I have been in awe of how God has brought the blessing of new faces to our congregation since our move in January. The truth is -- many times, I've been overwhelmed. I so want the people God directs to our church to find God's presence made real in their lives. Our guests have reflected to me that this is truly happening for them during worship. Praise God! They've also reflected that they feel welcomed in an authentic and genuine way...not ignored and not overrun...just right.
However, I've noticed that about 5-7 of the families that began visiting around the first of the year have already dropped out of attendance. The study I've done says this is unavoidable unless those folks begin to make friends in the congregation. And eventually, they have to find a place to serve. Nothing builds ownership like serving.
I believe the small group system that I'm proposing has great possibility to first, create a natural way to include our guests and help them form those all important friendships with our congregation. Second, it provides a great way to invite people to serve. One suggestion of the book, Activate, is that each group take on a service project during the semester -- whether that be a service project around the church or in the community. In fact, their suggestion is that each group have a play date once a semester, too. Wow! What a powerful way to help our guests connect to our congregation. I'm always bragging about what a wonderful church we have -- and I want each one of our guests to experience that as well.
Finally, the book, Activate, suggests that every group leader be on the lookout for an apprentice -- someone who could help with the tasks of leading the group (contacting group members with prayer requests of the week, following up with pastoral concerns, and leading the group in the leader's absence.) So, for 10-12 weeks, each leader will be raising up new leaders. These leaders will be trained in the best way possible -- by watching another leader DO it! Then, when it comes time for the next semester to begin, we have another leader in the pipeline to start another group. This is ALL important if the number of groups is to increase with the growth of our worship attendance.
As your pastor, one of my priorities is to spot and groom new leaders -- and to find the place of leadership that most closely matches their spiritual gifts. It is exciting for me to imagine what might come of the small group system in this arena. I would have as many eyes & ears on the lookout for new leaders as we have groups. And, it is an easy motivation for a group leader to WANT to be on the lookout, because they are looking for their own replacement.
Right now, I look for new leaders to come to the surface at three specific times during the year. The first is in the spring and fall when we fill out the surveys asking people where they want to serve. RARELY, a new leader will pop up when they fill out this survey because they will offer to take a leadership role as identified on the survey. Again, this is very RARE. I watch at VBS. I will always find new leaders during that week. And, I watch at PumpkinFest -- because leaders rise to the surface during the preparation and execution of that event. Now, I've given away all my secrets!
But, those three times miss MANY leaders, I feel sure. I do believe that small groups could really help me find leaders and therefore, strengthen our church for a future of growth.
So, give me your thoughts and feedback on how else we might develop leaders within our church.
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