Building Christian
Community
Small Group Ministry
in Today’s
Seventh-Day Adventist Church
1. Small groups: part
of God’s plan
2. Life-changing small
groups: some
definitions
3. Small group values:
the key to growth
4. Small group
meetings and small
group life
5. The goal of small
groups: holiness
and harvest
6. Small group
leadership
7. Developing a small
groups network
8. Maintaining the
network
Building Christian
Community
SESSION SEVEN:
DEVELOPING A
SMALL GROUPS NETWORK
Getting Started…?
Need for
Strategy!
Getting Started…?
1. Study and
understand small
group ministry
2. Pray, and follow
as God leads
Getting Started...
3. Share the vision
with others
Focus on values
and objectives,
not just groups
4. Designate small
group co-ordinator
Getting Started...
5. Identify
leadership teams,
each consisting of:
• Leader
• Apprentice leader
• Host or hostess
and begin training.
But remember…
Getting Started...
Grow...
…don’t GO
...into small groups. START SMALL
Getting
Started
6. Form a
Prototype Group
Co-ordinator/
trainer
Group leaders
Apprentices
Getting Started.
The purpose of the
prototype:
• to train
• to bond
• to develop a
reproducible model
• to provide an authentic
small group experience.
• to practice the real
thing!
Jesus
in the
centre
Getting
Started...
7. Build core
groups by
adding 3-4
members
Core
Group
Leadership
team
Other church
members
Getting
Started...
8. Build
complete
groups by
adding 5-6
non-members
Core
Group
Complete
Small
Group
Non-members
Introducing Non-S.D.A.
Friends to Your Group
• Pray that God will
•
guide you to the other
Christians or nonChristians He wants in
the group
• Take other group
members to Bible
•
study contacts
• Offer something of
shared interest, e.g. •
parenting, stress
Introduce friends
socially to group
members, e.g.
anniversary,
concert, birth-day,
barbecue, etc.
Use a course to
introduce Christian
beliefs like “Alpha”
Just invite them to
the group
Getting Started
9. Make
sure
one or two
people don’t
wear ALL the
hats!
Getting Started
9a. Identify abilities
and gifts in the
group, and delegate
responsibilities
Put the right hats
on the right heads
Getting Started
Support
Sub-Group
Task SubGroup
Basic Small
Group
Study SubGroup
JESUS
IN
CENTRE
Leadership
sub-group
10. Keep the small group at the level of a
basic Christian community, organizing subgroups as necessary
Getting Started...
12. Plan ahead:
have a strategy
for growth
11. Keep the vision clear
by reading, prayer,
observation evaluation,
and training for group
members
Getting Started
Remember the
Jethro
leadership
principle
Supervising pastor
Leaders of 500
Leaders of 100
Leaders of 50
Leaders of 10
Future Challenge for
Small Groups...
“The great outpouring of the Spirit of
God, which lightens the whole earth
with His glory, will not come until we
have an enlightened people who
know by experience what it
means to be labourers together
with God…but this will not
be while the largest portion
of the church are not
labourers together with God.”
Evangelism 699
Building Christian
Community
Small Group Ministry
in Today’s
Seventh-Day Adventist Church
OHP 5.5
Strategy for Change
Be convinced of Small Groups yourself & convince your leaders
Plan your teaching & introduce that teaching to your church
Prototype Cells
1st Wave Cells & Train new Cell Leaders
2nd & 3rd Wave
Adjustment of old
programme Transition complete
1
2
3
4
5
6
Six year transition outline
The Pastor’s Changing Role
Traditional
Responsibilities
•
•
•
•
•
Year
Year
Year
Year
Year
1
2
3
4
5
80%
60%
40%
20%
?
Small Group
Responsibilities
Year
Year
Year
Year
Year
1
2
3
4
5
20%
40%
60%
80%
?
The Original Cell Model
KOREA
The “Touch” Model
Singapore,
Hong Kong,
South Africa,
U.S.A.,
Russia,
many other
nations
The Groups of Twelve
(Turbo) Model
Bogota,
Columbia
How It Works
LEADER
OF
TWELVE
Each of the
twelve
develops up to
three Cell
Groups. The
goal is to find
twelve leaders
who will launch
Cells.
The G12 Structure
Cell leader’s
main task is to
develop more
leaders
The Story
• First 7 years,
Castellanos worked
with Cho’s system of
Cells.
• Grew to 3,000
people…
• 1992-1997, with
“Groups of Twelve”
Strategy, grew to
10,460 Cell Groups
The Objective
To evangelize all
of Colombia and
see a Cell
Church planted
in every town in
the nation.
How Membership Has Grown
30000
Started
“Groups of
Twelve” Strategy
25000
20000
15000
3000
members
10000
5000
0
84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98
How Cells Have Multiplied!
30000
10,456
Cells as of
January, 1997!
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98
Growth Principles of
G12 (Turbo) Model
•
•
•
•
Everyone is a potential group leader
Everyone is ministered to then ministers
Everyone can disciple 12 others
A believer can only be part of your 12
when they open a cell
• Everyone should win souls and develop
leaders
• Homogeneous cells grow more rapidly