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Summary:
Not everyone who joins your discipleship group is highly committed. Sometimes groups dwindle or discontinue as interest lags. In this episode, Cynthia shares tips on how to encourage participants to be more committed to the group and some questions to ask yourself if this is a problem you experience.
Key Points from this episode:
- Be sure people understand the purpose of the group and that its clear to them. Some will leave because it’s not what they had expected.
- Discontinuing a group or having drop-off is not failure.
- Be sure to invite people not to only “get saved” but to become disciples of Jesus, following His ways and living for Him.
- People who come to Christ through you or others in the group are more likely to stay and feel loyal to it than nominal Christians you are trying to train.
- Make sure the group is participatory and not too leader/facilitator driven. Talk less and draw out the other participants more.
- Encourage a sense of ownership in the group members by sharing responsibilities, rotating the location so various ones host, etc.
- Check whether the group is a mini-traditional church or truly a place of discovery for the participants.
- Content studied should be relevant to the felt needs of the group. Use a story set or create a story/scripture set that is specifically tailored for the context.
- Be sure to take adequate time for pastoral or member care at the beginning of the group.
- Filtering is normal in this process. Not everyone will stick, some will leave. Having a solid group of committed people that is smaller is more important than having many attend.
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Links Mentioned in This Episode:
Order The Multiplier’s Mindset Book
Getting Started in Disciple Making Movements Course
