8 HABITS OF EFFECTIVE SMALL GROUP LEADERS

1 Prai se for88 HHaabbiittss ooffEEffffeeccttiivvee SSmmaallll GGrroouupp LLeeaaddeerrss Here s the b ot to m line: If you practice Dave Earley s 8 HABITS as a SMALL GROUP l eader,yo u will suc ce ssf ull y l ead and multiply your GROUP . Pastor Getting your grouple aders pract ic in g these skills will mean success for your c hurch at reaching lost peoplewhi le dis cipl in g and p astoring your members through your SMALL GROUP str uc Dave Earley does do i s br eak it down into bi te-sized pieces that any sinceresmall GROUP leader can master. Sign me u p forth e firs t 1 00 copies t hat co me off t he presses. I w ant every one of mygroup le ad ers t o read this boo k again and again. JAYFIREBAUGHS enior Pas to r, Cl earpoi nt Chu rch in H ous ton, TX Outstandin g! Practical and proven steps, workable t oo ls, and inspi rin g stor ie s maketh is a MUST READ book fo r anyone who has a nything t o do with SMALL Ea rle y has done an excellent j ob of capt uring the essence ofwha t it ta kes t o be an effe ct ive SMALL g ro up leader!

2 KARENHURSTONA uthor and Dir ect or, H ur ston Minist ri es Do not ignore the p owerf ul instru ct ions in this book. Prac tic ing these habi tswill ign it e your SMALL gro up and revolutionize your minist ry .Eac h cha pter contain s a treasure chest of practical insights thatyou c an pull ou t and use today. DR. RALPHW. NEIGHBOUR, an d Fo under , TOUCH Outreach M in is trie s E arley s book i s nece ssary reading for gro up l ea de rs who desi re to grow spir ituallyand who need a pla n to see growth in the groups they lead. This easy to read book ispractic al , profound, and highl y rel evant. Many reader s who have s ee n their s mallgr oup ministries g row will r ecogn ize some of the 8 HABITS .Ea rley puts a ll 8 HABITS to gether in a coherent, interesting,and highly readabl e package. MIKELNEUMANNA uthor of Ho me Gr oups f or Urban CulturesPraise for88 HHaabbiittss ooffEEffffeeccttiivvee SSmmaallll GGrroouupp LLeeaaddeerrss I f you want to be su cce ssf ul as a SMALL GROUP leader and gain a f ul lunderstanding of all that it will t ake to accomplish that goal, t he n you simply mustread this book.

3 It i s ve ry thorough and practical,and i t comes f rom ye ar s of experie nc e. MIKESHEPHERDNa ti on al Di re cto r, Sma ll GROUP De ve lop mentSere nd ip it y Hous e, Inc. The most often-p osed questi on I have been asked to answer i s How can Iin corporate gr oup li fe and leadership int o my hectic schedule? Bef ore I r ead this book, this was a tough question. Now, I have 8 greatsuggest ions an d Dave Earl ey t o thank. RANDALLNEIGHBOURAu tho r a nd Pre si de nt , TOUCH Outr each Mi ni st rie s Dav e Earl ey hits the nail on the head with The 8 Eight H abi ts of E ff ect ive SmallGroup Lea book will help arouse the sl ee pi ng gian ts of smal l GROUP l ea dersby givin g th em specific action steps to t ake in an easy to follow format. I n myexperienc e, whenever these HABITS are practiced consistently, growth andmultiplica tion oc cu r. G reat job! BILLYHORNSBYAut ho r and Direct or, Asso ci ation of Related ChurchesTran sfo rming You r MinistryOu ts ide the MeetingBY DAV E EAR LE YCell G ro up Res ou rcesTM, a di visi on o f TOUC H Out reach Mi ni striesHouston, Tex as, BIT S8 HABITSOF EF FE CTI VE S MALL GR OUP LEA DERSP ublished by Cell GROUP Box 7847 Houston, Texas, 77240, (713) 884-8893 Fax (713) 896-1874 Copyri ght 2001 by Dr.

4 Dave E arl eyAll rights reser ved. No part of this publicati on may be reproduced,st or ed in a retrieval system, or transmitted,in any fo rm or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,re cording, or o th erwise, without the prior written permis sion of thepublishe r. Printed in the Uni ted Sta tes of Americ design by Mark Nebauer DesignsText design b y Ric k ChandlerEditing by Scott BorenLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication DataEa rle y, Dave, 1959-The 8 HABITS of effecti ve SMALL GROUP le aders / Dave Earley .p. BN 1-880828-34-0 (pbk.)1. Le adership Religious aspects Christianity. 2. Church groupwork. 3. SMALL groups. I. Title: Ei gh t habi ts of EFFECTIVE smallgr oup LEADERS . II. Ti E36 2001253'.7 dc212001004621 CIPAll Scripture quotations , unless otherwise indicated,ar e f rom t he Hol y Bible, New In ternational Versi on,Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bi ble Socie ty.

5 Usedby Gro up Res ourcesTM is a book publishing divisionof TOUCH Outrea ch Ministries, a resourc e and consulting ministryfor churches with a vision for ce ll -based or holis tic SMALL GROUP -basedloc al churc h nd us o n th e World Wide Web atht ACKNOWLEDG MEN TSTogether everyone accompl ishes mor e. This book is the product of thecontr ibuti ons of many others. I want to thank my wife, Cathy for her won-derfu l en couragement, editing, support, and understanding. I appreciate myedito r, Sco tt Bor en, who not only g ives gr eat advice, but also is as excit ed aboutth is book as I am. Joel Comiskey s research and books have taken my unde r-st anding of SMALL g roup ministry to a new level. Thanks to Larry St oc kstill forbeing a great example of a senior pastor of a growing cell-based church. I ne edto t hank the many SMALL groups and SMALL GROUP LEADERS I hav e experimente don ove r the ye ars.

6 I must than k Lee Simmons who en co uraged me to le ad myfi rst SMALL gr oup at CHS and Roy Rhoades for mak in g me do it. Thanks to E dDods on, who going against his be tter judgment hired me to oversee smallgr ou ps at Libe rty. Thanks to Mom and Dad for their prayers. And I certainlyneed to thank the entire staff at New L ife for their encouragemen t, advic e,examples, and cons tructive criticism. Special thanks to Susan Chittum who isth e glue and to the Big Three, Steve Benninger, Rod Dempsey, and BrianRobertson be cause I would be worthless without them. CO NTE NT SFor ewo rd ..11 Introduction ..13 Part O ne : TH E EIGHT HABI TS OF E FFEC TIVE GROU P LEADERSC hapter 1 DRE AM:Dre am o f Leading a Healthy , G rowing,Multipl yin g G rou p ..19 Chapter 2 PRA Y:Pr ay fo r G ro up M em be rs Daily ..27 Chapter 3IN VIT E: Inv ite Ne w People t o Visit the Gr oupWee kly.

7 35 Chapter 4 CON TACT :Co ntac t Gr oup Members Regularly ..45 Chapter 5 PRE PARE: Pre pa re for th e GROUP M ee tin g ..5310Co nte ntsChapter 6ME NT OR: Men to r an Ap pren tic e L eade r ..61 Chapter 7 FEL LOW SHIP: Pla n G rou p Fell ow sh ip Ac tivities ..75 Chapter 8 GROW :Be C om mi tted to Perso nal Growth ..83 Chapter 9 Put ting It A ll T og eth er ..95 Par t Two: THE EIGHT HABITS OF EFFECTIVE CH URCHESC hapter 10 TThhee EEiigghhtt HHaabbiittss ffoorr LLeeaaddeerrss ooff LLeeaaddeerrss ..109 Chapter 11 How to Beco me an Ei ght HABITS Church ..119 Extra Wor ksheets ..127 End Notes ..133 FOR EWORDI fi rs t met Dav e Earle y t wenty y ears ago when he was an undergraduate stu-de nt at Liberty University with a vision of planting a church in GreaterColumbus, Ohio . That o riginal v ision has never wavered, and now it has beenful filled. Tod ay, there i s a wonde rful church in Columbus, Ohio; however, th evis ion doe s not s to p there.

8 The or iginal vision of o ne church has become a20 /20 visi on of planting twenty more c hurches in t he area in the ne xt twentyye ars. I be lie ve he will do it ; let me tell you Dave Earl ey graduated from L iberty University in 1985, I publiclypr edi cted Dave would plant and grow t he largest church in America of any o four g ra duates. Some might have thoug ht that our graduates who were power-fu l pulpite ers or great fund-raisers would build greater churches. But I stoodby my predicti on because Dave has discipline in h is personal life, in his han -dl ing of f inance s, and in his commitment to reach the Boomer population(w hen Dave went to Columbus, he was able to r each and win young families).Today the c hurch has h ad tw o th ou sand in atten dance on special days an da weekly off er ing o f over $40, Read t his book carefully to learn howyour church can do the same thin rs t, Dave believ es in team minist ry, he and four other graduates fr omLiberty Unive rs it y and Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary have worked ha rdto f ulfill their initial vision of planting a vibrant church in Greater Colu mbus.

9 Af ter sixteen years t he team is st ill together that s unparalleled in Christi anwork. Even though Chris Brown, the original youth pastor, has gone to sta rt hisown wor k in Columbus, he is sti ll a part of the original team and a part of their20 /20 vis ion. A high school studen t that was reached by Chris Brown Matthe w Chittum has graduated from Liberty University and is nowplant ing a church in the Greater Columbus area. Dave s team has a good starton their vis ion, two churches of their 20/20 vision have already been plan smal l gr oup concept that Dave Earley describes in th is book is not ath eoretical one. He began the first SMALL GROUP of the church in his home whe n12Fo rew ordhe arriv ed in 1985. He has done everyth ing he asks you to do in SMALL groupminis chur ch h as grown through SMALL groups. Some people came to t hech urch through the SMALL groups, ot hers came to t he main service, but theyhave been bonde d to the ch urch through involvemen t in SMALL yo u do not read anything el se in t his book make sur e you read and applych ap te r ei gh t, Be Committed To Personal Growth.

10 Dave t ells you how hehas pers onal ly grown in Christ and spells out a personal growth plan tha t y ouca n follow. Outstanding!The last thing I want to say about this book is that it is written well. Ishould have e xpected it knowing that Dave does everything with w ill learn a lot without wasting time reading non-essentials. You will getmore out of the book because it is done well .. t o the point .. and in anin teresti ng oy l earning The 8 HABITS of Effe ctive SMALL GROUP Lea der ncerely yours in Chris t,Elmer L. Towns, Dean School of R el ig io nLiberty Universi tyLynchburg, Virg iniaINTR OD UC TIONWhy do some SMALL g roups grow and multiply while oth ers do not? Isth ere some activi ty or set of activ ities a SMALL GROUP leader can do to incre aseth e p robability of the GROUP growing and multiplying? If so, are th ese ac tivitie sbeyond the re ac h of the average SMALL GROUP leader?