Vic led me to a guy she met at a conference named Eric Metcalf. He is the Small Group Director at CCC in Illinois. A telephone discussion with him led me to their small group site. I was really impressed and thought all of you could benefit from it too.
It has given me a lot of new ideas and it has made me start to rethink our website; giving it a fresh look and changing the way we communicate with our leaders. I really like the idea of video leader training. Let me know what you think.
Scott
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Saturday, May 19, 2007
book recommendation
Great book that you can read in 90 minutes. Read about it at my blog.
Also, how 'bout this for an idea...how 'bout you guys actually start posting stuff here? That'd be pretty cool. ;)
Also, how 'bout this for an idea...how 'bout you guys actually start posting stuff here? That'd be pretty cool. ;)
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Coaches, aaaggghhh!
You have heard us talk about the plight of finding people that truly have a heart for leading leaders. I am finding that this is not a condition isolated here at Newpointe or Rivertree. Small Group pastors all over the country struggle with this issue as much as if not more than any other in small group world.
I had a meeting yesterday with our "coaches" at a monthly lunch we do on the second Tuesday of each month called Coaches Connection. It happened to be the best one we have had in a long while and both Teresa and I agree that the environment had a lot to do with it. We held it in the conference room. We saw more discussion, more involvement and more enthusiasm than we have seen in months.
Toby and I have both been toying with the idea of creating an environment (a room) within the church building for our coaches to meet with small group leaders and new people to get information and answers to questions about group life while it is fresh on their minds.
Every one of the coaches voiced support and enthusiasm for the new environment stating it would make it easier and more convenient to meet with their people on a much more regular basis while everyone was here on Sunday mornings.
Environment is important. It's imperative. It is where things, plants, animals, people, LIVES have the best opportunity to grow and flourish. As small group leaders, we have to pay more attention to the environments we are creating or failing to create. We have to constantly ask ourselves if they are they the absolute best for the results we are wanting to attain?
I have already submitted plans for a Small Group Central area. I'll keep you posted.
I had a meeting yesterday with our "coaches" at a monthly lunch we do on the second Tuesday of each month called Coaches Connection. It happened to be the best one we have had in a long while and both Teresa and I agree that the environment had a lot to do with it. We held it in the conference room. We saw more discussion, more involvement and more enthusiasm than we have seen in months.
Toby and I have both been toying with the idea of creating an environment (a room) within the church building for our coaches to meet with small group leaders and new people to get information and answers to questions about group life while it is fresh on their minds.
Every one of the coaches voiced support and enthusiasm for the new environment stating it would make it easier and more convenient to meet with their people on a much more regular basis while everyone was here on Sunday mornings.
Environment is important. It's imperative. It is where things, plants, animals, people, LIVES have the best opportunity to grow and flourish. As small group leaders, we have to pay more attention to the environments we are creating or failing to create. We have to constantly ask ourselves if they are they the absolute best for the results we are wanting to attain?
I have already submitted plans for a Small Group Central area. I'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
blog worth checking out
At Small Talk meetings you've probably heard me or Scott talk about Perry Noble. He's the pastor at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC. Scott and I frequent his blog so I thought I'd go ahead and post the link here for you.
Here it is: PerryNoble.com.
Careful when you go there...I wouldn't want you to get inadvertently punched in the throat.
Here it is: PerryNoble.com.
Careful when you go there...I wouldn't want you to get inadvertently punched in the throat.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
My Chocolate Jesus
I started a new book this week, "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. (I'm probably the only one that hasn't read it yet) This morning I read one of the coolest things I have read in a long while.
In chapter four he is talking about his friend Penny and how she became a Christian. Penny tells him the story about how she began reading the Bible with her friend Nadine.
She says, "We would eat chocolates and smoke cigarettes and read the Bible, which is the only way to do it if you ask me. Don, the Bible is so good with chocolate. I always thought the Bible was more of a salad thing, you know, but it isn't. It's a chocolate thing. And I found Jesus very disturbing, very straightforward".
WOW! Thank you God for revealing something so cool about yourself that I never thought about in those terms before. A relationship with Jesus should be sweet, straightforward and have substance. It should be something that once we have tasted it, we should crave it above all other things. It should not be like a salad that we eat just because it's good for us and we know we should.
We don't need to add anything to chocolate to make it appealing and wonderful, but we add all kinds of things to salad to make it more desirable and full of taste. Jesus stands alone as sweet and fulfilling; sometimes disturbing but always straightforward. Just like chocolate.
No dressing needed.
In chapter four he is talking about his friend Penny and how she became a Christian. Penny tells him the story about how she began reading the Bible with her friend Nadine.
She says, "We would eat chocolates and smoke cigarettes and read the Bible, which is the only way to do it if you ask me. Don, the Bible is so good with chocolate. I always thought the Bible was more of a salad thing, you know, but it isn't. It's a chocolate thing. And I found Jesus very disturbing, very straightforward".
WOW! Thank you God for revealing something so cool about yourself that I never thought about in those terms before. A relationship with Jesus should be sweet, straightforward and have substance. It should be something that once we have tasted it, we should crave it above all other things. It should not be like a salad that we eat just because it's good for us and we know we should.
We don't need to add anything to chocolate to make it appealing and wonderful, but we add all kinds of things to salad to make it more desirable and full of taste. Jesus stands alone as sweet and fulfilling; sometimes disturbing but always straightforward. Just like chocolate.
No dressing needed.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Thanks for Reminding Me
Rob Bell in his book Velvet Elvis defines Community as "Together, with others, wrestling and searching and engaging the Bible as a group of people hungry to know God in order to follow God".
I had the priveledge of speaking to a group of about fifty men Sunday night at another church. The leadership there feel a need for community, especially for men, in their church and they want to begin a small groups model. They asked me to speak on the need for men to find community in order to engage in a growing relationship with God and become the leaders in their homes, church and communities that God intended for them to be.
Men have a unique set of issues that we deal with just being men. The statistics on struggles such as divorce, anger, drug and alcohol dependency, pornography and sexual addictions within the church are staggering and men tend to try to make the go alone and we end up being miserable posers, really empty inside and distanced from God.
I won't go into all of the details but suffice to say that God was present and I was humbled to see how He worked in hearts that night and brought 15 or so forward that acknowledged the need to address the "junk" in their lives and how they longed to be in the company of other men and fellow believers that could give them the accountability, belonging and care that only genuine authentic community can provide.
We all struggle at times with the implimentation of small groups and the pushback that comes with it. But as I was reminded Sunday night, Small Groups are the hope for healthy spiritual growth and the future of our Christian leadership. Small Groups are THE best environment for sustained life change.
As small group pastors and staff members, we need to continuously encourage those we lead to "Together, with others, wrestle and search and engage the Bible and be hungry to know God in order to follow God" to the best of our abilities. Community is that important. We can't ever give up.
I had the priveledge of speaking to a group of about fifty men Sunday night at another church. The leadership there feel a need for community, especially for men, in their church and they want to begin a small groups model. They asked me to speak on the need for men to find community in order to engage in a growing relationship with God and become the leaders in their homes, church and communities that God intended for them to be.
Men have a unique set of issues that we deal with just being men. The statistics on struggles such as divorce, anger, drug and alcohol dependency, pornography and sexual addictions within the church are staggering and men tend to try to make the go alone and we end up being miserable posers, really empty inside and distanced from God.
I won't go into all of the details but suffice to say that God was present and I was humbled to see how He worked in hearts that night and brought 15 or so forward that acknowledged the need to address the "junk" in their lives and how they longed to be in the company of other men and fellow believers that could give them the accountability, belonging and care that only genuine authentic community can provide.
We all struggle at times with the implimentation of small groups and the pushback that comes with it. But as I was reminded Sunday night, Small Groups are the hope for healthy spiritual growth and the future of our Christian leadership. Small Groups are THE best environment for sustained life change.
As small group pastors and staff members, we need to continuously encourage those we lead to "Together, with others, wrestle and search and engage the Bible and be hungry to know God in order to follow God" to the best of our abilities. Community is that important. We can't ever give up.
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