For 20 years I have been researching what makes small groups grow. This has involved many rounds of data gathering and careful statistical analysis. Over and over again the results reveal: The most important factor for the health and growth of a group ministry is coaching. For some reason, I woke up at 2:30am today […]
Tag Archives | small group pastor
4 Reasons Why Every Pastor Should Lead a Small Group
I’ve been in full-time ministry for 35 years. During that time I’ve served in a number of different roles such as a missionary, senior pastor, associate pastor and missions pastor. No matter what role I have been in, I am almost always leading a small group—sometimes more than one group. There are four reasons why […]
3 Keys to Being a Great Small Group Pastor
So you’re the small group pastor or groups ministry director of your church? How can you do a fantastic job? How can you establish a thriving group ministry? I got new insight into that last week when I went to the Group 100 conference hosted by LifeWay at their Nashville offices. It featured a super line […]
Quit Being a Cry-Baby Small Group Pastor and Focus on the 2 Key Things that Produce Results
I’ve talked with small group pastors across the country and one thing many of them say is: “Our church’s small group ministry is not doing well and it’s the senior pastor’s fault. If they would emphasize groups more in their messages, in our membership classes, and in our church communication, our groups would really take […]
How to Be a High Impact Coach
By Jim Egli on August 25, 2012 in Coaching, Discipleship, Eating Together, Empower, Small Group Pastor
For most churches we are just launching a new church year. For the first blog entry of the year I want to focus on the dynamic that my researched revealed as the most important element for a church’s small group system’s health and growth—the effective coaching of your leaders. Coaching is pivotal whether you are […]
How to Do Great Small Group Leader Meetings
To have a thriving small group ministry, you need leaders that are envisioned, encouraged, and motivated. The main way that you give your leaders the vision and encouragement that they need is through great small group leader meetings. Unfortunately many churches struggle to do these meetings right and consequently their leadership meetings have minimal impact […]
Simultaneously Expand Your Impact and Make Your Life Easier
By Jim Egli on June 23, 2012 in Discipleship, Empower, Life Balance, Small Group Leader Resources, Small Groups
If you are a ministry leader there is one thing that you can do that will both greatly increase your impact AND make your life easier. What is it? Raising up other leaders to your level. Raising up other leaders lightens your load and multiplies your impact. Although it tremendously eases our work load down […]
Why Your Small Group Ministry Is Struggling (and What You Can Do About It)
By Jim Egli on June 17, 2012 in Coaching, Small Group Leader Resources, Small Group Pastor, Small Groups
If your church’s small group ministry is struggling, I think I know why. Based on 8 years as a full-time small group consultant, 12 years as a small group pastor, and statistical research involving the small group ministries over 200 churches, I see three key mistakes that cripple small group system growth. Do any of […]