When small group ministry goes through a significant downturn or decline, it may become necessary to declare the ministry terminally ill and begin planning and praying for a resurrection. The resurrection may involve a total restart of the ministry.
More often, a small group ministry receives a diagnosis of sick rather than terminal. The sickness may have the symptoms of declining participation, little motivation for outreach, a lack of equipped leaders, or the absence of a small group ministry point leader. Regardless of which of these situations the ministry finds itself in, there may be a need, at the church-wide level, to do a "jump start" to get the small group ministry revived and back on track.
When you determine a small group ministry is sick, the jump start may take the form of a church-wide campaign, a several week-long rally, or even a seasonal kickoff. The jump start might include a special emphasis at weekend worship gatherings, simultaneously starting several new groups, initiating a small group outreach program, selecting a curriculum that all groups may do together, or just emphasizing an overall small group theme that each group focuses on during a specified period of time.
When the jump start works, small groups grow, new leaders emerge, and Biblical community increases. For some churches, the momentum created by the jump start is sustainable, and small group ministry thrives over many seasons from one jump start.
However, in many churches, after the energy of the jump start wears off, the ministry situation drifts back to the pre-jump-start level. Many church leaders then conclude that what the ministry needs is another jump start. Another jump start is planned and implemented, which again gives the overall ministry a little more energy and momentum. Then, the situation drifts back to near pre-jump-start conditions and another jump start is deemed necessary. Many churches in this situation find themselves needing to do jump starts periodically to keep the ministry alive. If the church operates on a programmed ministry calendar, they may pre-schedule these jump starts into their church calendar and have a jump-start event each year or even 2 or 3 jump-start events per year.
Before going further, let me say there is nothing wrong with seasonal kickoffs. However, I think a question worth considering is: Why do we continue to do ministry jump-starts? I think an even better question to ask would be: What would happen to the health of the ministry if we did not do regular jump-start events? When a small group ministry needs routine jump starts to maintain any momentum or to keep the ministry alive, I call that Chronic Jump-start Syndrome (CJS)!
Here are some questions I have been thinking about related to CJS: Are these routine jump starts just a necessary circumstance of doing small group ministry in Western culture? Can small group ministry become sustainable and growing without the need for constant jump starts?
I confess that I do not have complete answers to these questions. Each ministry situation has unique circumstances and reasons why a jump-start might be beneficial. However, the one issue that keeps coming to me is this: If the ministry was sick prior to the jump start and the condition of the ministry drifts back to pre-jump-start levels after the jump-start event, then continually doing small group jump-start events only continues a chronically unhealthy situation.
Our temptation is to accept the notion that activity creates better outcomes, or that continually doing jump-start events will create spiritual health. However, this may not be true. I believe that it is more important to step back and assess why the jump starts are continually needed in the first place, rather than launching into more activity-based efforts that are not yielding long-term spiritual health.
Based on conversations with several churches about their use of small group ministry jump starts, here are some questions to consider in your own evaluation of why a jump start may or may not be needed:
- Is the jump start more of a church-wide strategy for overall church revitalization, or is the jump start targeted for small group ministry?
- If a jump start were not done, what would happen to small groups over time?
- If the jump start is targeted to the small group ministry, what condition or symptoms in the small groups have prompted the need for a jump start?
- Is the condition or symptoms caused by a lack of Biblical community values (examples: fellowship, discipleship, outreach, prayer, etc.), lack of community vision, poorly equipped small group leaders, unrepentant sin, lack of ministry leaders, or something else?
- Once you have identified a need that you think a jump start could solve, keep asking the question: Would a jump start really address this issue or only mask it?
- Always ask the question: Is there another course of action that can create a sustainable and more effective change in the ministry besides yet another jump start?
- Is there a longer-term, sustainable plan that can continue to create a course correction for the ministry (examples:better ongoing small group leader coaching, better training, building a nurturing leadership community, change in church leadership attitudes, more prayer, etc.)?
If you can sit down with key leaders and get some discussion around these questions, it may help clarify if a jump start is needed or whether you are suffering from Chronic Jump-start Syndrome.
