Planting a Healthy Home Group: Planning in 5 Essential Areas

by Danny Walker

IN-DEPTH PLANNING GUIDANCE AND SAMPLE PLANS ARE AVAILABLE IN THESE CRUCIAL LINKS BELOW. These links provide vital details in these essential areas for a healthy home group.

About this tool:

Leadership of a home group can be a very confusing position. Many home group leaders find themselves periodically overwhelmed with all the diverse needs of a home group. As leaders, what elements of home group work should we focus on? What problems are important and need to be addressed, and which should we ignore? This paper has been helpful in getting leaders to focus and plan in five critical areas. Doing this sort of planning will help make the job feel more manageable and help leaders direct their efforts. Leaders who have used this tool report that even though the job is big they feel confident they are putting their efforts in the right place.

Using this tool:

• Except for the bottom two levels of the pyramid (see diagram above), it doesn't matter which order various areas are addressed.
• Plans presented here are samples; home group leaders should customize their own plans according to their specific needs, situations and opportunities.
• This tool is designed to help home group leaders to understand their job descriptions, and to help direct their focus and thinking about their group. (A home group leader is responsible either to plan or to delegate planning to others.)
• This approach is just one way to understand home group ministry. Of course there are important aspects missing; it's not meant to be an exhaustive list of everything needed for leading a healthy home group. (E.g., there's nothing here about unity, which is really needed. Listen to the February 2002 Servant Team meeting tape to hear more about unity.)
• Note the box on the left below. These items are universals and should be included in the plan for every area. E.g., this whole paper should be read under the umbrella of the doctrine of grace.

As suggested by the article's title, the goal of a home group leader should be to plant a healthy home group. Home groups must plant so that more and more people can enjoy community without the group getting so big there's no longer a sense of community to enjoy.

For a greater understanding of the importance of church-planting:

• Read essays about underground indigenous church-planting movement.
• Listen to the 2001 Servant Team Retreat tapes.

Therefore, the goal to plant the home group is the overarching emphasis for everything that follows, and should be the factor that drives all planning in the areas listed. Leaders should always have this goal in mind, even if the actual planting date seems to be years away. Planting is so healthy and imperative to the work of the church that we should always be planning for it long before the room is full, and in some cases we should even plant before the room is full.

Once leaders develop a plant plan for the group, the group members will take planting all the more seriously. Sure, any plan must be flexible and subject to change, but leaders should make every effort to pick their best plan possible and then work toward it.

What does it mean to get serious about planting rather than just going through the motions? To illustrate this difference, compare a 30-year-old guy who's been dating the same girl for years, and for years has been saying, "Yeah, sure, I want to marry you—someday," with the guy who actually takes the necessary actions toward getting married: proposes, sets a date, and marries her.

Do the group members view the leadership as serious about planting or not?

I. FAITHFUL GOD

Great news, leaders! No plan is needed here! We already have a faithful God!

God will grow His church:

• In Matthew 16:10, Jesus states, "…I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." God will build His church.
• Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth." God makes people and churches grow.
• The parable of the mustard seed, in Matthew 13:31-32, teaches that the church starts small and then grows into something huge. There is no doubt God will cause his church to grow; He's already told us he's serious about it.

What is the application for us?

Ephesians 2:10 states, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

God establishes our role in ministry. He has works prepared in advance for us already. He's not up in heaven wringing his hands, all worried, wondering if we'll ever have ministry success, wondering if anything will ever go right in our service. He's not up there wondering when our day is going to come; He's not worried whether our group is growing as fast as the next one. He knows all about it.

Therefore, we don't need to worry about our ministry success either. We don't need to dump any wasted energy into comparing ourselves with others; we can look forward, obeying God and trusting Him that He's got some good work prepared for us to do.

Understanding God's faithfulness to build His church and to establish our ministry will cause us to experience more peace and to be more relaxed as we minister, to lead more confidently, and to be more gracious with ourselves and others during times of failure. We will exhibit a faith in God that will attract others to the group.

II. GROWING LEADERS

This area is extremely important!

"Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence…faith…moral excellence…knowledge…self-control…perseverance…godliness…brotherly kindness…and love. For if these qualities are your and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:5-8).

We teach others that Christianity isn't a religion; it's a relationship. But we need to ask ourselves, "How visible is my relationship with God? Are the qualities listed in 2 Peter 1 truly ‘increasing' in my life? Do I merely hope to be a growing leader, or do I have a plan for pursuing growth?"

Plan: Make annual personal growth goals

• Set book and Bible reading goals

• Make goals to take classes to strengthen your faith, ministry and knowledge

• Make goals for prayer time

• Set ministry goals

Plan to keep moving forward in ministry. Many leaders feel like they've risen as far as they can go in the areas of prayer and ministry, and therefore subconsciously their goals settle on maintaining what's already going on rather than on continuing to press on toward the finish line.

• Seek out peer support from other leaders and mentors.

Are you involved in the lives of other leaders and key workers in your group? It's not enough to have one growing leader per group. Leaders need to learn to edify and challenge each other to move forward.

• Be vigilant with character and sin issues.

Know what they are, and plan for progress.

• Grow as a spouse/parent/son/daughter.

Any plan for spiritual growth must include growing as a spouse, parent, son, or daughter. Something is wrong if you say, "I'm growing," while the people closest to you aren't benefiting or noticing.

• Do others in your group see you taking your growth seriously?

Do they know where you're struggling and striving, and where you're seeing failure or victory?

• Understand your true legacy.

Are you bringing vitality to the group by growing in your walk with God? Christian leaders tend to think of their ministry as their legacy (e.g., grow the church, bring people to know Christ). But we need to think of our walks with God as a legacy—that others know our walks with God are important. Consider Abraham, Moses and David, for example (Hebrews 11:8-10, 17-19, Deuteronomy 34:10 and 1 Kings 14:8, respectively). Sometimes God will graciously stop the flow of ministry success—"is that really all you value?"—if we don't attend to this, we'll regret it.

III. DISCIPLESHIP

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…" (Matthew 28:19-20).

"And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2).

Is it essential for Christians to make disciples—to do discipleship? YES! We leaders can be growing spiritually, and we can have a group that has great evangelism and great community; but if there isn't the discipleship, we're not going to raise up new leaders, and so we won't be able to plant the group. Discipleship is essential for reaching the lost and fulfilling the Great Commission.

Discipleship is making regular time to help younger believers grow and mature.

As with the other areas, we can't just hope it happens; we need to do some planning.

Plan:

• Model discipleship.

Leaders must model discipleship. This is really important!

Leaders should get together and ask each other, "This year, how many more discipleship relationships can we establish and realistically pray for and agitate for?"

• Teach discipleship in home groups and cell groups.

We should teach on it at least annually. It's the Great Commission. We should challenge Christians who say they want to obey the Great Commission to pray for and pursue opportunities to do discipleship, and we should discuss with them when they expect they might be able to participate in the Great Commission. We should even encourage new Christians to become disciplers.

• Pray for new disciples.

All leaders and Servant Team members (deacons) should be praying for new disciples. Discipling new or immature Christians is where the vitality comes into our groups. It's great to hear people marveling about truths the rest of us have known for awhile. That sort of person is who we want to be praying for God to bring into our lives to disciple, and we want all those we influence to be praying for that as well. (Of course there are times when it is fine to offer discipleship to an established Christian, too.)

• Regularly assess growth in the area of discipleship.

Find a way to illustrate on paper the discipleship in your group. Update it periodically to ascertain whether or not it's a growing ministry. You should target growth in the number of people providing discipleship as well as those being discipled.

Emphasize that discipleship is a difficult ministry. Many people fail especially in the earlier attempts.

• Celebrate movement toward leadership or Servant Team membership.

Make a big deal in your home groups whenever someone takes another step toward becoming a leader: completing necessary coursework, beginning to practice discipleship, taking character more seriously, etc.

• Disciplers need to seek regular input from other leaders, their spouses, and spiritual co-workers (key people in the group); they may be able to offer fresh insights and reveal areas not yet considered.

• Seek equipping to do discipleship.

Take classes and read books about discipleship for further insight and direction.

• Use the discipleship topics list

Ask yourself, "Have I taught these things to the person I'm getting together with?"

IV. CHRIST-CENTERED COMMUNITY

"…but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16).

Each part is needed. If we're going to have a strong community, then each part needs to play its role; every joint supplies something to hold up the structure.

This is the biggest area of the four, in that are more components requiring a plan. Leaders can delegate much of the planning in this area.

Following are some components that should be present in Christ-centered community:

• Have good meetings.

Have good home group meetings, good cell group meetings, etc. That's a part of good community. Having good meetings requires planning and preparation; good meetings don't "just happen."

Listen to the July '99 Servant Team Meeting tape on enthusiasm. Encourage many key members to listen to it.

Read The Most Common Problems on Home Group Meeting Nights

• Hold consistent prayer meetings.

Either encourage the whole group together to pray weekly or biweekly, or form smaller prayer bands. It's great to be fortunate enough to have a solid, well-attended prayer meeting, but with some age ranges it might not be practical.

• Have regular "workers' meetings".

Periodically get together with the core of committed Christians in your home group. Cast a vision for what God seems to be doing in the home group; brainstorm about how to address weaknesses and build on strengths of the group; pray together as co-workers.

• Encourage members to serve each other and exercise their spiritual gifts to build up the body of Christ.

Group members should help each other with domestic and miscellaneous needs.

Encourage group members to show up on moving day or to help with other big domestic needs (e.g., a new baby, a family or financial crisis, etc.).

• Help each other with evangelism.

See more on this below under the Evangelism planning section.

• Support the same Central Teaching, or "service," as called in some churches. (At Xenos Christian Fellowship, for example, there are four large meetings for members to choose from.)

This point goes along with the previous one. Many people say, "We want to have good community, but everyone just goes to whatever Central Teaching (large meeting) they want to." This thinking is problematic! How can you help each other evangelize when you don't even know when your brother's bringing a new person to Central Teaching?

• Plan regular retreats and vacations together.

It is good for groups to have annual retreats: a men's retreat, a women's retreat, and a combined men's and women's retreat. Leaders need to work hard at promoting attendance. Retreats are often the very times when people (re-) dedicate themselves to serving God and His people. Members who have been involved a long time sometimes forget that the retreats help the newer members gain a stronger sense of community.

Take group vacations occasionally. E.g., camp, share a large beach house, etc.

• Help each other get through classes.

Studying together builds community while giving practical help.

V. EVANGELISM

"Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:8-10).

This area is crucial. We can have a lot of the other areas in order, but if we don't have good evangelism, our home groups are in big trouble. In fact, if your home group is currently struggling, the first two areas to look at are growing leaders and evangelism. If you don't have one or both of these in order, start there.

Evangelism is another good area for delegating. When making an evangelism plan, get a lot of people in the mix, especially strong evangelists. Get committed Christian workers together. E.g., fill a legal pad with ideas for what you could do for evangelism, and then from those ideas create a 1-year skeleton plan. Also good communication of ideas and vision on these plans is essential. No matter how great a plan is, it's useless if no one knows about it. Reevaluate and extend this one-year plan every few months.

Plan:

• Build bridges.
• In cell groups and with disciples emphasize individual work—having people over for dinner, getting into their world, identifying non-Christians in their lives, etc.
• Have detailed sharing in cell groups about successes and failures.
• Help each other nail down concrete action steps (including times and dates).
• Help other members reach out to their friends by going with them as appropriate.
• Support each other through prayer.
• Hold special events designed especially for spiritual seekers:
• Do special outreach teaching series' in home group; pass out flyers and send out invitations.
• Take advantage of ministries such as Conversation & Cuisine, Game Time, and Playgroups.
• Host regular parties and activities.
• Take classes and read books on evangelism (e.g. "Sharing Your Faith" class).
• Utilize opportunities at Central Teachings.
• Show up early, and meet people you don't know.
• Participate on the Teaching Team, or volunteer for one of the other Central Teaching task teams or booths, where it's easy to meet and help new people.
• Use information from Leadership class.

The Most Common Problems With Home Group Meetings

• Teaching too long!
  Thirty minutes is recommended for teachings in a home group setting. People need the opportunity to participate during the meeting to experience openness and community and to actively interact with God's word.

• Weak application to everyday life.
  The teaching may be interesting and full of content, but so often the application is weak or unclear. People should consistently leave home group realizing God has spoken to them and they know what they could do differently in their lives to cooperate with God. Application to people's everyday lives should be very clear and specific. (E.g., rather than people coming away thinking, "I want to be more loving," they could be thinking, "I think I'll make some phone calls this week, initiate having Wilma over for dinner, and see if Betty wants to pray with me this week.)

• Not lively enough.
  This point applies both to the teacher and the members.

  • Monotone teachers need to work hard to get a little inflection into their voices, even if it feels uncomfortable. Get lively. Have good, upbeat illustrations and personal vulnerability.
  • Members can help out here, too. Rather than falling asleep during the teachings, people could nap beforehand, drink coffee, and come prepared to contribute to the meeting.
  • Teachers should work in plenty of opportunities for participation in the middle of the teaching.
• Dull atmosphere.
  Exercise creativity in making home group night a special night. Prepare special snacks, build a fire...anything to foster a time of extended community.