LifeWay

Group Ministry

Conversations on Group Practices

Church Leadership

How to Encourage 1:1 Mentorship in Your Group

By

You spend time together as a group. You talk about following Jesus. You encourage each other to confess, repent, and keep pushing forward.

But, even though you do this more intentionally through a small group separate from the larger Sunday congregation, there’s a level of accountability and discipleship that still can’t happen in a larger group setting.

When 1:1 mentorship develops within small groups, the group itself can be strengthened as well as individuals’ relationships with the Lord. Even Jesus had his ministry to the masses, his specific ministry with the twelve disciples, and more ministry with the three closest to him. 

Here are three practical ways to encourage 1:1 mentorship within your small group. 

1. Talk about it

Sometimes, when people get into small groups, they assume their discipleship and mentorship needs are being met. They can assume the accountability and natural growth from group discussions is enough. And this makes an impact! But, when a group leader reminds the group about the value of intentional, outside-of-group 1:1 mentorship, people can remember the impact of personal accountability and discipleship plans.

Try encouraging 1:1 mentorship in your group by talking about it. Simply bringing up the biblical value and role of deeper mentorship and challenging your group to mentor each other or others outside of the group can be a first step towards this type of life-change. 

2. Provide resources

People can be intimidated when they hear the word “mentorship” or even “discipleship.” They might not think they’re qualified. They might never have had a mentor and don’t have an idea of what this relationship is “supposed” to look like. They simply might not know where to start.

Try providing them with resources as they begin their mentorship journey. This could be as simple as a list of questions you’ve found helpful when discipling and mentoring, or it could be more substantial such as a Bible study to work through. Either way, giving practical resources makes a big difference in the effectiveness and confidence of the mentors as they begin. 

3. Provide feedback

Checking in on your group’s mentors will help them grow in their mentorship skills so they can be as effective as possible with their mentees. When people know that, as they begin to mentor, they are not alone, this can increase their confidence in wanting to step into such a role. If they know they can trouble-shoot with you as a trusted leader or have consistent suggestions for how to continue to strengthen their mentor/mentee relationship, they can gain courage from this type of support.

Consider having monthly or bi-monthly meetings with your group’s mentors to check in and offer any support or encouragement that might be necessary. 

Mentorship is worth it. The type of personal discipleship that comes when we take our small groups and encourage intentional mentorship is powerful as we all seek to follow Christ day by day.

Deborah Spooner is a Minnesota-born analytical creative serving as a Marketing Strategist for LifeWay’s Groups Ministry. As a pastor’s daughter with a background in Digital Communications and Media and Biblical & Theological Studies, you can find her at her local church, in deep conversation, or with a book or pen in hand as she seeks to know Christ more and make Him known.
Church Leadership, Group Leadership
Church Leadership

Two Ways to Craft Effective Small Group Questions

By

Developing good question sets may be the hardest action taken on by a Bible study leader. Question sets are designed to move people through the learning process. For every question included in the set, ten or more should have been left on the table. In the creation of a set of seven questions, one should not be surprised to find that they created one hundred different questions in pursuit of the seven. 

Lots of systems exist for creating question sets, but let me share two that I have found helpful and the steps that are needed. 

Approach 1: The Inductive Chart

Step 1. Read the Bible passage, and list people/places/things/words.

Step 2. Use Bible study resources to define and describe the items listed in Step 1. Star key discoveries that speak into the overall understanding of the passage or give deeper insight.

Step 3. Read the passage again, and list the actions taken or directed in the passage. Include actions taken by God in the passage.

Step 4. Identify principles and personal actions. Use the actions taken or directed as a starting point, seeking to place them into a question. Here is an example from Matthew 2, where the angels delivered God’s message to the shepherds: How does God deliver His message today? What role do I (we) have in delivering God’s message? What message do I (we) have to deliver? How can I (we) deliver that message? As principles are identified, look for ways the actions are tied to the principle(s).

Step 5. Organize question sets. Look for paths from the action questions back to the items in the text that feed into that question. Create question sets that move people through the discovery process to the action question(s). For example: What was the message delivered by the angels? moves to What message are we to deliver today? and How do the two compare? 

Approach 2: The Big Idea

Step 1. Read the Bible text, identifying the main points. 

Step 2. Using the main point, write your own summary statement of the main truth or principle discovered in that section. (Example: God desires for everyone to come to repentance.) The main points should be subsets of your summary statement. 

Step 3. Generate questions borne from the summary statement. (Example: What is repentance? What other passages support this idea? What does God do about those who refuse to repent? What keeps a person from repenting? From what are we to repent? Have I repented? Have you repented?)

Step 4. Convert the open-ended questions to close-ended questions. (Example: What keeps a person from repenting? might become Does a person’s pride keep them from repenting?) Convert the close-ended questions to open-ended questions. (Example: Have I repented? might become Tell about how you came to understand your need to repent and how you did that.)

Step 5. Organize the questions into logical sets. For example, before a person can determine if he or she has repented, he or she needs to know from what and how.

Step 6. Cull and refine the questions, focusing on the sets that get to the core of the Bible text and that lead to concrete action. Most people find it helpful to work backward, identifying the final question in the set and then taking a step back, looking for the question that moves the group forward. 

Both of these approaches take time and practice. The end result shows. The person who claims that creating questions is easy and can be done quickly is trying to sell you something he or she knows little about or that reflects minimal thought, especially if we are talking about an intentional question set that moves people to purposeful action. 

Dwayne McCrary is a project team leader for ongoing adult Bible study resources at LifeWay, including the adult Explore the Bible resources. He also teaches an adult group and preschool group every Sunday in the church he attends, and serves as an adjunct at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. 
Group Leadership, Uncategorized

Free Groups Webinar on Coaching Leaders

By

How can you develop an effective coaching system for your group leaders? That is the topic that we are going to tackle in this free webinar on August 6, 2019, 11am – 12pm CST. Here are a few of the questions that myself and our expert panelists will take on:

  • Why should a church offer coaches for leaders?
  • What do you look for in an effective coach?
  • What kind of expectations should you have for a coach?
  • How do you recruit coaches?
  • How do you train a coach?

Spots are limited, so register soon at the link below!

Church Leadership

6 Ways to Discuss Politics in Your Small Group

By

It has been said that the only two things in life that are guaranteed are death and taxes. In my experience, there’s a third: it’s guaranteed you’ll blow up your Bible study group if political conversations aren’t managed well. Perhaps you’ve been in a group when politics came to the forefront of the discussion. People literally have felt more passion about political topics, candidates, and policies than they have about evangelism, financial giving, or serving! It’s crazy. But it is also reality. And in the political season we now find ourselves, with the first Democratic debates having taken place already, and Republican debates soon to hit the airwaves and internet, you can bet that there will be conversations in your Bible study group that will have the potential to be a powder keg. How can you lead and teach your group, guide them well, and manage the political conversations you know are going to come up between now and the next presidential election? Here are some ways you can do that and lead your group well.

  1. Set ground rules. It’s not too early to lay down some ground rules in your group since the presidential election process has begun. Tell your group how you’re going to lead them when the conversation turns political. Above all, remind the group that you will follow biblical mandates such as pursuing peace (I Peter 3:8), relating to one another with humility (I Peter 5:5), and showing patience towards one another (Ephesians 4:2).
  2. Agree that both political parties are represented in your group. Anything said to malign one political party is going to offend a large percentage of your group members in most cases. That being said, your group members need to keep in mind that if they speak against one political party, they are risking offending their brothers and sisters in Christ, and perhaps losing friendships in the process. 
  3. Acknowledge that there are no perfect candidates. There is only one perfect ruler, and his name is Jesus. While we are thankful for the leaders he allows to rule us, our ultimate allegiance is to Jesus, not the president or the president’s political party. Or governor. Or mayor. You get the idea.
  4. Pursue the biblical mandate of unity. Unity doesn’t mean uniformity, but it does mean that I place my thoughts and actions aside for the greater goal of maintaining unity in my group and in my church. You wouldn’t want discord in the Bible study group to spill over into the church and cause the church to develop a reputation for being a divided organization. That wouldn’t be a good witness to the community.
  5. Agree to disagree.  As much as you try, you’ll never completely agree as a group about a political candidate, a policy, or issues surrounding a political party. Disagreement is going to be a part of life, and a part of group life even in the church. Generations of people’s families have voted a certain way in some cases, and no amount of reasoning or Bible thumping is going to change their minds and cause them to vote against their family’s traditions. Deal with it and move on.
  6. Agree that a political conversation is only allowed if it directly relates to the Bible study at hand. This one simple rule will greatly reduce the impromptu speeches that can take place when a passionate member of your group waxes eloquently about politics. Call a foul and ask the group member to not introduce political comments into the Bible study. Remind them that it is acceptable only if it relates to the study at hand.

Christians and churches should talk about politics and consider the positions of candidates and parties, but it can be a powder keg. Do your best to approach political conversations with great humility and a dependence upon God to know how to guide your group’s conversations.  Above all, remind people that the earthly leaders we have are temporary leaders we are placed under while on earth. We have a heavenly King who is our ultimate authority – the One who is right, just, and will one day return to establish His kingdom where righteousness will reign. Until then, we pray for our leaders as Scripture commands us to do, and we eagerly await for Jesus’ return.

Ken Braddy manages LifeWay’s adult ongoing Bible studies and leads a group at his church. He has just released a book to help churches strengthen their Bible study ministries. Find Breathing Life Into Sunday School at lifeway.com. 
Group Answers Podcast

Group Answers Episode 103: Reid Smith on Soul Care

By

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:40 — 42.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | Spotify | RSS

On this episode of Group Answers, Chris and Brandon talk to Reid Smith about the importance of soul care for ourselves and the leaders we serve.

Reid Smith serves as the Director of Communities of Purpose for the Small Group Network and has been a Pastor of Groups at Christ Fellowship Church in Palm Beach County, FL since 2008. He has been equipping leaders in churches of all sizes and stages of growth for effective disciple-making since 1996. Reid has been a contributing author for Christianity Today’s smallgroups.com, LifeWay’s Ministry Grid, and he developed small group training for the North American Mission Board’s Send Network. One of the ways he expresses his love for helping leaders start and multiply healthy groups throughout their churches is through www.reidsmith.org.

Questions asked:

  • Ministry isn’t easy. 80% of pastors feel discouraged (more so for their spouses!), 71% of pastors stated they were burned out and battle depression on a weekly, even daily basis. Only 1 out of 10 ministers actually retire as a minister. Soul-care is obviously vital. What, in essence, is “soul-care”?
  • Practically-speaking, how can we be proactive about our own soul-care to ensure we’re healthy and effective in ministry for the long-haul?
  • What are the biggest threats to soul-care and how do you overcome them?
  • What’s most challenging for you in your personal soul-care?
  • What do you look for in potential coaches?
  • Many leaders see the value of coaching, but they’ve had a hard time making it work. Why do you think that is?
  • Give us a picture of success. Ideally, what does healthy coaching look like? How do you encourage it?

Quotes:

If you have been in ministry for some time, you have probably battled with burnout or depression.

Soul care is addressing a person’s inner world that is largely hidden from other people.

When we are spiritually healthy, our ministry can be sustainable and strong.

Bring others around you that will be lifting you up in prayer.

The enemy wants to take you and your family out.

Replenish yourself on a regular basis. Find out what fills your tank and do it.

Don’t try to please everyone and do everything yourself.

I have to constantly remind myself of things that are true.

The second time that I got run down, I didn’t feel it.

Coaches are the lynchpin for knowing that your group life is healthy.

Relationships have to take priority over the reporting.

This Episode’s Sponsor: Feeling unequipped for marriage ministry? Woo Marriage is here to help. Backed by research and designed with your church in mind, Woo Marriageprovides Christ-centered marriage coaching for your entire church. Get your first month free with offer code LEADERSHIP at WooMarriage.com/FreeTrial.

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups: How to Gather, Launch, Lead and Multiply your Small Group.

Church Leadership

Character and Competencies of the Small Group Coach 

By

by Jared Musgrove and Justin Elafros

Group coaching is not an approach to manage leaders. Group coaching is an approach to lead leaders.  It is one of the most recognized necessities in our group ministries but one of the most underutilized. It does not have to stay that way.

Our friend Joel Deacon of City On A Hill Church in Melbourne, Australia shared with us recently that “Good leaders desire coaches and have coaches, top athletes have coaches, successful executives have coaches and our Group Leaders need coaches.” And we find this to be true. But the key for us in coaching was focusing first on the who of coaching and then the what. So who is the person of character and what are the competencies of a group coach?

First, not every great group leader needs to be a group coach, in much the same way as not every great history teacher needs to be a vice-principal. Some of our greatest leaders are needed (and happiest) leading life lessons in living rooms full of group members. Not every leader needs to lead leaders. But some will desire to do so in a way that identifies, develops, and influences. These men and women of character are good initial candidates for coaching a group. But you first have to know who it is exactly you might have coaching your leaders. 

 Who 

Who can coach the heart of the leader? Who has the capacity? A man or woman doesn’t need to be the most dynamic personality to coach, but they need to be curious and biblically serious about leading leaders into increased spiritual vitality. 

Identifying a coach who is able to identify leaders is more art than science. To know who needs to be a coach, you first need to develop a relationship with the people in your group ministry. Who is already living the coaching life you want to reproduce? Your group coaches may not be deacons, but you may find the character described in 1 Timothy 3:3:8-13 helpful as you consider the character of the coach. 

Once you identify a coaching candidate, meet regularly with them for a time and talk through the role of a coach. Perhaps even create a group of coaches and equip qualified saints for the work of coaching ministry. Some books we have found particularly helpful on coaching are The COACH Model, Sending Well, and Organic Discipleship. You may enjoy summarizing them or reading them with your coaches. This allows you to equip them as well as get to know who you are inviting into the role. 

What 

The joy of coaching is seeing saints equip saints. A manual for coaches can be helpful, but coaching is a lifestyle. Have guidelines and expectations but also leave freedom for the coaches to develop in their styles and spiritual gifts as they coach. 

Some of the essential components are that they have the time and capacity to coach. Can they make regular meetings to coach the leader (not the group) with personalized, open-ended questions that minister to the leader and increase their own influence on the men and women they lead in the small group? Your group coaches may not be deacons, but you may find the competencies described in Acts 6:1-7 helpful as you consider the capacity of the coach. 

Good coaches coach apart from distraction. They set a space and place to listen and then summarize what the leader(s) is saying. They ask more than advise. They take notes. They talk no more than a ¼ of the time. Along with their minister, they create personalized and ongoing development plans for each leader. They keep up on current and classic resources on group leadership so they can share them at the ready. 

Good coaches know to ask one crucial question, “What are you asking God to do in and through your group?” All coaching catapults out of the answer to that question. The coach is able to continually clarify the goal of group as well as coach the heart of the leader. And join them in prayer, asking God for what He has for the leader and group. 

Good coaches do pray specifically with and over their leaders. Coaches ask the Lord for insight, words, verses, and pictures for the leaders they coach. If the heart of our leaders is deep waters, we need coaches of understanding to draw them out (Proverbs 20:5). 

There is much more to the coaching discussion, and we love having that conversation with our own coaches and with you, our colleagues in groups ministry. 

—

Dr. Jared Steven Musgrove is Groups Pastor and an elder serving The Village Church in Flower Mound TX where he oversees Home Groups and Recovery Groups. He is a contributor to For The Church, PreachingSource.com,and LifeWay Groups. He serves on boards for Southwestern Seminary and Beta Upsilon Chi, is the co-founder of the Community Leadership Cohort, and authored the small group guide to B&H Academic’s Superheroes Can’t Save You: Epic Examples of Historic Heresies. He is the proud husband of Jenny and father of Jordan and Joshua. You can follow him on Twitter at @jsmusgrove.
Justin Elafros is Groups Minister serving The Village Church in Flower Mound, TX where he leads the church’s largest area of Home Groups, leaders, and coaches in addition to directing the Groups ministry internship. He is the co-founder of the Community Leadership Cohort. Justin earned his B.A. from Moody Bible Institute and his M.A. in ministry from Cedarville University. He specializes in shepherding ministry through small groups, care and counsel strategies in the local church, recruiting and equipping group leaders and coaches to meet the community needs of local congregations. He is married to Christy and they have three children, Cooper, Beckham, and Adelyn.
Church Leadership

Planning Leader Training in the Fall

By

by Reid Smith

Training is not a one-time exercise with group leaders. It is one among many facets of how you provide ongoing care and development for your leaders. This is important to remember as you look ahead to the fall and consider how you want to equip your leaders to start and stay strong with their groups.

The fall is a primetime opportunity to invite people to start or join a group. However, before somebody can start their own group, they need to be vetted and trained. Don’t make this a complicated process because you want to make it easy for people to engage in your community life (as a leader or participant) any time of the year. At my church, we tell people they can begin the process of starting or joining a group 365 days of the year and we will come alongside of them to help.

Howyou train depends on whoyou’re training. For pre-existing leaders, it’s more about connecting with other leaders, celebrating Kingdom wins, and delivering targeted training with an inspirational element. For new leaders, the training component would be more intensive, ensuring everyone is equipped, clear, and excited about their next steps. Another whole article could be devoted to howyou choose to identify, invite, interview (screen), and initiate new group leaders – all of which will influence how you train new leaders.

There are two general pathways: Initial orientation and ongoing equipping (leadership communities) and here are the suggested topics you could cover with each:

Initial Orientation

(Greater frequency, smaller gatherings)

 Leadership Communities

(Less frequency, larger gatherings)
  •  Why Groups? (biblical references & benefits)
  • How Groups Support Your Church’s Vision (Dream) & Mission (Purpose)
  • What’s a Group? (definition, types, etc.)
  • Role & responsibilities of a Group Leader
  • Group leadership (reporting) structure & how groups are organized at your church
  • Leadership Investment Rhythms (how leadership & resources will help you)
  • Best practices for well-rounded group life
  • Guidance for your first gathering
  • How your group can be missional & transformational
  • Introduce to their coach/community leader
  • Q&A
  • Welcome & prayer
  • Connecting with other leaders (include food)
  • Optional: Fun element (ice-breaker type game / mixer)
  • Appreciation (share a life-change story)
  • Inspiration (how your achieving your church’s vision)
  • Value-adding skill development (determined by feedback from leaders)
  • Sub-group by “coach-leader” relationship or affinity for more specific / relevant conversations
  • Regroup for final announcements & next steps

A third option is “turbo groups.” This is a short-term group experience designed to build relationships and leadership among participants, each of whom start with the expectation they will launch out and lead their own group. (The list of topics covered under “Initial Orientation” can serve as an outline for a turbo group, an example of which is available through Christianity Today’s smallgroups.com HERE.) This can be a first step toward developing a core team that will ultimately serve the growing body of groups at your church.

Lastly, there are three keys to success to keep in mind as you’re planning your equipping experiences:

  1. Awareness over Assumption–Don’t assume you know what your leaders-in-training need. Survey the people you plan to invite before you invite them and find out what would make your training timely, relevant, and most meaningful to them. The best experience for participants is when they walk away with their felt-needs addressed and burning questions answered.
  1. Interaction over Information– Reserve your training time to engage and talk with participating leaders and promote peer-learning through conversation versus unilaterally dispensing information in a lecture format that you could alternatively convey digitally so they can refer back to it repeatedly and customize it for future use.
  1. Rhythmic over Sporadic– It instills confidence in your leaders when you preplan predictable rhythms for initial orientations and leadership communities. Think through how to thread training throughout the ebb and flow of your church’s unique family and ministry calendar. Schedule a full year’s worth and then communicate all of your dates together with a clear explanation of why it’s important they’re a part of leadership gatherings. At my church, we offer new leader orientations every month and leadership communities for active leaders every other month.

You might even have an annual gathering or retreat with all group leadership to celebrate what God has done, love on your leaders, and cast vision for the year ahead. There’s no one-size-fits-all formula to this so find what works best for your church and stay with it for at least a year. Don’t change things too often on your leaders or your voice will begin to lose its potency.

One of things I’ve learned to stress with leaders, especially as they get started, is the importance of communicating with the person who looks after them (e.g. a “coach” or “community leader”) and staying connected with the larger community of leaders at your church. The foundation for this to happen consistently begins with monthly “connects” between coaches and their group leaders, which can happen in the way that’s most convenient for your leaders.

Satan loves to isolate leaders. Whereas God sets us apart forHis work, the enemy seeks to set us aside fromGod’s work. When this happens, the devil knows victory is within sight and the leader’s soul-care becomes a long, painful uphill battle. Conversely, when leaders are interconnected relationally and faithful to communicate with one another, it forms a shield wallthe enemy struggles to penetrate.

Plan ahead and create predictable leadership equipping rhythms that provide on-ramps and touchpoints to ensure everyone continues to run healthy and strong. This fall can serve as the entry-point for leaders to connect with one another and plug into a larger system for ongoing care and development of allof your leaders!

Reid Smith has been equipping leaders in churches of all sizes and stages of growth for effective disciple-making since 1996. He currently serves as a Pastor of Groups at Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach County, FL and has been a contributing author for various publications, including LifeWay’s Ministry Grid. Learn more about how to start and multiply healthy groups throughout your church at www.reidsmith.org.
Church Leadership

3 Ingredients for a Satisfying Bible Study

By

How would you like to eat a spoon of flour? Thought so. What about gulping down 1/4 cup of vegetable oil? No takers? How about eating a tablespoon of salt? No way? How about letting a couple of farm fresh eggs slide down your throat like Rocky Balboa? You’ll pass? But what if I mixed all of

those ingredients together and added some chocolate chips (and sugar) and baked them for for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown? Any takers for some hot, out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies? Now we’re talking! Any of of the ingredients by themselves aren’t palatable, but when mixed together, something wonderful is created.

Likewise, every Bible study you teach has certain ingredients that go into it. When you learn to mix them together in just the right order and quantity, something great takes place.  Any one of the by itself is not nearly as good as when they are all mixed together to form a Bible study.

There are three key ingredients.

First, you need a strong opening.  Some educators call this the “hook,” while others use a term like the “motivation” stage. Whatever you call it, it’s the part of the lesson where the group leader captures everyone’s interest and directs the group members’ attention to the session title, the teaching aim, and a central truth that will be explored. Some group leaders will ask a great discussion question to open the study. Others will refer to a current event. Still others may show a video clip or read a quote from a book. No matter what the hook is, the goal is to redirect group members’ attention toward the lesson. Don’t make the assumption that people have arrived to your Bible study with an eagerness to learn and apply Scripture. You must get their attention first – this is the very first ingredient that must be present.

Second, you want to sprinkle in a variety of learning approaches. Appeal to your group members’ preferred learning styles and make sure to include a variety of learning approaches over time. Create smaller groups and use triads or quads to help group members open up and discuss their answers to a discussion question. Use visuals like a PowerPoint slideshow, a poster, a map, or something you’ve written on a marker board to appeal to visual learners. The list goes on, but the idea is to have enough variety over time that each of your group members feels you’ve crafted an activity just for them – one they really get into and appreciate – and learn from! An excellent resource to learn more about the various learning approaches is the book 7 Kinds of Smart.

Third, finish with a strong closing. If you’re going to create a masterpiece, you can’t fall short at the end! The application stage of Bible study is the time when you can help your group  members answer the question, “So what?” as they think about the Bible study. Give practical suggestions for applying the truths from the Bible study session. Make sure that the suggested applications are achievable and measurable. Take into account the spiritual maturity level of your group as you craft these. If you use an “ongoing” curriculum, the creators of those Bible studies have built this into each of the studies.

Creating a pleasing Bible study isn’t hard at all if you’ll base it on these 3 ingredients (strong opening, a variety of activities, and a strong closing). Think of your Bible study in 3 stages:  motivation, examination, and application. When you break a Bible study down into these three ingredients, you are well on your way to creating an experience your group members will love.

Ken Braddy manages LifeWay’s adult ongoing Bible studies, has written several books on Sunday School and group ministry, and blogs daily at kenbraddy.com
Church Leadership

Identifying Potential Leaders Within Your Small Group

By

by Brian Phipps

Moses identified and developed Joshua. 

Elijah identified and developed Elisha. 

Jesus identified and developed Peter. 

Paul identified and developed Timothy. 

Who have you identified and developed to lead in your group?

Identifying and developing new leaders can be one of the most exciting and fulfilling practices for a small group leader. Yet based on my experience and the experience of many others I have spoken to, developing new leaders seems to be a lost art that only a few enjoy. Current leaders simply are not raising up new leaders. It does not need to be this way. 

The process of developing new leaders is simple: 

Identify your new leader.

Partner with your new leader.

Release your new leader.

This article’s focus is on identifying potential leaders. Many leaders falter at this step because they start by looking for a person’s group-leading competency. I often hear leaders say, “No one in this group is ready to lead.” While that statement may be true, it is partly true because they have never been given a chance to lead or they were asked to lead without adequate preparation. 

If you want to see more potential leaders in your current group, don’t start by looking for their competency. Start by looking for the following four criteria: 

Character 

Is this person growing? Are they taking next steps in their faith? If so, they have character. They do not need to have “arrived” at a certain level to begin developing their leadership ability.

Consistency

Does this person regularly show up for group? Are they consistently prepared for the conversation? Do their actions correlate with their words? If so, they are consistent.

Chemistry 

Does this person get along with most everyone else? If so, they have favorable chemistry. I do not know anyone who gets along with everyone, but I do know some who do not get along with many. Good group leaders are generally those who get along with most people.

Charisma

Do you and other people in the group listen when this person speaks? Does this person have people hanging around them before and after the group? If so, this person has charisma.

The ICNU (I see in you) Conversation

If a person meets these four criteria, it is time to initiate an “I see in you” conversation with them. Invite this person to come 15 minutes early to a group meeting to share what you see in them. This is such an encouraging exercise! After sharing the specific ways you see character, consistency, chemistry, and charisma in them, tell them that these are the four most important qualities you look for in a new group leader. Before they have a chance to respond, let them know that you want to work with them over the next few weeks to prepare them to lead the group. It is during this process that you will measure their competency.

If a person meets three of the four criteria, you can have a similar conversation with them. Have the ICNU conversation and how the three criteria you see are three of the four you look for in a new leader. The only difference in this conversation is that you will encourage them to consider asking Jesus to develop the one criteria that is missing. 

For example, if consistency is missing encourage them to ask Jesus to give them a desire and commitment to be more consistent. If they are missing the chemistry element, you can encourage them to pray for Jesus to bear more spiritual fruit in them. Developing this fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control goes a long way in developing chemistry with more people. The most difficult of these criteria to develop is charisma. Even so, God can develop confidence and vision in them that can elevate their potential to lead. If they develop that forth criteria, they too are ready to begin the process that will help you measure their competency.

Four Progressive Steps to Measuring Competency

1.  I do. You watch. We talk.

2.  I do. You help. We talk.

3.  You do. I help. We talk.

4.  You do. I watch. We talk.

Much has been written about these four steps of leadership development.  The brilliance of this process is the ability to measure person’s competency incrementally, minimizing embarrassment and perceived failure by thrusting them into a leadership situation prematurely. If a person moves through all four phases of this process successfully, it is time to enter the second phase of developing a leader, partnering with a new leader. I will cover that exciting topic in a later blog.

A Simple Tool

Identifying a new leader is not difficult, but it does take intentionality. One helpful tip for keeping this a priority is to have a notepad that you keep with you while leading your group. List out the four criteria on that notebook with space between each of them. When you notice someone demonstrating a given criteria, put their initials under that heading. When they get their initials under three or four of them, it is time to have those conversations.

A Promise

Over and over I hear how awesome it is to be a grandparent.  Almost every grandparent I know says it is WAY better than being a parent! Currently, I have three kids but no grandchildren. If these people are correct, my wife and I have some awesome days ahead because being a parent has been awesome! 

While I am not a grandparent physically, I am a grandparent spiritually. I know the joys of watching those I have invested in turn and invest in others. Their spiritual growth went into in hyper-drive when they started leading just like mine did when I was first asked to lead a Sunday school group many years ago. Their joy went up and my delight in them went up. I believe God smiled too. His kingdom just made room for more people to join and grow.

Start identifying a new leader today!

Brian Phipps is the founder of Disciples Made, a Not For Profit 501c3 Ministry that provides turn-key and custom disciple-making tools that integrate online and in person experiences. Brian coined the “Outcome Focused, Habit Fueled, and Content Flavored” language of the intentional disciple-making environment which provides increased spiritual effectiveness in traditional small group systems. Brian’s vision is to leverage the small group strategy to catalyze 50 Disciple-Making Movements in 50 Cities by 2040. 
Brian served for nine years as the Next Steps pastor at Westside Family Church in Kansas City, KS. Brian is also experienced as a church planter and senior pastor. Brian received his BA in religion from the University of South Carolina, and a Masters of Divinity and M.A. in Counseling from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. Brian and Carol were married in 1994 and have three children, Hannah, Sam, and Caleb. 

All Ministry Sites

Pastors
Leadership
Kids Ministry
Student Ministry
Groups Ministry
Women’s Ministry
Worship Ministry

Digital Resources

Ministry Grid
LifeWay Worship
Digital Church
KidEvent Pro
MyCurriculum Manager
Simulcast Manager
LifeWay Reader eBooks
Generosity
WORDsearch
SmallGroup.com

LifeWay Network

LifeWay Research
B&H
Ridgecrest