The below excerpt is from my book Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups. This revised and expanded edition shows church leaders how to make their small groups work. 

Six weeks to a month before the start of a new small group semester, it’s time to launch a promotion month. During this month, focus your attention on getting everyone in your church connected to a group. Preach on the importance of small groups. Send church-wide emails about small groups. Capitalize on the fact that everyone in your church will be thinking about getting involved in a small group at the same time. Positive peer pressure goes a long way. Make sure you use every device at your disposal and take full advantage of the concentrated opportunity to focus your church’s energy on signing up for groups.

If you have ongoing sign-ups for your small groups – that is, a system where someone can sign up and get into a new group any day of the year – you would never be able to utilize the power of a promotion month. At any given point you might have half of the church already in small groups and the other half thinking about joining. Because of the divide, you would miss the power of being able to focus your entire church’s attention on connecting with a group at the same time. If you tried, you would simply be frustrating the half of your church who is already in groups. Not to mention the positive peer pressure spark that’s so effective would lose its sizzle. Instead, take advantage of a promotion month to create a unified sense of excitement and urgency that leads to eager sign-ups.

              – Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas, with Jennifer Dykes Henson

The above excerpt is from p. 60-61 of Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups.

Drawing from the startling success of small groups at The Journey Church, Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas debunk the myths, set the record straight, and show how church leaders can implement a healthy small group ministry that gets the maximum number of people involved and solves many of the important problems facing churches of all sizes. These practical strategies will produce life-changing results.

P.S. – Click here to grab your copy from Amazon today!

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.