"W" #7: Branching Out

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

The previous post in this series was all about the exponential benefits of leaders who reproduce themselves. The reality is that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of groups just waiting to be formed. All we need are leaders who are willing to step up and take the lead. In fact, I have a theory that many of our groups are full of would-be-leaders who just need a word of affirmation, or a gentle kick in the pants, to stand up and take a step toward leading a group of their own. Leaders reproducing leaders, therefore, is a win that leads to another win, and that’s when these new leaders branch out to form a group of their own.

"W" #6: Leaders Reproducing Leaders

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

Someone once told me I could make quite a healthy sum of money, with very little effort, by simply starting my own business. That's only the first part of it. To make it really easy, and lucrative, I have to get other people to sign up and start their own businesses under mine. You've probably heard about these - they're called pyramid schemes. Have you ever considered that Jesus was a master at the pyramid scheme?

"W" #4: LIFE Together

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

In 1939, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book called Life Together. In the book, he explored the gap between the body of Christ as it was described in the book of Acts, which he called a "community of love," and the way it looks to the modern world around us. Nowadays, you can't hardly read a church website or brochure on their small group ministry without seeing these words used together in some fashion. Doing life together. Experiencing life together. Serving life... together. At Pathway, we're no different. If you've done any snooping around, you know that we say our life groups are where we can pursue LIFE together. But here's why our use of the phrase is a little unique (and so much cooler than everyone else's)....

"W" #10: Simple, Smooth, Successful Connection

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

My wife and I were treated to a "date night" this past Friday, which included a meal at one of our favorite restaurants, Texas Roadhouse. Apparently, it's everyone's favorite restaurant, and when we arrived at 6:40ish the wait was pushin' near an hour. As we crowded into the overflowing waiting area, the thought occurred to me, I don't care how good their food is, I don't think I can wait that long. Thankfully we didn't have to; we were saved by the splendor that is "call-ahead-seating." Instead of waiting an hour for our table, we waited fifteen minutes. The date was huge success.

"W" #3: Surviving the Mess

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

I'm not sure if she was the first person to make this statement, but Heather Zempel told several thousand people who tuned-in to Willow Creek's Group Life conference a couple of years ago that small groups are messy. In fact, she spent a good amount of time talking about "poo" to make her point. It's true, groups are messy because people are messy. You can't throw a bunch of flawed people into a group and expect it to be anything but messy from time to time. I may have been naive enough at one point to believe that my groups would escape this reality. I'm not anymore.

"W" #12: Return Costumers

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

I remember several years ago I heard a guy say something that I thought was pretty weird. This was an older man that I was in ministry with at the time, and he was known for being kind of a rascal. I forget the context of the comment, and even the exact wording, but somehow the subject of marriage had come up. Now, this guy was married to a sweet woman, and there were some who generally regarded her with a mild sense of pity for the way her evangelist husband would drag her around from this place to that - all in the name of ministry. As we were talking about marriage, on this particular occasion, at some point he added that if anything ever happened to his dear wife, he would just have to get married again. Keep in mind, she was standing right next to him, and was privy to all that was being said. I actually thought it was pretty insensitive, but he was trying to make a point. His intention with that comment was to say that marriage had been such a good experience, he'd readily jump right back into it again if given the chance.

"W" #14: Sharing the Shout-Outs

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

Have you ever been moved by a story? Amanda and I watched the movie Secretariat the other night, and we were inspired. I mean, I've never cared much about race horses, but now I want to be one! It was that inspiring! But seriously, there's just something about that story--in which a house wife is forced to take bold business risks in a time and industry dominated by men, placing her family's future on a horse that was passed over by the experts--that inspires us to follow our hopes and dreams. And part of what makes that story so powerful is that it's true.

"W" #1: Consistent Meetings

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

I'm passionate about groups. I seriously get jazzed about community. And jazzed isn't a word I use too often. I love to see people come together in community, strengthened by the relational ties of fellow Christ followers who care for one another practically, emotionally, and spiritually. One of the greatest disappointments for me, however, is when a group fizzles before ever having the chance to experience the "goods" that group life is supposed to offer. I honestly believe that too few groups have a chance of getting there because they lack a critical component: consistency.

"W" #5: Accountability

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

A few weeks ago I began to work through a list of what I'm calling the "wins" for our life groups at PCC. These "wins" are the things, as Reggie Joiner says, that we celebrate as we see them happening in our groups. And this series of posts is designed to clarify those "wins" for our groups. Here's this week's "W": Accountability.

"W" #9: Outward Focused

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

A couple of weeks ago I started a series of posts in which we're taking a look at the "wins" of a life group at PCC. I've made a list, and I'm making my way through it at random. Here's today's "W": when your group maintains an outward focus.

"W" #2: All In!

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small groups pastor

A while back I read a book that talked about the importance of "clarifying the win." Over the years, I've been thinking about that. What's a win look like for our groups? In other words, what are the things that mark a successful group? As I thought about this, I jotted down a list of things that I would consider wins for our life groups. Over the next several weeks, I'd like to reveal those to you - in no particular order.