"Charles" is the pastor of a growing, mainline church near my home. I met with him this week to talk about his home fellowship groups. The goal of this church’s small groups is to be evangelistic and multiply. The problem is, more than six years after the launch of the small group program, the groups have achieved neither. My job, if I choose to accept it, is to find out why, to offer some insights, and to, perhaps, provide some solutions.

Does the search for small group leaders ever end? If you are the small groups pastor or lay leader and your ministry is multiplying, and it needs to be to keep it healthy, the answer is no. When I first started the small group ministry at Bay Area Fellowship, I looked up and realized I was spending a huge amount of my time trying to find new leaders. I remember thinking how great it would be someday when I could sit back, relax, and focus on other things. 170 groups later, I am still waiting for that break.

My optimism has been repeatedly challenged by group multiplication. I can, at least, give myself an ‘A’ for effort. It is not easy taking a tough position on this subject because the motivations and goals of encouraging the multiplication of small groups and small group leaders are all very good ones. I share the same heart, and I hope for the same outcome as group multiplication enthusiasts. However, I personally have been forced to find new how-tos. Maybe, as a fellow practitioner, you will benefit from some of my learning.

I’ve stopped telling our small groups they need to multiply or birth their groups. That might sound odd; I’ve been encouraging and envisioning leaders to multiply themselves for years.

While there are several ineffective ways to birth new groups, there is no one right way to birth a group. Any form of these three basic methods can be very effective. As can a combination of them.