I’m reading a book right now by Gary McIntosh called “Beyond The First Visit”. It is a guide to connecting guests into your church. The subject interests me because part of my responsibility at my church is assimilation -connecting guests. McIntosh makes several key observations about the importance of relational connection in church retention. But one statement he makes really stood out in my mind. He says,
“As new people come into a church, new small groups must be formed. Friendships develop when people gather together in groups, particularly when the group is working toward a common purpose. Groups normally close quickly to the addition of new people, making it crucial that churches keep starting new groups.”
What particularly stands out in my mind about this statement is that my tendency is to always go in and try to help intimate groups be better at connecting new people. Reading McIntosh, I’m becoming increasingly convinced that rather than trying to pry open the iron gates of an already intimate group that is healthy and doing life together, the answer may be to start another one. The former is a form of addition. The latter, when done right, could result in multiplication.
1 response so far ↓
Ray // March 14, 2008 at 4:14 p.03. |
I think this is the thing I have struggled with most here were we are now and I am sure that Mr. McIntosh has hit the nail on the head and I would encourage you to develop methods (I am sure there are many) of providing opportunities for people to connect.
While the ultimate goal is to get a small group of people (probably 6-10) engaged in “doing life together”; that usually starts by one person connecting with another – one on one. One life touches another and they are drawn together and they bring others along (wives, husbands, children, friends, etc.) and then you have a small group. But it all starts with one on one connection and I think Christ’s model in building “The Twelve” around him bears this out.
I think the trickier part is “health”. We all come with baggage. Some of us have more than others
It’s that baggage that makes the “doing life together” part hard.
So, as you consider facilitating connection, don’t forget the teaching/ministering/mentoring required to move toward restoration, wholeness, holiness and healing. Not that you have to do that by yourself or that it is necessarily one more burden on your plate but the two necessarily go hand in glove and ultimately you need the resources to ensure the success of both.
For what it’s worth, I think you’re on the right page here.
Godspeed, brother!