I have been humbled by how many of you have purchased my book, Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups. It has proven to be a useful resource to churches of all shapes and sizes in building a small groups system with 100% participation. I want to thank all of you who have already read and recommended it. Many … Read More
Q & A: Activate Webinar Follow-Up
This is Kerrick Thomas – Executive Pastor at The Journey and co-author of the Activate book with Nelson. Nelson and I recently led the Activate small groups webinar and he asked me to share my reply to this follow-up emails: Thanks so much for offering this webinar on the Activate small groups system. We like this system and have serious … Read More
Q & A: Moving to Semester-Based Groups
This is Kerrick Thomas – Executive Pastor at The Journey and co-author of the Activate book with Nelson. Nelson asked me to answer the following question about moving an existing small group system to the semester-based groups that we recommend: The question I have for you deals with our groups that have done really well. Five or six of our … Read More
New Small Groups Tele-Coaching Network
This is Kerrick Thomas – Executive/Teaching Pastor at The Journey Church. I’m writing to you today because I want you to be aware of a special tele-coaching opportunity for your Small Groups Pastor or for the staff person you have leading small groups at your church. In just a few weeks (on Thursday, February 26) I’m kicking off our first … Read More
Small Group Curriculum (Free Download)
We are working on our groups for Spring 2009 and recently produced the list of approved curriculum/books for group studies. Since its one of the most frequently requested documents I thought you might want a copy. You can download it by right clicking the link here: 2009 SPRING APPROVED SMALL GROUP CURRICULUM LISTINGS I hope you find it helpful! Nelson … Read More
Q & A: Small Groups and Accountability
Here’s a frequently asked question about semester-based small groups: If groups operate on a semester system and everyone rotates groups, how do you manage accountability? Kerrick Thomas, co-author of Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups and Executive Pastor at The Journey, answers the question: Thank you for your question about “accountability” in a semester-based small group system. I’ll … Read More
BONUS: Answering Your Small Group Questions — Question 4 — Doesn’t the semester-based system keep people from forming meaningful relationships?
Thanks to the great response we received from this week’s small group posts, we decided to give you one more Q&A. Think of it as a Saturday bonus! Question #4: I like the idea of semester-based small groups that meet for 10-12 weeks and then end. But doesn’t that keep deep and meaningful relationships from forming? Doesn’t the group end … Read More
Answering Your Small Group Questions — Question 3 — How can we double our number of groups by next semester?
This is Kerrick Thomas with our final small groups question of the week. I hope that what we’ve been discussing has impacted you in a way that will translate into more effective small groups for your church. If you missed any of this week’s blog entries make sure to scroll down and check them out! Question #3: We need twice … Read More
Answering Your Small Group Questions — Question 2 — What if a group doesn’t get enough sign ups?
Kerrick Thomas here again. Today, I’m continuing to answer the most common questions Nelson and I get about small groups. In addition to being the Executive Pastor of The Journey and co-author of Launch and Activate, I handled small groups at The Journey until not too long ago. Even though we’ve now passed that responsibility on to a Small Groups … Read More
Where There’s Slack There’s Lack – Part 4 of 8
SYSTEM #4: THE SMALL GROUPS SYSTEM Welcome back to our weekly Wednesday blog series, “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack.” If you’ve been keeping up with these posts each week, I trust that your church systems are beginning to undergo positive transformation. Hopefully, you’ve pinpointed some areas that have suffered because of slack and started turning that lack around! Today, we … Read More