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.

2 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! 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.

3 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 .

4 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. 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.

5 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.

6 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. Dave E arl eyAll rights reser ved.

7 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.

8 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. 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.

9 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.

10 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.