Idea Starter: Home-Based Small Groups Reach Out to Neighbors and Friends

EastLake Church in Chula Vista, Calif., encourages its members to form small groups based on common interests, like fitness, gardening, crafting, sports or games. Then it asks group leaders to open up the groups to people who live in the next house over, or people whose kids go to school with a group member’s kids or play Little League with them. Once they’re connected, the church encourages them to stay connected by getting involved in a ministry as well as off-campus missional work.

ONLINE: EastLakeChurch.com. Adapted from an article that appeared in the March/April 2012 issue of Outreach magazine.

James P. Long
James P. Longhttp://JamesPLong.com

James P. Long was formerly the editor of Outreach magazine and the author of a number of books, including Why Is God Silent When We Need Him the Most?

Ohio Church Makeover

This move would not only give them room to grow, but also would enable them to do a lot more to fulfill their mission of being a church focused on “building the kingdom, one life at a time.”

How Much Tech Do You Actually Need?

Because you cannot do this alone, you are going to have to trust the right individuals who know more about tech than you do. Your calling is to shepherd. Do that.

Gene Appel: Do Less Ministry; Reach More People

None of the programs at our church were bad in and of themselves. The volume of it just prevented us from being focused on building relationships with those who are far from God. So, we had to do less ministry to reach more people. It sounds funny, but people had to be trained in how to do life with nonbelievers or people spiritually disinterested.