Before reading this, see Part 1 and Part 2.
Start the first group immediately after selectively recruiting a core team.
Your founding small group needs to be composed of the right people. Perhaps equally important, it needs to be kicked off at the right time. Ed Stetzer writes, “After field cultivation comes the time for small group design. The planter or team should locate interested members and then follow up immediately by involving them in a small group. Taking too much time between contact and involvement may squander good opportunities because some prospects may lose interest if not followed up quickly and appropriately.”[1] Therefore, the interim between recruiting team members and forming the first small group should be as brief as possible. When a threshold of eight to twelve invested adult members is reached, the first small group should be launched.
Related to this goal is the necessity of “being picky” when selecting invitees for the first small group(s): “The prospects of survivability in a new church plant diminish if in the early stage the church attracts too many nominal or hurt Christians who are unwilling or unable to change (i.e. church hoppers, burned out leaders, the chronically hurt, etc.). Also, if those initial members are unwilling to actively seek and welcome those who are different from themselves it can also reduce the health and survivability.”[2]
Therefore, founding small group members should be humble, teachable, others-focused people who love the gospel. The strong desire to recruit new members may tempt the church planter to take anyone he can get; this impulse must be resisted.
I’m currently working to build our core group–while also canvassing for potential sponsoring churches/networks–so this reflects where I am right now. Question, if anyone wants to take a shot at it: How did you find the people your plant needed to get off the ground? Did they come primarily from a sending church (not an option for us right now)? Were they new friends from new relational networks in your target area? How did you go about identifying those core members?
[1] Ed Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches (Nashville: B&H, 2006), 321.
[2] Ed Stetzer and Dave Travis, State of Church Planting USA: Improving the Health and Survivability of New Churches (Leadership Network, 2007), 5.
“founding small group members should be humble, teachable, others-focused people who love the gospel.”
Talk about asking for a miracle! But a beautiful miracle, indeed. I’m not certain this is how Christ chose His disciples…indeed, they seemed quite resistant until the Spirit broke them in prayer. So, I gather you’re wanting semi-veteran/veteran Christians (those who know enough of the ropes to want more) to start your team?
I will definitely be praying over this hurtle, cause finding partner disciples is…well, challenging enough while in college, incredibly more so in ministry!
Also, what prompts your decision to partner with the SBC?
You’re right on both counts–finding these people is tough, and Jesus didn’t go about it this way. The caveat here is that I’m not Jesus.
However, I’m not really looking for perfect, veteran Christians with the maturity of a Timothy or Barnabas. (Although that would make them more mature than me, which means they would be great to have around.)
It’s more an attitude of humility and teachability, I think. People who are willing to try something new and exercise childlike faith. Who notice other people and aren’t completely self-absorbed.
About the SBC: I’ve been looking for a network/affiliation to provide some oversight and support. There are several possibilities in Kansas City, but the reality is most of them are still developing and won’t be ready to really get behind a church plant for 1-2 years. The SBC, while it’s undergoing considerable ideological head-butting in Missouri, does have the “apparatus” in place. Also, I’ve talked with several of the CP strategists, and they’re solid men. So we’re seriously exploring this option.