Emmanuel!

A few years back, I began a bit of a tradition (for me, anyway), by suggesting at Worship Services that we mirror the Easter tradition of saying, "He is risen" and responding with, "He is risen indeed!". My thought was that if this is how we remind each other of the true meaning of Easter, should we not also do something similar at Advent? So I stated, "Emmanuel", to which I had the congregation respond, "God with us!".

So, the natural question, as I post to this blog about Life Groups, Community and Belonging, is, 'How is Advent related to Groups Ministry?'

The answer (and it may already be obvious to you) is quite simply this:

Somewhere in eternity past, God put into motion a plan to create a world of beings that would exist to share Community with Him, who is Himself community. When those beings chose to rebel, His plan continued forward, carried out by a long thread of those who would trust Him, in spite of their own sin nature.

Thus, two millenia ago (give or take), in a crude, hay-strewn shelter for animals, placed in a wooden feeding trough, born to a carpenter and a virgin, sung of by angels, worshiped by shepherds, gifted by wise men, hailed by a star, the human descendant of prophets, priests, kings, prostitutes, widows and soldiers, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father, Almighty God and Savior of all mankind entered our world.

He would live as we live. He would face all the fear, pain, anger, loathing, suffering, temptation, sickness and struggle that we do, only to overcome it all on our behalf, and, in the end, overcome death itself. Why? Because God made us to walk with Him, to share Life with Him.

To know that we Belong.

Emmanuel! God with us! Merry Christmas.

The Next Step

If you've been part of a Life Group, you know what a rewarding, fulfilling and maturing experience it can be. Joining others each week to share, pray, study the Word and just share life together is a remarkable thing, and the sense of belonging that we develop is critical to the health of every person.

You probably also know that my heart's desire is to see as many folks enjoy this community aspect of church life as possible, and it will come as no surprise to you that we are working hard to make such an opportunity as widely available as possible here at Desert Springs.

In January, Pastor Mark will speak on groups, community and connecting for several weeks, and at the same time, we will hold open sign-ups for new groups to run in February and March for 8 weeks. Our goal is to have at least 10 new groups when we hold those sign-ups, so that we can accommodate as many people as possible for that eight week period.

To that end, I have been making phone calls for several days now, asking certain people to prayerfully consider being a Life Group Leader during that eight weeks. We are making it simple for them to do, with very little time commitment needed, and meeting guides provided by us, based on Pastor Mark's sermons.

Please join with me in praying that God would raise up the leaders we need for this effort! It will be the first time ever that we have attempted something like this, but I believe it is God's will that we help more people find significant relationships in the church family through which they can grow and mature in their faith!

Thanks!

Adventures in Advent

Ah, Christmas... The music, the food, the family gatherings, the shopping, the shopping, THE SHOPPING!

I'm not a power-shopper by any means, but somehow I found myself standing in a HUGE line outside the Palm Desert Old Navy this past Friday morning at 3 am! My brother, Brian, and I were lured there by the enticing offer of a free video game with a $20 purchase, and naturally we succumbed to the greed-driven group-think that overtakes the Holidays so often.

As I paused this morning to think about this time of year that I love so much and what it truly means, I couldn't help but recall to mind that morning, and how silly I felt when I walked away empty-handed (well, almost - I got a great Star Wars t-shirt!)

As a pastor of Groups, I have to beg the question: What is it all about? We talk each year about the 'reason for the season', but do our actions belie a different way of thinking than our words?

The powerful truth behind Christmas is what drives Advent Conspiracy, the movement our church is participating in this year to get back to the roots of the season, to remember that it's about Worshipping Christ more Fully, Spending Less on the commercialism and consumerism we are bombarded with, Giving More of ourselves, our time, our creativity, our care to others who desperately need it and by doing so, Loving All.

How is your Life Group participating in Advent Conspiracy? Are you gathering new, unwrapped toys for the kids at 29 Palms? Are you volunteering as a group to serve at the Christmas Store? Or are you taking an offering in your group to contribute to our church families in need? Whatever you do, don't let the season pass without urging your group to action!

A Scary Word... LEADERSHIP!!!

I sat down with one of our Life Group Leaders last week over lunch to discuss how things are going in his group and get input on some ideas I'm working on for the future of our ministry. As we talked and shared together, he mentioned something to me that I've heard before, but never thought of quite this way.

He told me that 'Leader' is a scary word to many people!

Now, as I've said, this isn't news to me. We've discussed the terminology we use in Life Groups many times over, and it's hard to think of a better word than 'Leader' for those who help steer the time that each group shares together. 'Facilitator' is probably more accurate, but it's a word that requires explanation to most people, and thus, we end up with 'Leader'.

The question is, why is it such a scary word?

We are often told that people fall into two categories; Leaders and Followers. I think this is largely true, but a bit simplistic. There appears to be a spectrum between these two ideas, and most of us fall somewhere on that spectrum, with our life experiences, gifts, talents and personalities determining which end we're closer to. We may be Leaders in one situation or environment, but Followers in another.

I think that many who have been active Leaders in the past may be turned off by the term because they were burned, abused, under-appreciated or worse. Others who don't possess all the qualities of prominent Leaders they are familiar with probably think, 'I can't lead, because I'm not like so-and-so'. Regardless, it's clear that many are reluctant to step forward and lead.

So, what does Christ say about this? In Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34 and Luke 9:23, Jesus challenges us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. Clearly we are all to be Followers in this sense, but we can't just leave it at that! Paul stated in Ephesians 5:1 that we are to be 'imitators' of God, but in Thessalonians 1:6 he also said to imitate himself, as he imitates Christ! This implies that Paul was leading and following simultaneously!

So, what can we take away from this? Well, to begin with, we are all called to be Leaders, in some way. At the very least, we are to lead others toward Jesus, by following Him ourselves! In addition, we are all called to serve Christ and His church with our Time, Talent and Treasure. In the end, none of us can escape the call to be Leaders, no matter how scary the word might seem to some; I believe we simply need to broaden our understanding of what it means to lead, and know that God has and will continue to equip us with everything we need to do it.

Closing the Back Door...

One of the ideas Larry Osborne bases his book, 'Sticky Church' on, is closing the back door of our church. What does this mean? Simply this: as people are drawn to church and visit it, they will eventually fall through the cracks, or head out the 'back door', if they don't establish a meaningful relationship with someone there.

One statistic says that when the average American visits a new church, if fewer than six people greet them, they will not return the following week. But I think it's even more noteworthy that millions of people attend church consistently and never get beyond the 'How are you?' and 'I'm fine!' stage of relationship with their fellow attenders.

Our mission as a ministry is to help people at Desert Springs find some sense of belonging, to establish significant relationships with others so that they know they are home. We must be about this, not only at our group meetings during the week, but also as we attend Sunday services, special events or other church gatherings, as well as in our day-to-day personal lives!

So, what does this look like? Ask yourself, 'Do I go out of my way to find those who are new at our gatherings, and introduce myself?', 'When was the last time I got to know somebody new to church?', or 'What am I doing to help people feel like they belong here?'

We all have opportunities every time we gather to make this a reality; we just have to look for them!

New Groups!

I'm excited to announce that we have a couple of new groups that have begun or are beginning soon!

First off, the Ramsers, who are leading the group that multiplied from ours, began their new group last night out in La Quinta. Forrest and Courtney Ramser are in their mid-20's, married for a little less than two years and have a sweet little baby boy, 'Baby Forrest'. Their group currently has eight members, all in their 20's and 30's, and is studying 'Love & Respect'.

Secondly, Jean Smith will be starting a new group exclusively for women which will meet in Sun City Shadow Hills on Thursday evenings beginning on November 5th. Meeting time is still to be determined, but Jean is excited to get this group going!

Our own group now meets on Tuesday evenings, and since we just multiplied, our numbers are down to 9 - this means that there is room for growth in all three of these groups at this time, so if you meet anyone who might enjoy visiting us, please get them in touch with me!

Joy... Multiplied!

This coming Monday evening, my Life Group will celebrate its final evening as one larger group, and the beginning of something new! The following week, Forrest and Courtney Ramser, who have been a part of our group for the past 8 months or so, will begin a new Life Group, taking about half of the existing group with them.

This is the result of a model we have used here at Desert Springs for the past couple of years, referred to as 'Multiplication' of groups, and one that we will be phasing out as we move forward with the Life Groups ministry. It's an approach that I cut my group-leadership teeth on, and while it can be utilized effectively, I have seen more resistance to it than acceptance of it!

Just a few months ago, you would have heard me fight tooth and nail to hold onto this way of thinking; so what has changed? Well, it all began when someone shared an article with me by Larry Osborne, author of 'Sticky Church'. It challenged my thinking about the value of 'multiplying' groups for the first time in years, and at the time I didn't fully understand what Larry was trying to say.

Since then, I've had several conversations with people about a different way to do things, and attended the Custom Small Groups Workshop at North Coast Church in Oceanside. Through all of this, God has slowly drawn back the curtain on the approach I am now adopting in the Life Groups ministry.

The bottom line is this: any groups ministry (or church for that matter) must have a strategy for future growth and development of new leaders. Without such a plan, any ministry is destined to find itself in an 'evolutionary cul-de-sac', peaking out when the number of people in a small group is too great for authentic relationships to be sustained, or when the number of available leaders cannot support additional growth.

Perhaps even worse, growing a ministry by what I call 'cold-calling', or recruiting new leaders without developing proper vision and training in them, will create false growth that soon collapses in on itself. I've experienced this first-hand!

So, how do we multiply leadership and grow the Life Groups ministry without 'mulitplication' of groups? The answer is simple: recruit leaders to start new groups from within the existing ones, and run groups during limited-term sessions. This provides natural entry and exit points for group members, and a more relaxed approach to launching new groups. True, this may seem different from our old model by only a matter of degrees and semantics, but it makes all the difference in the world!

I'll post more about this in the weeks to come, but for now, know this: the era of pressure to multiply is over! There is much to look forward to in the months to come, and I believe God is preparing to grow this ministry in a new way, like we've never seen before!

Listed!

Just so you are all aware, we keep an up-to-date list of our Life Groups available on our website! This list includes the names of all of our group leaders, when and where their groups meet and contact information you can use to reach them! I've included a link to it right here so you can take a look for yourself.

The Future...

Change is coming! The Care Groups ministry is about 2 and 1/2 years old now, and we've learned a lot along the way. Part of that learning includes hearing wisdom from others who are more experienced with this kind of ministry, and that is exactly what I went to do last week in Oceanside.

I had the pleasure of attending a 'Custom Small Groups Ministry Workshop' at North Coast Church for two days, and enjoyed hearing about their sermon-based approach to small groups ministry, their strategies for growing the church through groups and the ways they work to make both leadership of and participation in groups as easy as possible for everyone. North Coast has been at this for over 20 years now, and with a congregation of over 7,000 people, they have over 80% participation in groups, year after year, so it's safe to say that I was very attentive!

I share all of this because we will soon be rolling out some wonderful changes to our existing ministry which I believe will begin a new season for us and for Desert Springs. I'll be sharing more about this in the weeks to come, but for now I'll leave you with this: Care Groups will now be called 'Life Groups' at Desert Springs. Why? Well, the best way to explain it is that with these changes, a new way to identify the groups ministry is called for, and as our purpose as a ministry is to help people find a sense of belonging through significant relationships, the word 'Life' fits really well. We are about helping people share life together, and in doing so, grow closer to God!

Now Reading: Sticky Church

Part of my ongoing effort to grow and learn more about leading a ministry of small groups is, (drumroll, please) -- READING! Yes, I can read! I'm not much for reading anything but science fiction normally, but a subject like ministry is too crucial not to educate myself on, so I am committed to digging in and hitting the books.

Currently, I'm midway through Larry Osborne's 'Sticky Church' (yes, Larry is our own Steve Osborne's uncle). Sticky Church puts forth the idea that every church has a problem - the back door tends to be open. This means that while we might do great at attracting newcomers and visitors, we tend to struggle with retaining these fine folks for any length of time. Larry's theory is that through small groups, people can find community and belonging in church, and will tend less often to exit out the back door after a while.

So far it's a great read, and while I don't agree 100% with every single thought Larry writes here (I never do), there is quite a bit worth considering. I encourage you to pick up a copy of Sticky Church today (or ask to borrow it from me when I'm finished)!

Resources, Resources, Resources!

As I've been thinking about and praying over this coming year of Care Groups ministry, I've made a commitment to spend more time reading books and articles on groups and community. My desire is to constantly be learning and growing in my own understanding of how this ministry can work and what God would have us do at Desert Springs in particular.

One great tool that I am just now discovering is a website at www.smallgroups.com. This online resource is packed full of valuable information and tools, from articles to training materials, and I would encourage you to go there now and register for a free account!

You can definitely look forward to future posts from me about articles I've read on this website, and I hope to hear from you as well!

Here we go!

So, I've been a voice here at Desert Springs about moving into the 21st Century with things like blogs and websites, etc. but I realized today that I'm a HYPOCRITE! Though I've pushed and pushed for this stuff, I had yet to start a blog of my own, about Care Groups or anything else!

As of right now, this is remedied. I will be posting here no less than weekly, and I hope you all will check my posts, make comments and pass this stuff on just as often! I will include links to articles and books I am reading about groups, as well as my own thoughts on what we do as a ministry of Desert Springs.

It's going to be exciting! Thanks for reading...