The Real Deal

New Covenant is one of the sponsors of the Small Group Conference tomorrow with Russ Robinson. Russ is the author of The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry and a small group expert. We heard Russ at the Advanced Small Group Conference at Willow Creek in May and were really impressed with his heart for God and people.

The sponsor churches had a special session with Russ over lunch today. In addition to all of his other credentials, Russ is a small group practitioner. He speaks from a place of experience.

Hi-lights of the session for me today:

• Russ has a great concern for the future of the small group movement in the US. It goes against 2000 years of church history.
• The early church adapted the Jewish synagogue model with an emphasis on place and person, becoming the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
• After the Reformation, the Protestant Church adapted a model with an emphasis on place, person and programs.
• Change from a program model of ministry to an organic small group model takes more work and time than most people realize.
• Have a clear picture of what your church would look like after the transition.
• Be patient, set priorities and have a ten year view in mind. Everything doesn't need to, and can't, change in one year.

I'm really encouraged regarding where we're at in this transition. Mark Forstrom and Mark Eades have both incorporated small groups in a greater way in youth ministry this year. High School has added Pods on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays and Middle School has added Huddles on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. Men's Fraternity will connect men in community around tables as they discuss the topic presented each week on DVD. We have recruited over 60 Hosts so far for the fall Impact Series.

We have a long way to go to connect every person in our church to a small group, but we are well on our way. There is no substitute for meeting face to face with a small group of people to discuss Bible truth and share life together.

We are fortunate to have someone of Russ's stature in town to speak. Do whatever you can to get to the conference tomorrow morning. You won't be disappointed! Russ is the real deal.