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.

When someone decides to sign up for a small group at your church, it should be an immediate, one-step process. Never, ever ask people to take multiple steps to become part of a group. In my experience at The Journey and in working with thousands of churches across the country, I have discovered that for every incremental step you add to the sign-up process, you exponentially decrease the number of people who ultimately sign up.

Imagine a church that has one hundred people in attendance on a given Sunday. That church is planning to start small groups soon, so the pastor preaches on relationships, builds excitement about groups, and explains how important it is for everyone to get involved. The congregation gets excited. They are abuzz with fresh energy. But what if the pastor then tells them they can’t sign up right away? Instead, they need to come to a group connection night during the week where they will learn how to get involved. Of those one hundred people in attendance, approximately half will turn their current excitement into future action. So about fifty people will show up for the connection night — which means the pastor lost fifty potential group members before sign-ups even got started.

People like easy — and they like being able to take action while something is fresh in their mind. Creating a simple process for your attenders will require some work on your part. In a one-step sign-up system, your administration and volunteers will have to put in some time making sure the right people get in the right groups and ensuring that group leaders are following up with those who join. But that’s what we are called to do. As church leaders, we handle the administration so that our people can benefit from the ministry.

– Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas, with Jennifer Dykes Henson

The above excerpt is from p. 233-234 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!

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

© 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.