So in no particular order, here are 7 common bad habits I’ve seen in Church Leaders over the years:

#2 “10 Signs Your Church is Headed for Decline”

When I was young my Aunt purchased a brand new car. I didn’t have a car yet so even though it wasn’t red and it had 4 doors instead of 2 I thought it was really cool. And because she had a car and I didn’t she by default was cool too.

Everything was cool until she forgot to change the oil. Truth be told, she never changed the oil. From the day she drove the car off the lot to the day it died (which was much, much sooner than it should have), that car never experienced a single oil change. Routine maintenance wasn’t her strong suite. And most of us are just like her. We put off going to the doctor for our annual check-up, we postpone going to the dentist for our 6-month check up, and yes we put off routine maintenance on our automobiles.

We just keep going until it hurts enough that we are forced to stop and go in for a check up.

Unfortunately most church leadership teams operate the same way. They put off routine check ups and maintenance until it’s too late and decline starts to set in. What if there were early warning signs (flashing lights on the dashboard) that helped indicate that trouble was ahead? In my experience Coaching Church Leaders and Consulting with Churches across the country I’ve seen the following 10 indicators of an impending decline over and over again.

#3 “5 Common Hiring Mistakes that Churches Make”

Recruiting and hiring a new team member can be exciting! Hire the right person and the whole team benefits. When you invite the right person to join your team not only is there an infusion of new talent, but also new ideas, fresh eyes, and a new well of experiences to go to. One new hire can literally improve the performance of the entire team. On the other hand, hire the wrong person and the ministry at your church could be set back for years.

Churches are notorious for making well-intentioned bad hires. At most churches the hiring process usually goes wrong for one of the following 5 reasons.

#4 “Discovering the Leadership Culture at Your Church”

While many churches may have a list of Core Values that they’ve built, very few churches that I’ve come across have taken the time to do the hard work of defining and clearly articulating their Staff Values or Leadership Culture that they’re trying to build at their church.

Culture is tough to define. It’s the elusive, soft stuff in the organization that’s more on the art side than the science side of leadership. It takes hard work to articulate it. But it’s a must for any church that wants to actually be intentional about building a particular staff leadership culture. A clearly defined culture allows you to make decisions, hires, and take any number of other steps at a faster pace. After all as Peter Drucker famously said…

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
– Peter Drucker –

Interested in discovering the Staff Leadership Culture at your Church? Start here. Gather your Sr. Leadership Team together and spend some time wrestling with the following two questions and build some lists together.

#5 “Work Hard Give Your Best & Put Family First”

How do I balance family and ministry? It’s a conversation I’ve had over and over again as a church staff member. I’ve heard church staff express deep frustration and anxiety over this question. They want to give their best to their ministry calling and yet sometimes feel like they’re sacrificing their family to follow Jesus. But then again doesn’t following Jesus mean you take care of and lead your family well? When you’re on staff at a church it means working weekends and often times being gone multiple nights of the week at meetings when church members are available. Further, many church staff members feel like they’re on call 24/7 to meet the needs of church attenders. You can see how ministry staff members can quickly feel tension over the whole balancing work and family, especially young church staff members who are just starting out and trying to figure it out.

At Sun Valley Community Church (the church I have the privilege of serving at) we’ve defined our leadership culture with 7 clear distinctives. If you’re interested in learning more about them you can follow this link. One of them states:

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