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David Limiero
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Articles by this Author
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The year was 1990; the place, Greensboro, North Carolina. I was attending one of the very first seminars offered for leaders developing small group ministries (rather than leading small groups). After completing a self-analysis survey about our church, we were led through a series of more than 150 decisions to make regarding small group ministry: Should our groups be open or closed? Should we provide child care centrally, at each home, or not at all? Should we oversee our groups with a centralized model, a departmental model, or a laissez-faire model? The list went on and on, each choice seemingly independent of the others. After two and a half days of hundreds of choices, I left feeling overwhelmed and confused! (Others must have too: the ministry later streamlined their entire seminar to an eight-point outline.)
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Meta, Model, or Martyr?
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The most often overlooked step in starting small groups in your church is preparation. God's people must be prepared for works of service. Our job is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. In small group ministry, this means coming up with strategies...
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Shepherding Models
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After three-and-a-half years of small groups ministry in my home congregation in Naperville, Illinois, almost everyone who has participated in small groups has had an overwhelmingly positive experience. They've gotten to know other believers on an intimate level as they've grown together in study, sharing, service, and prayer. We've had some notable successes in seeing families who had been "pew-sitters" become active group members, then group leaders, then respected leaders in the congregation as a whole.
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Building Groups or Making Disciples? Models for Intentional Discipleship in a Small Groups Church
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Two years into my ministry at First Christian Church in Naperville, Illinois, I came to a stunning realization. Although by all outward signs our groups were a success, something vital was missing. A person could be actively involved in our small group system (or our Adult Bible Classes) and conceivably never learn how to have a personal prayer life, never get a basic overview of the Bible, never learn Bible study skills, never discover their spiritual gifts, and never learn how to share their faith.
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Building Groups or Making Disciples? Models for Intentional Discipleship in a Small Groups Church
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Last month we looked at closed discipleship groups, but the predominant emphasis in the small group movement in recent years has been toward open groups. Principles such as the empty chair, apprentice development, and group multiplication are now common in most small groups churches. Both the meta-church approach developed by Carl George and the cell-church model promoted by Ralph Neighbour use open groups almost exclusively.
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Building Groups or Making Disciples? Models for Intentional Discipleship in a Small Groups Church
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In past months we’ve looked at two different approaches to discipleship in the small groups church: closed discipleship groups and the combination of open groups with elective seminars. This month we examine a third alternative: coupling open group membership with one-on-one mentoring of group members. While this approach is less common than the others, it brings some unique advantages.
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Breaking through Small Group Plateaus: How Church Structure Can Limit the Success of Your Small Group Ministry
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Part One: The 20% Plateau
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Group Life Cycle Models: A Comparison
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The life cycle of small groups has been studied by a variety of researchers, both secular and religious, for several decades.
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From First Date to Potential Mate:
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M any writers have offered analogies for the stages of group formation, most choosing the individual human life cycle as a parallel.
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Breaking Through Small Group Plateaus: How Church Structure Can Limit the Success of Your Small Group Ministry
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Part Two: The 50% Plateau
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