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Burning Question:

I'm having trouble differentiating between who would make a good leader and who'd make an effective small group champion. Is there a model I can follow?

Good question. It is important to establish what differentiates a small group champion from a leader. The objective of a champion is to lead, inspire, encourage and motivate his or her leaders to lead a balanced spiritual life.

Here's a model we use at Lifetogether to remember the components of an effective champion; we suggest looking for people who have the heart of a champion and the hands of a servant.

The HEART of the champion (who the champion is):

Hands are open to God in service
Encouragement to their leaders and members
Available to minister and serve
Reluctant, "real" servant spirit (Moses, Peter)
Teachable for what God has for them in this role

The hands of a servant (what a COACH needs to do):

Cultivate the "health" of the leaders
One step ahead, only one step at a time to keep leaders moving forward
Ask leaders questions: What's working? What's not working? What's next? How can I support you or help you? How can I pray for you? When can we meet? When can I visit your group? When's a good time to call? Who's next?
Connect with leaders regularly in five ways: One on one (monthly/quarterly), group visits (quarterly), leader huddles, fellowship and socialize with them, email and call them.
Help them have a spiritual partner

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