Groups
Group Invite Card – Create an “invite” card for adult groups. Leave blanks on the card for class, time and leader information. Encourage adults and teachers to carry “invite” cards with them during worship services and church activities to help guests take a first step into group life.
Friend Day – Friend Day is one of the most popular high-attendance day campaigns. Order resources at ChurchGrowth.org.
Discipleship
Disciple Making Groups – The disciple-making priority in the local church is accomplished either one on one or through one-on-many groups. One of disciple-making’s most passionate advocates is Herb Hodges. Through Spiritual Life Ministries and his many books and resources, Herb Hodges’ ministry presents the theory, technique, pattern and practice of disciple-making.
Video Resources
D-Groups – Men’s or women’s D-Groups are one person facilitating a structured discipleship process and relationship for three other people (1-on-3). Each D-Group participant is asked to lead another group when the D-Group cycles ends. The goal is producing disciples who make disciples.
D-Groups meet for a defined period, such as twice a month for a total of 9 months (18 meetings). Groups can start at any time and each group is free to determine the best meeting time for its members. Groups meet for 1 hour twice a month and feature study materials readily available with any smart phone or tablet (via the web or a ministry app).
Here’s the outline for a typical 1-hour meeting:
- Group Discussion – 3 observations from reading (15 minutes)
- HEAR Journal – 1 Observation from HEAR journal (20 minutes)
- Accountability Questions (15 minutes)
- Scripture Memory – 1 verse(s) per month (5 minutes)
- Prayer (5 minutes)
D-Group Accountability Questions
Intentional Families
Drive Faith Home – Drive Faith Home and HomePointe began as a ministry of LakePointe Church in Rockwall, Texas. HomePointe is an integrated model and strategy for church-driven, family-centered ministry. It exists to increase the likelihood that those attending our churches will:
- Build a life-long, thriving marriage.
- Introduce their children to Christ.
- Launch their teens as committed believers.
HomePointe is designed to give local church family ministry leaders a platform and context for helping people become intentional about building strong families one step at a time.
Faith@Home Events – Use faith@home events to demonstrate what home discipleship looks like. That could mean setting time aside for families around tables to actually have a short devotional together. It might mean showing a short video of a family taking those first devotional steps.
Periodic events might be planned around an evening meal to provide a welcoming atmosphere for families, kids and adults of all ages. Elements in a faith@home event could include:
- Interactive games
- Table resources
- Videos
- Sketches
- Worship sets
- Devotionals
- Key messages about home discipleship
Family Talk Guides – Encourage families to have at least one home devotional each week. That can happen around a family meal, in the evening, on the weekend or in some other way. The point is to encourage families to do something at home to grow spiritually.
Home devotions can happen in many ways. Online guides, devotional books, discussion questions and other resources are a good place to start. Another idea is to launch family devotions based on weekly group study material or sermons presented in a morning worship service.
Family Talk GuideIntentional Parents
Ministry to Parents – M2P.com is a resource to help church leaders build a quality ministry to parents. The site includes complete resources, based on the 4 steps of the Ministry to Parents Road Map:
- Help you BUILD a parent ministry plan.
- ENCOURAGE parents as they navigate the crazy childhood and teenage years.
- Help parents spiritually LEAD their children and teenagers.
- Help you CARE for the soul so you can sustain your ministry call long term.
Parents’ Place Events – Parents’ Place Events develop and reinforce intentional parenting skills. Develop a natural progression of topics that feed your ministry action plan, and that develop a faith milestones and ministry transitions plan. Parenting topics might include:
- How to lead your child to Christ
- How to prepare your child for adolescence
- How to keep your student pure
- How to lead your child to serve and go on mission
Student Ministry
Center for Parent/Youth Understanding (CPYU) – Founded in 1990 by Walt Mueller, CPYU has developed an international reputation as a voice providing cutting-edge information, resources and analysis on today’s youth culture. The mission of CPYU is to work with churches, schools, and community organizations to build stronger relationships between young people and those charged with helping them grow into healthy adulthood.
Parent Conferences, Meetings & Study Groups – Special discipleship studies or weekend conferences for student parents can deal with key issues they face with their kids and contemporary culture. Issues might include social media, communication, relationships, addictions, cultural influences, adolescent development, depression, generational conflict, and much more. Some student ministries offer quarterly, monthly or weekly parent meetings.
Student Clusters for Crowd-Gathering Events – Create small groups of students by age and appoint an adult and student leader to make periodic contacts. For group events, such as Wednesday night crowd-gathering activities, set up small clusters of (6-10) chairs so that student groups can sit together. This simple setup change makes the large group less intimidating for newcomers and younger students.
Children’s Ministry
Backyard Kids Clubs – Consider neighborhood-based backyard kids clubs in lieu of a traditional Vacation Bible School to move church members, vision and outreach outside the walls and into the community. Consider unreached areas in your community and mobilize church members in those neighborhoods for ongoing outreach efforts.
Children’s Outreach Event – Encouraging kids to invite unchurched or absentee churched friends to fun events is a great inreach and outreach tool, especially when the event includes a clear presentation of the Gospel. Periodic events, spaced throughout the year on a quarterly basis, for example, build planned inreach and outreach into the ministry calendar.
First West Kids Facebook PageRevival & Spiritual Renewal
Life Action Ministries – Life Action’s mission is to ignite Christ-centered movements of revival among God’s people that display His glory and advance His kingdom throughout the world. Designed for the entire church family, Life Action revival summits (8, 11 and 15 day durations) provide a one-of-a-kind experience of reconnecting with God and transforming relationships. They’re times of seeking God for a personal and corporate outpouring of His Spirit.
