I read a book about 5 months ago that has really been helping me out recently. The book’s title is “Made to Stick” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. The basic premise of the book is that it is our responsibility to make the ideas we want to communicate sticky.

Here’s an example of a sticky idea that Chip and Dan point out:

The candy-tampering Halloween criminals, that every parent fears, who slide razor blades into apples and poison candy bars…Yeah, they don’t really exist. Well, maybe they exist now, but the whole thing started because of an inaccurate and unfounded rumor surrounding a kid that overdosed on his uncle’s heroine stash around Halloween in the 60’s.

The reason the rumor didn’t get squashed and eliminated is because, frankly, it’s sticky. There are elements of the story that we all want to believe and it sticks to us.

I’m being challenged right now, because somehow I’ve got to figure out how to make the things I need to communicate stick like the candy-tamperers. In other words, it is our responsibility to make sure that the message we are trying to communicate sticks.

So if I’m trying to encourage my small group leaders with a milestone we have just crossed in our small group numbers I have two options:

1) I can give it to them straight:

o We have 1,000 people in groups.

2) Or, I can make it sticky:

o We have 1,000 people in groups. Last year at this time we only had 1,000 people in our whole church.

o At 1,000 people in groups, we now have 10 times the number of people in groups as we had last year at this time.

o If each person enrolled in an Elevation small group were to walk a mile the collective distance covered would span from Raleigh, NC to Tulsa, Oklahoma…1,000 people goes a long way to accomplishing our vision of initiating and sustaining life change through community.

You get the idea – that is, if I made it sticky enough…

John Bishop, Chief Ministries Officer

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In the last blog I wrote for Access Elevation titled Details Matter I emphasized the importance of tracking everything that you could reasonably track to help you make improvements.� One of the areas that I have tracked extensively that has produced useful information has been our Next Level Process – the process for following up with New Believers.

You can read about that process here.

Here’s what we’ve discovered:
1)� � � � � About 50% of the people who raise their hands actually check the box – this is the number we report.
2)� � � � � About 70% of the people who check the box actually get the gift.
3)� � � � � When Pastor spends about 2-3 minutes highlighting the gift and encouraging people to visit the table we get between 10 – 20% more people visiting the table and picking up the gift.
4)� � � � � The longer we wait to make the calls the more likely it will be that we have to leave a message.
5)� � � � � Calling and not leaving a message is a mistake because most people have caller id and they wonder who’s harassing them.
6)� � � � � Driving people to a one-size-fits-all class doesn’t work for us.
7)� � � � � About 50% of the people we get phone numbers are engaged in a conversation.
8)� � � � � About 50% of the people who give us their email address respond to and email from us.
9)� � � � � About 70% of the people we get information for will respond to us by either phone or email.

Tracking the information is easier then knowing what to do with it.� So even though I can show you these details and many others I’m still struggling and praying through how to proceed most effectively to reach more people.� I don’t know what your current decisions are, but I can tell you from my experience that if you have a report filled with the right details it’s sometimes easier to know which direction to go as you take the first step!

John Bishop, Community Groups Pastor

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Last night I hosted our first annual Community Groups Current.� Current serves as a vehicle to get everyone in the Community Groups Ministry together to cast vision and communicate important initiatives.� About two weeks ago I was pouring through the Scripture looking for the perfect spiritual insight and couldn’t come up with anything I thought would work.� I found loads of good stuff, just nothing that the group leaders needed to hear in this season.� Then two things happened that set the agenda for what, I believe, was a great event last night.

1)� � � � � I asked a trusted leader in the community groups ministry what his number one question was as a group leader.
2)� � � � � I sat in on a meeting with a seasoned executive who imparted some practical wisdom.

The question that this leader gave me – and that echoed what some trusted others were telling me as well – was, “Who do I call when I (fill in the blank)?�?� What he was letting me in on was invaluable.� He was showing me that as our ministry has grown rapidly – more than tripled since last year – some of the group leaders were left feeling like they were on an island with little to no support.� If they were struggling with their group they didn’t feel like they could call me.

Here’s were the wisdom from the executive comes in because in hearing that some of the leaders were feeling isolated I began to list out all the things that I have been doing to communicate regularly.� After all, I started a blog! This executive suggested that communication really comes in two forms: 1) Expectation and, 2) Understanding.� He said that leaders either send memos with clearly defined expectations for what needs to be done.� Or, they will continue to communicate with you until you get; that is until you buy-in!

Maybe you feel like I’m splitting hairs, and maybe this isn’t a big deal to you, but for me, I was floored.� The combination of these two simple insights gave me all the fuel I needed.� Last night I was able to confidently stand up and celebrate all that God has done, point out and apologize for the things we have not done well, and lay out the foundations of a plan to do better in 2008.�

I’m not sure how it was received; although preliminary reports would suggest that it went over very well.� There is one thing I am very sure about, however, even if I knocked it out of the park and scored a spot in the communicators hall of fame (allow me my day dream…) I’m not finished.� If I really desire that the people I lead buy-in to the vision rather than just execute tasks then I will need to communicate for understanding not just expectations.� And as a first step, I’m answering their question with all the horsepower I can muster!

John Bishop, Small Groups Pastor

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One of the biggest challenges with building a small groups ministry is trying to decide what curriculum to use.� I have spoken with great leaders running great ministries all over the country and I have discovered one major principle that has been helpful:� Philosophy comes before curriculum. In other words, if your natural bent is to go look for the best curriculum first, you’ll never find it!� You’ve got to know where you want your people to go before you decide which vehicle to put them in.� Once you have established your philosophy (relational or doctrinal, short-term or long-term, controlled or open etc…) then you can turn toward the difficult task of choosing the right curriculum.

Here are some things to consider when choosing your curriculum:
1)� � � � The People:
Are they new believers or seasoned believers?� If your church is composed entirely of seasoned believers who have been around Christianity for decades then a book study on The Cross of Christ by John Stott may be appropriate.� If, on the other hand, your church has a large portion of new believers then you will need to consider a curriculum that is a little easier to digest.�

2)� � � � Your Culture:
Every Church has a culture.� I was speaking with a prominent church’s Groups Pastor yesterday and he said that his church has an ingrained “culture of choice�?.� I other words, for the past 20 years people in that church have been choosing their own curriculum.� If this Pastor felt that the best direction for the church was to have everyone unified around a single topic or sermon series he might have a challenge getting people to buy in; it is a counter-cultural concept for them.� If you’re a church planter, then you have the advantage that you can shape the culture, in that case pick a curriculum based on the culture you want to have…

3)� � � � Your Tolerance:
It doesn’t matter what curriculum you land on, there is always someone who went through that study who is going to be upset that your church doesn’t want to use it.� The truth of the matter is, that study may be the best in the world for that topic, but philosophy comes before curriculum.� Frankly, that topic may not fit in your philosophy, so stick to your guns!� If you find that you can’t defend off the attacks then either you need to reevaluate your philosophy, or find a leader who can defend it…

In the fall of this past year we decided that all of our Community Groups would use in-house sermon discussion questions to lead their groups.� We have had some resistance in the transition and there are certain challenges that we have not found great solutions for yet, but all-in-all it has been a great decision for us in this season.� We have gained the advantage that our entire church has been unified behind a single purpose.� The minor challenges have been buried under the weight of this advantage!

John Bishop, Small Groups Pastor

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