Home Small Group Leaders Articles for Small Group Leaders Maximizing the Calendar for Your New Year’s Group Launch

Maximizing the Calendar for Your New Year’s Group Launch

The New Year is one of the best seasons to launch new groups or relaunch an existing group system. Turning to a fresh page on the calendar motivates people to embrace change. Whether they will attempt to break bad habits or start good ones, this is a key time of the year to launch groups. People are very receptive.

But, even in an ideal season to launch groups, you can still encounter some less than ideal factors that can throw off your launch. Here are a few things to think about as you are planning a New Year’s launch.

1. A Narrow Topic Can Limit Your Impact.

Over the years, I have coached quite a few churches who had very different ideas of starting the new year. Some churches begin the new year with a fast. Others will start with a “State of the Church” message. Then others will dive into evangelism, tithing or some other more mature topic.

A while back I asked the senior pastor what his new year series would be. He said, “I’m doing a series on dying.”

I replied, “You’re killing me, Frank.”

If the goal of your series is to connect as many people as possible, the topic will have a lot to do with who steps up to start a group. One church launched groups with a relationship series and had a huge response. Then, they followed up with a very insider evangelism series and cut their groups in half.

This does not mean we should avoid “mature” topics. We just need to time them right. Capital Area Christian Church, Mechanicsburg, Pa., pastored by Don Hamilton, started this year with a series called “Manifesto” to connect his members into groups and get the group DNA started. He followed the series with a broader topic called “Monsters Under the Bed” where his members invited people in their lives to join the study. It worked.

Whether you choose an “insider” series or a topic with broad appeal, keep your target audience in mind. While the snacks will be very easy for a series on fasting, it’s really not where most people start group life. And, if you start the year with a giving series or a capital campaign, then forget it. Stop reading this post. Give up on your group launch right now.

2. Don’t start the series too early.

In discussing a possible coaching partnership with one church a few years back, I discovered their preaching calendar called for the start of their new series on New Year’s Day. I mean actually January 1. I considered turning down the partnership.

Pastors like to kick off the new year with a new series. The problem is you can’t really recruit leaders and form groups between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Believe me, I’ve tried. My pastor would make the call in December for folks to lead groups. I waited in the briefing room after the service … listening to the crickets and questioning the call of God on my life. It just doesn’t work.