Starting Small Groups in a New Church

Episode 760

Hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham spend some time with pastor, author, and discipleship consultant Spence Shelton to uncover the role community groups play in the life of the local church. Tune in to discover how you can cultivate more group-centric rhythms while furthering the gospel’s reach within your own community.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

  • How NOT to start up a groups ministry in your new church plant
  • The importance of meeting and empowering your people where they are
  • Three qualities to look for in your small group leaders
  • Why your plant needs a disciple-making mentality
  • What you can do to avoid lay-leadership burnout!

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Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Clarity creates confidence, so give leaders clarity on what their expectations are. That’s going to give them the confidence to carry it out. — Spence Shelton

We plant because healthy churches plant churches and healthy groups plant groups. — Spence Shelton

We want to keep reaching people with the gospel. So, whenever you want to make disciples and reach lost people, that’s when you plant community groups. — Spence Shelton

We have to think multiplication at every level, and that’s not just multiplication of churches. It’s multiplication of disciples, which means multiplication of groups. — Vance Pitman

It’s not driven just by a systematized approach; if we’re not careful, we can make this a math equation. This is the activity of God in making disciples and multiplying churches for the expansion of His kingdom. — Vance Pitman

That’s what we’re after: making disciples. The Lord is the One who gives the growth. We are just here to seed and water, and as we see the Lord growing, we harvest. — Spence Shelton


Published August 15, 2023

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