Fast forward to Brightmoor Christian Church
He was originally hired to work with the technology and married couples but eventually wanted to start small groups. After a year of planning, a meeting was held to see who was interested and trained. After modeling the groups and training them, 60 groups were started in host homes set up personally from the start. At one point 60% of the adults were in the groups.
He also lead a group that would call visitors and those that have no come to church in a while. He states that by Friday, if no one had called them, the chances of them coming back drop drastically to 2%. The sooner you call the more likely the will come.
CLC Bensalem, Pa
He was hired here specifically for small groups. The model here was different. The groups were already under way but were in a state of disarray. The groups here were multi-generational
He has no preference to models he says because there are thousands of different models.
His passion is to developing people. Three values drive him Spiritual formation:has to be about growth first, Authentic relationships: you don't get to help someone if you don't have a real relationship, and Missional living: living to help others and the church.
When the groups got bigger, more than 20, he set up coaches to help the leaders of the small groups. He found these by setting up "round table discussions" and observing to see if people would stick out or "bubble up". The skill set for a coach is different than the skill set of a leader he says.
His definition of a disciple is someone that loves God, loves others, is growing in and with God and is involved in missional living.
All in all, I really loved hearing him talk. So much so that I almost forgot to write what he was saying sometimes! He truly is a man of God and has a lot of good things to say abut God, small groups, and how churches can benefit from them. If you get a chance to hear him speak or a chance to talk to him, you truly will be blessed.
