Early in my pastorate, I realized our congregation (at that time about 180) was like many churches of all sizes—though we called ourselves friendly, we were essentially a small core of insiders with a bunch of newcomers on the fringe, unable to break in.
One solution was to start a small group ministry. A year or so into it, I preached a series “The Company of the Committed” built around seven spiritual disciplines. Wanting to take our people deeper than I could with just the sermon, we asked all of our small groups to focus on the sermon material—sort of a lecture/lab approach. A simple discussion guide helped them apply and practice the disciplines throughout the series.
It worked so well, we’ve done it ever since. Now almost all of our groups use the discussion guide (included in the bulletin) for their weekly meeting.
Some advantages:
- Increased sermon impact. Instead of skimming the surface of different topics in sermon and small groups, we reinforce one key concept. People don’t just listen—they interact and personally apply the message.
- It pulls in the marginally interested. When people know they’ll be discussing and praying about these ideas with others, they prepare. Instead of sitting with arms crossed and minds wandering, almost everyone takes notes. Even the non-neurotic non-compulsives!
- Sharpened focus. Everyone is more aware of what we are concentrating on. Right now we’re applying “Seven Traits to Live By” as a counter to the Seven Deadly Sins.
- It mainstreams new believers. Not everyone feels capable of discussing, say, the Book of Galatians, but everyone, even “window shoppers” (we don’t call them “seekers”) can talk about their reactions to the sermon they just heard. Window shoppers see the questions in the bulletin and know what kinds of things will be talked about, thus lowering anxiety and fear of trying a group.
- Easier-to-lead small groups. Few people are secure enough to be stand-alone teachers. But with the discussion guide and a briefing tape we provide, we have no problem finding people willing to facilitate a group.
Groups run throughout the school year—ten weeks on, two weeks off. And after each 10-week session, we give people the opportunity to re-up, take a break, or join a new group.
—Larry Osborne is pastor of North Coast Church 1132 North Melrose Vista CA 92083-3474 larry@northcoastchurch.com
New Members’ Boot Camp
Entry-level experience starts everyone off as a disciple.
Frank A. Thomas
Our church was like many. New members failed to connect to the body and were lost through the back door. Others who professed faith in Christ weren’t well grounded before entering positions of leadership. Our church was growing, but we were not maturing people fast enough to meet the ministry needs of the congregation.
I had been pastor of New Faith Baptist Church in the Chicago suburb of Matteson for ten years. We had grown from 37 to more than 1,000, but many members had not grown much spiritually since they joined the church. We had set the bar too low.
As a college student, I saw people push a peanut across the sidewalk with their noses in order to join a sorority or fraternity, but we had almost no requirements for membership in the church. People joined easily, and they left easily.
The church wasn’t ready to require a class as a prerequisite for membership, but we did launch a “boot camp”—an experience for new members. The course quickly became required for full participation in congregational life. We asked new members to wait until they completed the course before joining the choir, the ushers, or men’s or women’s ministry. The study grew to six months in length, and though it was stringent, 60 percent of those joining the church finished the course. And those who did usually stayed, and were ready to serve.
Growing season
Those first few months in a church are prime time to establish fundamentals. That’s when people are most teachable.
We assumed that people did not join the church to sing in the choir or work in the nursery, but because of their desire for spiritual growth. So we focused on spiritual growth first. We called the program “Newness of Life” based on Romans 6:4.
All the people who joined the church during a given month became a class, meeting together for two hours every Sunday night. Together they moved through a series of month-long study modules taught by lay people: Old Testament, New Testament, church polity, stewardship, the spiritual disciplines, and pastoral care.
After the six months, the new members were allowed one month to make up as many as four sessions they had missed. Then the class graduated together, celebrating with dinner, diplomas, and pictures. And heads of our church’s ministries set up tables introducing the new graduates to opportunities. Grounded in their faith, they’re ready to minister.
Each month a new class started the cycle. Each month a class graduated and we celebrated their achievement. New Faith became known as the church with the tough new-members’ class. But people truly joined.
Overcoming resistance
There was resistance at first. But I preached: “We cannot allow new people to join a ministry of the church assuming that will mature them. Organizations can be activity traps. We must first disciple them.”
Some people feared the course would keep people from joining the the church. At first the course was only one month long. But our leaders soon saw that new Christians needed to know much more than we could cover in four sessions.
The church set aside Sunday night as new members’ time. That’s all we did on Sunday nights. No services, no concerts—only boot camp. There were so many favorable comments from our first graduates that a number of older members went through it, too, to see what the excitement was about.
Reaping the benefit
We saw two immediate changes:
- New members were connected. This became their small group during a critical period. In a large church, no one would notice if a new member was absent for few weeks. With these classes, if you were out one week, the leader was calling, “Hey, we missed you.” That’s fellowship.
- New members were rooted in the basics of the faith. Baptists don’t have catechism, but in retrospect, that’s what we were doing. We borrowed what worked from the great ancient leaders of the church, and it still works.
Though I’ve been called to a new church, the discipling program continues at New Faith. The church has a heart for turning new members into real disciples.
—Frank A. Thomas is pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church (DOC) 70 N. Bellevue Memphis TN 38104
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