Is Your Church Connecting and Discipling People in Groups?

Connecting and discipling people in groups matters. Only 16% of new church members will remain connected 5 years later if they fail to become involved in a Sunday School class or small group. When they get involved in a group, 83% will still be connected.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” Acts 2:42 (CSB)

Illustration

Picture your home. Let’s assume you set a goal of getting ten people into your living room. What would you need to do in order to achieve your goal? While there are many strategies, let me boil the possibilities down to three actions:

• get nine people besides yourself in the front door,
• make sure they don’t leave,
• and make sure you get them all at the same time into the living room.

Three Simple Actions for Connecting and Discipling

Those simple actions can be translated into strategies for connecting and involving more people in Sunday School and small groups:

• FRONT DOOR. Invite people to your groups. The more personal, the more effective will be the invitation. Invite them to group fellowships, meals, projects, Bible study, and Jesus. Add them to your groups’ prayer, care, and party lists. Get them to your front door!
• BACK DOOR. When people attend, care for them. When they are absent, contact them every week. Do it because you care. Organize the group to respond with care. Keep good contact (phone, email, address) and attendance records. Provide regular events to deepen and expand relationships. Pray together. Don’t allow them to slip out the back door!
• LIVING ROOM. While the back door is focused on preventing dropouts, the living room is focused on discipleship. Disciples grow better when they consistently are part of a group. Set high expectations for faithful involvement. Challenge group members to read the Bible daily, study lessons weekly, and be present. Make assignments related to the lesson. Give places of service in the group. In an article called, The Missing Metric, Thom Rainer former president of LifeWay Christian Resources said: “If the frequency of attendance changes, then attendance will respond accordingly. For example, if 200 members attend every week the average attendance is, obviously, 200. But if one-half of those members miss only one out of four weeks, the attendance drops to 175.” How can you address the living room in order to increase discipleship growth?

Focus on these three actions in your groups ministry and watch your connections and discipleship increase. As you are faithful at caring for God’s sheep, He will entrust you with more. Where do you need to start? Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

Action Steps

1. Enlist and train a Friend Care Leader for every group who will ask every teen and adult to invite friends every week.
2. Enlist and train a Member Care Leader for every group who will ask every teen and adult to reach out with care to absentees every week.
3. Train teachers to involve every attender in group sessions every week.
4. Get a copy of my book, Caring: Caring for Members and Friends in Sunday School and Bible Study Groups.