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Randall Neighbour Interview, part 1

I’ve read through Randall Neighbour’s The Naked Truth of Small Group Ministry: When it Won’t Work and What to Do About It. I was challenged, but had some follow-up questions for Randall.

I thought that my interview would take 3-5 minutes. 30 minutes later, we were still talking. So I’ve decided to break it up into 5 sections.

Please bear with the audio and video quality. I’m doing the best I can!

If you’d like to get a free copy of Randall’s book, I’m extending the contest giveaway until tomorrow at noon! Click HERE to enter.

1st question:

What are some of the major problems you see in most small groups systems right now?

Leader recruitment

March 5, 2010 / Ben Reed / 1 Comment

Beware of placing such stringent restrictions on potential new leaders that you crowd out great individuals who can, and will, grow.

What are your requirement for small group leadership?

Outside the Box

March 3, 2010 / Ben Reed / 0 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I tend to box myself in. I find something that works, then stick with that plan 100% until I have completely run it into the ground.

And that’s not a good thing.

When it comes to serving in ministry, “boxes” are helpful, but should constantly be evaluated…and burned if necessary.

That’s why I’m offering, for free, a leadership training event called “Outside the Box.” I’ve created the event to help us think outside of the normal way of operating. To not accept mediocre. To push for excellence. And to not rely on yesterday’s ideas to accomplish today’s problems. Because yesterday’s ideas worked really well….yesterday.

In order to continue to grow as a ministry at Grace Community Church, we need to think outside the box.

Especially when it comes to the idea of being missional.

Here is the lineup of speakers:

Kenny York – Kenny is launching a new ministry in Clarksville to minister to the homeless. Instead of asking the homeless to come to a centralized location…he’s going to them, bringing hot meals to where they are. You can read more about Manna Cafe Ministries HERE.

Ryan Chappalear – Ryan is Founder/International Director of Africa for Jesus. Ryan, and the way he has led AFJ to plant churches and train local pastors in Africa, has changed the way I think about international missions. You can read about the ministry that Ryan leads HERE.

Rick Howerton – Rick is one of the premier leaders in the small-group movement. Having facilitated an untold number of small-group journeys over the last 17 years, his passion is contagious. This guy honestly believes that small groups can and will change the world! He blogs HERE.

This event is designed for our small group leaders (and volunteers) at Grace Community Church. If you lead a small group but you don’t go to Grace, we’d still love to have you! Just call the church office at 931-647-6800 and ask for Ben Reed.

Hope to see you there!

The Summit video

February 25, 2010 / Ben Reed / 1 Comment

I had a chance to watch The Summit live, but many people didn’t have that opportunity. So, Lifeway has made the video available for you to watch. And, just like the conference, this video is FREE.

I blogged the event, including highlights from the entire week while the small group experts were in Nashville, at Rick Howerton’s new blog. Click HERE to see his blog, and my notes.

I’ve posted the video of the event below.

The Summit: A Convergence of Small Group Experts from LifeWay Productions on Vimeo.

What were your takeaways from the event? Was it worth your time?

9 Ways to Increase Your Twitter Influence

February 15, 2010 / Ben Reed / 1 Comment

Perform a Google Search for “How to Increase your Twitter Follwers” and you get plenty of websites/services to follow.

Many of these are services, where you opt in to following 10 people then auto-following everybody else back, guarantee that you’ll have 20,000 Twitter followers in 30 days.

Others give ways to buy Twitter followers. I’m not kidding. For only $87, this site will get you 1,000 new followers.

Other sites tell you things you need to do with your Twitter account, such as making sure to fill out your bio section, learning the language of Twitter (Reply, Retweet, Direct Message, hashtags, etc.), and following the people who update about things you want to read. (these are all good things, and should be done, but they’re not what I’m focusing on in this post)

But my goal in using Twitter isn’t to have more and more followers.

I would much rather have influence than followers. Because followers often represent people who aren’t listening, but are merely speaking. They don’t care anything about what you have to say…they just use Twitter as a platform to get the word out about their business/life/hobby.

If you want to increase your followers quickly, it will cost you $87.

If you want to build your influence, it’s a little tougher and takes longer.

(If you need a refresher on the language of Twitter, read my post HERE. If you need some reasons to start Twittering, click HERE. If you have no idea what Twitter is, click HERE.)

9 Ways to Increase your Twitter Influence

1. Be authentic. Give people a snapshot into who you are. What makes you tick? What do you enjoy? What unique angle/wisdom can you give on an event that you’re attending? A book that you’re reading? A blog that you follow?

2. Share helpful content. If your posts only benefit you and your dog, people probably will tune out after a short period. For example, I’m a small groups pastor, so I try to post content that applies in my field. I try to be authentic, but I make sure the content is broadly applicable whether you live in Tennessee or California. Whether you’re young or old. Whether you go to my church or meet in a house church.

3. Invite conversation. Try to phrase some of your updates in a way that invites others to join in the conversation. Pose a question. Leave your update open where others can share their thoughts, opinions, and disagreements. If it’s broadly applicable, helpful, and uniquely you, others will want to join in.

4. Post consistently. If you only post occasionally, people will tune out. If you only post once/week, you’ll never show up in your follower’s timelines (because they’re based on the latest posts), and people will never see your updates.

5. Create conversation with others. I’m making a distinction here from #3, above. Creating conversation means that you reply to others. Retweet things you find important, inspirational, helpful. Continue the dialog with others.

6. Don’t post only facts. When you have a conversation with someone, do you merely share facts with one another? If you do, your friendship will quickly dry up.

7. Respond timely. If you’re consistently putting helpful information out there in a way that invites conversation, you will inevitably receive replies to your updates. Make sure to thank those who are spreading your ideas. And do it in a timely manner. Also, if someone sends you a Direct Message, try as much as possible to respond in a timely manner (I use the 24-hour rule on any email sent to my inbox).

8. Give some link love. If you read an article, or a blog post, that you think may be of interest to others, share a link and give credit to the person that wrote it (by using their Twitter handle). You may not see this as a way to boost your influence, but trust me…sharing links gives encouragement to others, and helps to give you credibility among those who follow you.

9. Be careful what you post. A tweet is forever. What you post today will be visible for years to come. Influencers have the future in mind with the things that they say and do.

Isn’t it the same in all of life? Gaining influence is much more difficult than merely having a platform for your opinions. You can go to the local mall and scream out your thoughts…but likely nobody will listen.

Working to gain the respect and trust of people is a much harder, and longer, process.

But in the end, I think it’s worth it.

The Summit

February 9, 2010 / Ben Reed / 1 Comment

I asked this question on Twitter:

I was hoping to get a list of the conferences that people I know and trust are attending. I did. And the list was huge. It included men’s conferences, pastor’s conferences, conferences close by, and others far away. Some designed to equip you to be a better leader. Others focused on spiritual growth. Some were for men with funny accents. Others for pastors whose last name ended in “Q.” And still others designed for pastors whose wives graduated from a state university 2 years prior to their husband graduating from seminary. And, I’m sure, all great conferences in their own right.

But a couple of people mentioned The Summit conference. They said that small group experts were gathering together to talk through small group-related topics. Since I’m involved in small groups ministry, I checked into it.

For budget reasons, I pick and choose the conferences that I attend with much discretion.

For ministry-related reasons, I pick and choose the conferences that I attend with much discretion.

For conferences-mean-I-get-further-behind-with-regular-work reasons, I pick and choose the conferences that I attend with much discretion.

For I-love-my-family-and-don’t-want-to-do-a-ton-of-traveling-if-I-can-help-it reasons, I pick and choose the conferences that I attend with much discretion.

I think that The Summit answers all of these reasons.

The Summit is:

Free – can’t beat that!
Online – watch it from your couch. Your office. Your phone. Your friend’s phone. Your friend’s couch.
1 1/2 hours – I like things that are short and to the point. Give me what I need to know and send me on my way.
10 small group ministry experts – this is literally the “Who’s Who” of small group guys. You may not have known that a “Who’s Who of small group guys” list existed, but it does…and it includes these guys:

Quote from The Summit site:

These men represent decades of experience with small groups including the six basic types: free market, closed, open, organic, multi-group, and cell church. We’ll use a question-and-answer format to tap into their collective knowledge and give you real-world answers to your small group challenges.

I’ll be watching. What about you?

Throw that bathwater out

January 25, 2010 / Ben Reed / 0 Comments

Whether you’re a church leader, a business leader, a small group leader, or the leader of a local gang, you should constantly evaluate your system.

We just had a small groups launch yesterday at Grace Community Church. 10 new small groups launched, with over 150 people committing to joining new groups. Amazing, right?!?

There’s room for improvement.

There was room for improvement last time we had Connect.

There was room for improvement this time.

We had more people indicate they wanted to attend the event than actually showed up. That’s a problem.
We had people attend the event, but not actually sign up for a group. That’s a problem.
We had people who needed to be in a small group, but neither showed interest nor showed up for the event. That’s a problem.
We had people who showed up to the event, signed up for a group, but have already sent me an email and have dropped out. That’s a problem.

I’m not a prophet, but I’m going to make a statement that will inevitably come true: There will be room for improvement next time.

We don’t allow these problems to cripple us, but rather we learn and grow from them. Some we can’t help. But others we can.

I’m willing to change the system, if that’s what’s needed, in order to more effectively carry out our vision.

As the old saying goes, “Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.” But what’s often not said:

“Go ahead and throw out that bathwater.”

Small Groups = Life Change

January 17, 2010 / Ben Reed / 0 Comments

Looking back over my spiritual growth, I can definitely notice ups and down. I have had periods of no growth and periods of slow growth. I’ve also had a few times when I’ve grown rapidly.

The most memorable time of spiritual growth for me was when I was in late high school. Every Friday night, I met with a group of my friends (about 10-12 guys) to study the Bible and talk about life. We chose various curriculums to guide us, but it was the relationships that were formed in that group that really helped me to grow in my walk with the Lord. They helped me to see the possibilities God had for me, pointed out areas of my life that needed to change, prayed for me, and helped my walk with the Lord to expand and prepare me for what God had next. Little did I know that those Friday nights would be a training ground for the call to full-time ministry that God would call me to 5 years later.

Andy Stanley says that there are 5 things God uses to grow our faith:

1. Practical Teaching

2. Providential Relationships

3. Private Disciplines

4. Personal Ministry

5. Pivotal Circumstances

I see small groups as the place where each of these is realized. Fleshed out. Nourished. Given the chance to succeed.

Looking back over my life, I can see how God has used small groups to shape me and help define the calling God placed on my life.

Have you had a similar experience? Leave a comment and brag on what God has done in your life through small groups.

God has used small groups to change my life. Have groups changed yours?

Sunday School vs Small Groups

October 29, 2009 / Ben Reed / 9 Comments

discipleship

“Sunday School guys” and “small group guys” are often pitted against each other. Here are some of the stereotypes:

Sunday schools help people to grow in Biblical knowledge…small groups don’t.

Small groups build healthy relationships…Sunday schools don’t really care about the relational aspect.

Small groups are relevant…Sunday school was relevant 50 years ago.

Sunday school really helps people go “deep” in their faith…small groups stay on the surface-level depth of Christianity.

Here are a few things I can confidently assert about the discipleship in the Christian life:

Discipleship is more than just information transfer. The disciples spent time with Jesus. They heard him preach…but that wasn’t Jesus’ only method of making disciples. He spent significant amounts of time with them.
“Depth” doesn’t just mean a person can quote all 9 of John Piper’s sermons on TULIP, or completely and succinctly recite the Westminster Catechism. Some of the deepest, most life-changing conversations I have had with others haven’t revolved around difficult, divisive theological issues. Depth, in my opinion, is about things which matter both here and in eternity. Not all of those things necessitate insider language. (see my post on the danger of insider language HERE) Can we really say that the intricacies of the atonement are “deeper” than the challenge to truly love our neighbor?
However we communicate (via sermon, blog, twitter, Facebook, over a cup of coffee, a text message, an email, a letter, or an iPhone app), we need to portray the life-transforming nature of the Gospel (the nature and pervasiveness of sin, the hopelessness of the sinner, the person and life of Christ, and the hope of a coming resurrection) in a way that makes sense to both believers and non-believers alike.
The goal of Christianity is Christ-likeness. See Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Galatians 4:19, Ephesians 4:13, 22-24
This goal cannot be accomplished without the help of others. Jesus, in John 13:34, said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” You cannot do that on your own!

I believe that the way that we, at Grace, do small groups is the best way that the above truths of discipleship are accomplished. If, at some point, we cease to make disciples, I’m willing to throw out the system in favor of the mission. Don’t believe me? Read my post about that very thing HERE and HERE.

What do you think? Is discipleship better accomplished in Sunday School or small groups? Should we throw both of them out and start all over?

If you want to see small groups expert Rick Howerton and Sunday School guru David Francis talk this through, check out the video they put together HERE.

Caption this and win!

July 8, 2009 / Ben Reed / 18 Comments

Katrina Watts is the director of Grace Acres (the preschool ministry) and Family Ministry Coordinator at Grace Community Church. She also helps out with Remix on Wednesday nights, and is a community group leader. She, and her co-leader, do an amazing job leading their group, and I’m so glad that the Lord is using her to build community and help people take steps of faith.

She and her group had a cook-out the other night, and this picture was taken (Katrina’s the one standing up, with a black shirt on). What caption would you put under it for her? What’s Katrina thinking? Is she mad? Confused? Why is she not smiling? Leave your caption as a comment (and feel free to leave more than one comment!). I’ll give you guys a few days, and the winning caption will receive a copy of the book that Katrina’s group is going through, Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. I’ll alert the winner by email.

??????