This goal had with it the intent to develop the accountability strategy that was used in the small groups to hold members accountable to maintaining missional lifestyles.
The accountability strategy that was devised had several components. First there was the weekly use of the S2 card. Next the leaders were to simply ask the four accountability questions. And finally, the group was expected to at least conduct a missional project as a team. For the most part, the success of this goal has already been described. The survey revealed an increase in percentage of participants that intentionally prayed for the lost. The survey also revealed an increase in the percentage of participants that were reaching out to the lost and inviting them to church.
The biggest oversight in this project concerns the absence of a strategy to hold
the leaders accountable to leading their groups to be missional. I will address this in more detail later.
Strengths of the Project
Overall I am pleased with the project and what it has meant for the life of our church family. Because of this project, our small group ministry took the first big steps towards a major transformation. Many of our groups now have a missional component.
Our LifeGroups used to meet only for fellowship, Bible study, and prayer. Now many of our groups see themselves as a team of disciples, working together to change the world for Jesus.
The S2 card was a major strength of this project. It is a simple tool that one can carry in a purse or pocket. The card serves as a reminder to think and act
missionally. The leaders of the LifeGroups are able to reference the card weekly.
Writing down names of people and praying for them daily help Christians become more aware of those around them that need a relationship with the Lord. The card also helps Christians to pray about and think about how the Lord may use them to help people take steps towards receiving Jesus as their Lord.
Requiring each LifeGroup to plan a missional project was a blessing. Most of the time, pastors plan evangelistic events and projects. These endeavors are directed to everybody in the church who would like to participate. Of course, we promote these endeavors and seek maximum participation. Participation usually involves the same people who have a heart for evangelism. It was exciting in this project to hear about the different evangelistic projects that were planned and conducted without the influence or help of a pastor. It was also good to see the creativity of our people.
Another strength of the project was the plan for the first four weeks. The Missio Dei sermon series laid the foundation for the rest of the project. The LifeGroup discussion guides led the participants to talk about their role in God’s redemptive mission.
The church seemed to embrace the new mission statement: “Love God, Love People, Change the World!” People began to catch a vision for connecting with God’s mission in the world. As an example, one of the leading young men in our fellowship shared with me how his LifeGroup was transformed by the addition of a mission
component. They spent time praying for people like they had never prayed before. In his words, “We have a sense of purpose now that we did not have before.” The mission statement also helped us to define our goal clearly to lead each Christian in our fellowship to grow in their relationship with God, people, and God’s mission.
Weaknesses of the Project
I observed two major weaknesses in this project. The first involves the big event that we planned. I am convinced that the use of big events throughout the year is an effective way of getting people motivated to invite people to church. July Fourth was just not a good weekend for such an event. The final week of the project was planned to culminate with a special Sunday for our people to invite as many people as they could to church. We especially wanted them to invite those that they had listed on their S2 cards and had been praying for. This year July Fourth was on a Sunday. St. Louis has one of the biggest Fourth of July celebrations in the country. Many of our younger people were with family. Our big event just did not turn out to be very big.
The other major weakness of this project is related to the lack of training, development, and accountability of the LifeGroup leaders. As often repeated, everything rises and falls with leadership. Most of our leaders did cooperate with the goals of this project. Nevertheless, there were groups that did not use the project curriculum. They insisted on staying with the LifeWay Quarterly: The Bible Book Series.4 Some of the groups did not conduct an evangelistic or missional project. I did not have a strategy for
4David Briscoe, ed., Explore the Bible: Adult Learner Guide (Nashville:
LifeWay Christian Recourses, 2010).
developing an ongoing, mentoring relationship with the leaders. It became apparent that I needed to spend more time creating relationships with our leaders to share with them my vision and goals for the mission of our church.