Three conversations

Our church is in transition now.  Our senior pastor of 15 years has been called to a church 12 hours to our south, so our Minister of Discipleship has taken on the role of Interim Pastor.  I have been talking with our Discipleship pastor for two years about developing a small group ministry, and as I said in the last post, he has given me reins to lead as God leads me.  I have put on paper the beginnings of a small group handbook, based on our discussions and the readings that he's had me do, along with things that God has convicted me about along the way.

My first conversation yesterday was with our Minister of Discipleship, come Interim pastor, about this document.  The ideas that God has drawn me to fit perfectly into his plans for continuing to lead our church into a more evangelistic mindset.  The pastor wants us to have four Go Fish Sundays a year, with an emphasis on reaching out.  This dovetails perfectly with a conviction I have for having front yard barbecues reaching out to people within walking distance of our small group homes.  I believe God is definitely working in our hearts, simultaneously, to reach out to love on others and to teach our church more and more to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

My next conversation was with our Equipping Director.  She has a passion for seeing people match their God-designed gifts and passions with service in the church.  She also has on her heart to develop a new to the church class, a new Christians class, and to continue offering a Discovery class (for gift, talent, passion discovery and connection to ministries needing those things).  This fits perfectly with a "Finding Your Place" class that I feel should be developed to draw people who are not already connected together.  Until we know who the unconnected people are, we don't know who needs invited into small groups.

My third conversation was with our Minister of Worship.  In this interim time, he is taking over the staff liaison position for small groups.  He and I talked about a GroupConnect event (like Andy Stanley's GroupLink) that I thought was a total flop last January.  We had more leaders show up than people interested in small groups.  There were several reasons for it, including lack of early publicity, timing of the event itself, etc.  Our Minister of Worship challenged me to rethink success or failure, especially as he challenged me to realize that there were potential leaders at the event that are not currently leading.  No one followed up with them.  That is a challenge for me, in the next few weeks, to be honest about losing a possible connection, and to seek forgiveness in that.  At that time, I did not feel I had the authority to make the connection, but maybe I just did not yet understand my role.  It's in the past, and God has shown me incredible grace as He's grown me in this role.  I want to honor Him through authenticity with others, encouraging them to do the same with their small group members, current or future.

In the upcoming weeks, I need to begin to build relationships with those who are currently leading.  I need to see their hearts and how I can support them.  Also, I need to see how they can contribute to this structure that God is leading me to develop.  I know the structure is not set in stone, and I have to elicit their opinions so as to gain their trust and buy-in.

Currently, we have five groups in the church.  We have two groups that probably need to multiply, and quickly.  One has twelve members, ten of which have been together for over two years.  To my knowledge, they are very comfortable, so far, with staying just as they are.  The other has about 15 members and at least has begun the discussion of multiplying.  I pray for sincere hearts seeking to serve God and be open to bringing others into the beauty that is community.

His will be done.

Lynn