New Ideas from the world leader in cell group ministry, TOUCH®, The Cell Group People™ July, 2004 • Volume 1, Number 4S P E C I A L PRINTED EDITION

Visit any mature cell church—a churcht h a t ’s been doing cells as a base ofministry for more than ten years withsuccess—and you’ll find two systemsin place that allow it to flourish. T h e s etwo systems allow every cell memberto mature in their faith, reach friendsfor Jesus and passionately hunger forthe day that they will have a cell groupof their own. These churches haveenough leaders for new groups, andenjoy far more conversion growth thantransfer growth.

Yet many U.S. churches adoptingthe cell model of ministry ignore thesetwo systems, even though they arewritten about and shared in every largecell conference I have attended. Why?There are two basic reasons:Churches with less than 10 cell groupscan get by without them and not noticeany visible decline in growth, althoughit has already begun internally.

Both systems are really difficult tostart and maintain, mostly due to theold paradigm of traditional church lifein which we were all raised and thejammed church calendars in whichmost churches operate.

Have I piqued your interest con-cerning these two systems? Then it’stime to let the cat out of the bag. T h efirst is mentor-based, corporately driv-en equipping or discipleship. The sec-ond is coaching, or a relational systemof group and group leader oversight bylay leadership. Both are vital to yoursuccess, even in the first days of celllife or when you are prototyping yourfirst groups. Let’s take a moment tolook at both as they operate within amature cell church so we can graspthe end result.The First System - EquippingIn mature cell-based churches, you will

find a refined equipping or discipleshipsystem that is used uniformly amongall cell group members. This system isa way of life at the basic levels ofchurch and cell group membership.The equipping systems developed by

these churches have the following inc o m m o n :• It is corporately driven as a central

part of the church’s calendar andbudget. Nothing competes with anequipping weekend or cell leadertraining event.

• There are church-wide events for var-ious stages of equipping such asdeliverance weekends, evangelismtraining, leadership training, etc.

• There is only one track that every cellmember moves through in their firstyear of salvation or become a mem-ber of a cell group as an existingb e l i e v e r.

• Each person moving through thetrack has a mentor who is furtheralong in the process. This mentor isusually the person who reached themfor Christ, or a close friend in thesame cell group.

The Two Systems that Keep Cells GrowingIn This Issue:Book & Music Reviews:• The Search to Belong - Myers• Transforming Children into Spiritual

Champions - Barna• Home Again - Vineyard Small Group

Worship on Compact Disc

Featured Resource:• SG2 - Small Group Ministry

Assessment Tool by Jim Egli

Feature Article:• The Perils of Congregational

Assimilation - By Randall Neighbour

2004 Events:• Making Cell Groups Work• Annual Cell Group Ministry Forum

Resources:• Community Life 101 - Neighbour• Passion & Persistence - Comiskey• 10 Commandments of Authentic

Biblical Community - Boren

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Is your cell ministryslowly dying without

your knowledge?

This may be the mostimportant article you

ever read.

F resh Insightfor cell ministries

In ReviewTransformingChildren intoSpiritualChampionsGeorge BarnaRegal Books140 pp.

Reviewed by: RobbiStokovaz

If you’re satisfied with the status quoin your ministry to the next genera-tion, don’t read this book! In typicalfashion, George Barna points out,through research, the dismal realitythat Americans are losing the battlefor the hearts of our children. Barnagives hope to those who will facereality and make intentional changes.He reaffirms the centrality of the fami-ly’s role in developing spiritual cham-pions. Parents are encouraged toreclaim their responsibility to nurturetheir children and to be as concernedabout their child’s spiritual develop-ment as about their academic andphysical health. He gives practicalsuggestions for helping children todevelop a biblical world view.

Barna’s research shows thateffective churches support families bycooperating to intentionally buildcharacter and develop a biblicalworld view. Among other things, theyevaluate and assess spiritual devel-opment and focus on truly knowingchildren and youth within small-groupsettings.

This book is a wake-up call toparents and church leaders. It alsohas strong implications for the min-istry focus of churches utilizing smallgroups. Transforming Children intoSpiritual Champions gives both thewhy and how of effective ministrywith today’s children and youth. Thisbook is a powerful word for thoseconcerned about the future directionof the American church. �

Read a good book lately? Submit your ownbook review! Email us with your 150 wordreview, the title, author and publisher:randall@cellgrouppeople.com

Home AgainVolumes 1~4Vineyard Worship

Reviewed by: RandallNeighbour

I first startedusing recordedworship in mycell group whenW h o l e h e a r t e dWorship pro-duced their firstC D ’s in the early9 0 ’s .

What I lovedmost about those CDs was that thesongs were easy to sing. Whatbugged me though was that manyof the songs were recorded in keysthat required the use of bar chordsthat I could not play, and I wasforced to buy song sheets.

This new small group worshipseries from Vineyard Music Groupis different, praise the Lord! T h eC D ’s contain computer files withchorded song sheets, and thesongs are all in easy-to-learnchords for those of you who like tostrum to the recordings to learn likeI do.

You will find, however, thatsome of the songs are new and notfamiliar to you. But, this also hasan up side...my group was really,really tired of singing the same oldsongs! If you’re ready for newworship, you’ll like these CD’s.

The Search ToBelongby Joseph Myers

Reviewed by: Scott Boren

We’ve posted anextensive review ofthis book in the

archives area of Fresh Insights.Read it online today! w w w. c e l l g r o u p p e o p l e . c o m

Featured ResourceSG2 - The SmallGroup MinistryAssessmentToolby Jim Egli

I’m sure you’veheard the state-ment, “If you ask

the wrong questions, you’ll get thewrong answers.”

This is e s p e c i a l l y true withassessment tools. Most I’ve used orreviewed simply do not ask the rightquestions, yielding the wronganswers or useless information.Other instruments do ask the rightquestions, but take far too long touse, and the data isn’t easy to reador apply. Why bother?

T h a t ’s why I am so impressedwith SG2. Jim Egli, the creator, is apastor over cell groups in a growingchurch. Working alongside a manwho is a genius in the area of statis-tics, Jim formulated questions thatwould yield answers that are usefulto the pastor who wants to deter-mine the maturity of each leader, thehealth of each group, and most ofall, what the groups need from lead-ership to grow and achieve theirgoals for transformation, evangelismand leadership development.

As a cell leader, I took thisassessment to see how I could bedoing better as a cell leader. T h eresults were very clear, and I onlyinvested about 10 minutes to com-plete the assessment.

For cell groups, assessmenttools are quite valuable when usedat least once a year over a period ofthree to five years. If you were touse this particular assessment, youcould see trends in leadership matu-r i t y, holes in your discipleship track,which groups produce the most con-verts or leaders, and if the level ofsupport you are providing yourgroups is sufficient to produce fruit.

If you’ve never assessed yourcell groups, your cell leaders andyour own leadership as a pastorover cells, it’s high time to do it!Accurate information as to the truehealth of your cell groups and lead-ership is as valuable as a saw is to ac a r p e n t e r. (reviewed by RandallN e i g h b o u r )

Call 800-735-5865 to order

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Upcoming Events & Resources Click on any of the graphics below to be taken to a page on our website with more details!

October 21 & 22, 2004Houston, Texas

Keynote SpeakerMARIO VEGA

Senior Pastor, Elim ChurchEl Salvador • 120,000 in Cells!

call 800-735-5865 for detailed brochure

September 14-16 • Houston, TexasThis three-day event for pastors and church leaders providesthe tools required to launch a cell ministry that fits. You’ll enjoythe interaction with TOUCH staff and other pastors in a limitedsize group, and leave with a clear understanding of how to pro-ceed in your unique environment.

M A K I N GC E L L GROUPS

W O R K

Bring this workshopto your church!

Facilitator: Randall Neighbour

For more information,call the TOUCH office at

800-735-5865 and ask for theconference area.

September/October Releases:

Community Life 101 by Randall NeighbourA unique booklet for your cell members that will help themdiscover the power of community and their unique role.

Passion and Persistence by Joel ComiskeyLearn how El Salvador’s Elim cell groups are penetratingan entire city for Christ and how your church can do it.

The 10 Commandments of AuthenticBiblical Community by M. Scott BorenLook beneath the structure and embrace the spiritual keysthat make cell groups effective.

Charting a course forcell group ministry can

be hard to do alone.

We’ll help youset your sails

and find the wind.

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While each system is unique,each contains basics of the faith, howto read the Bible, deliverance fromsatanic strongholds, learning to useo n e ’s spiritual gifts with power, andhow to share one’s life and faith insuch a way that it increases the king-dom of God with new souls. The goalis to take a new Christian and helpthem become an experienced, quali-fied, trained and enthusiastic celll e a d e r.

The system is usually completedwithin a 12 month period or less,depending on the willingness of eachmember to stay involved and pressinto the hard parts of discipleship suchas confessing sin, dealing with pastrelationships, etc.

The Coaching SystemThe other “hidden” system operatingin mature cell-based churches is thatof cell group oversight or coaching.The coach is the eyes, ears andmouth of the staff pastor and the cellleaders whom he serves. It’s a morestrategic role than cell leadership, andrequires not only the heart of a pastor,but the mind of someone who knowswhat each group needs to succeedand is willing to pitch in and help themdo what it takes.

The principles behind coachingsystems are very similar in the follow-ing ways:• Coaches are raised up through the

cell system and have shown them-selves to be faithful, able and teach-able. Each was a soul-winning cellmember and leader before they weregiven this role.

• Coaches help their cell groupsachieve the goals for conversiongrowth, leadership development andmultiplication that each group hasm a d e .

• The role is highly relational. T h ecoaches have a close relationshipwith the staff pastor above them andeach cell leader below them.Coaches also have developing rela-tionship with those members who willbe future cell leaders to help raisethem up along side the cell leader.

There are also ways that eachcoaching system is very different, yet

e ffective. In some churches, coacheslead a cell group while simultaneouslycoaching 2 or more additional groups. In other churches, coaches work with5 or more cell groups and do not cur-rently lead a group, but are very expe-rienced in the cell leadership role andknow it well.

Timing is EverythingBoth of these systems must be birthedwhen a church’s first groups areformed or the groups are doomed tobecome inward and die. Ideally, achurch of 200 or fewer membersshould begin its transition with nomore than three cell groups—prefer-ably one group—facilitated by the sen-ior pastor. This gives the senior pastora true understanding of the kind ofequipping or discipleship the memberswill need to be good leaders, and thecoaching that will be required as well.

But, I have a feeling many pastorsreading this article did not begin a

transition with just one group andbegan that group with the develop-ment of equipping and coaching inmind! So where do you go from here?I t ’s time to begin equipping your mem-bers to lead groups and developingcoaches to help each group grow.

A Quick Start for EquippingOn a weekly basis, I receive phonecalls from pastors of smaller churchesor staff pastors of larger churches whotell me they have 9 to 12 groups andare concerned. In most every case,they have no equipping in place.H e r e ’s what I counsel them to do, ino r d e r :1. Raise a red flag among the deci-

sion-makers in the church.Challenge them to make cell-based

discipleship the most important partof the church calendar and budgetfor the coming year or the new cellministry will die. If cell ministry istruly going to be central to fulfillingthe mission of your church, then itmust have priority over other pro-grams that are not missional or notas missional as your cell ministry.

2. Adopt an equipping track from a cellchurch or ministry you trust versusdesigning one of your own.Creating your own will take toomuch time and time is somethingyou simply don’t have right now.(Information on TO U C H ’s track canbe found in this newsletter. )

3. Call your cell leaders and internstogether and create a sense ofurgency to get members discipled.Ask them if they’re willing to helpthe church move every group mem-ber through the process to gainmore cell leaders. If they’ve been aleader for more than six months,this will be motivation enough toh e l p !

4. Work with each cell leader to deter-mine which cell members should bementors of new believers and howto pair the balance of the cell mem-bers as accountability partners forthe equipping process. (As soon asthe accountability partners reach aperson for Jesus, they should beginmentoring the new Christianthrough the first stages of theequipping process, even if theyhave not completed it.)

5. If each cell leader and his or herspouse has not been through aspiritual freedom process likeEncounter God, it’s vital to yourcontinued growth to take them intoa life free from satanic strongholds.Help your leaders get free frombondage so they can lead!

6. Hold a “Spiritual Formation” eventfor all cell members and leaders.Challenge your cell members andleaders to reserve the day and keepit open for the event. Provide child-care and meals for the event, anduse this Saturday or Sunday after-noon time to give everyone anoverview of the whole equippingprocess. You should also have acopy of the first discipleship

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I t ’s sad to see so manychurches attemptingcell ministry and failingbecause they forget toadd the cell-baseddiscipleship component.

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Resources to Equip your Cell Members into Strong LeadersTo effectively bring cell members into maturity and cell

leadership, your church must develop a new culture ofmentoring and equipping in your cell-based ministry.

These equipping weekends and printed resources will helpyou “jump start” the process without a lot of developmentalh a s s l e s .

The resources you see here are widely used in many kinds

of churches with great success, so rest assured these will fityour church’s theology and philosophy of ministry.

A detailed article on how to implement what you seehere is available in our complete catalog of resources, or youcan call us to discuss how to implement what you see here(800-735-5865). All of these resources carry a 30-day money-back guarantee, so purchase with confidence.

CAMPS ( Your church sponsors these weekends)

Spiritual Formation WeekendThis weekend establishes your newbelievers in cell groups and explains thepathway to maturity and what membershipin your church offers. Instructions to createyour own are free from our web site!< w w w. t o u c h u s a . o r g / s p i r i t u a l f o r m a t i o n . a sp >

Encounter God We e k e n dBased solidly on God’s Word, this retreat willeducate your members on the damage ofsinful attitudes, habits, and lifestyles. Eachperson will pair up and work throughconfessing sin, finding freedom, and learningto receive and offer ministry to others.

Instructor & Retreat Guide - ISBN 1-880828-03-0 - $24.99 each.Weekend Material on VHS Video - 12 hrs. - $159.99P a r t i c i p a n t ’s Manual - $5.99 (Quantity discounts available)

Encounter God Bundle Offer - One each of the above for $169.99

Touching Hearts We e k e n dThis video-based weekend will launch cellmembers into lifestyle evangelism using“ Touching Hearts”. Your members will writeout a prayer list of unbelievers, record theirtestimonies, and learn to explain theirconversion experience. Includes over 3 hoursof video & instruction booklet. (NTSC; 180min.) Touching Hearts sold separately.

Touching Hearts Weekend - $59.95Touching Hearts Workbook - See right for details and pricing

Cell Leader Tr a i n i n gThis 8 week training is designed to take maturecell members and turn them into excellent cellleaders through a process of learning and doingwith the help of their cell leader as their mentor.The training covers many aspects of cell lifeincluding how to facilitate a meeting, how to prayfor and minister to people between meetings,work through the conflict stage, work with diff i c u l tpeople, involve children in the life of the groupand meetings, etc. Powerpoints are available for

download, and clear slide by slide instructions are given to make thistraining as easy as possible.

Cell Group Leader Tr a i n e r’s Guide - $39.99Cell Group Leader Participant’s Guide - $10.99 (Quantity discounts available)

PATHS ( M e n t o r-assisted daily growth guides)

Beginning the JourneyRalph W. Neighbour, Jr. & Jim EgliThis 4-week workbook for all believers emphasizes a lifeof prayer, bible reading, community and spiritualfreedom. We suggest giving this resource to cellmembers after they attend a Spiritual FormationWeekend. 64 pages. $6.95 (Quantity discounts available)

The Arrival KitRalph W. Neighbour, Jr.This 11-week workbook helps Christiansadopt God’s values and builds on the spiritualfreedom issues found in Beginning theJ o u r n e y. A powerful discipleship tool that’sbest given to a cell member after they’ve experienced the freedomthat comes by participating in an Encounter God Weekend. (144 p.)$7.95 (Quantity discounts available)

Mentoring Another ChristianRalph W. Neighbour, Jr.Through the use of this tool, your cell members will become mentors who are both friends and confidants.Give this to your cell members when they reach some-one for Christ or at theTouching Hearts We e k e n d .$7.95 (Quantity discounts available)

Touching HeartsRalph W. Neighbour, Jr. For many Christians, evangelism is a scary concept,and they just don’t know how much fun it can be toreach people for Christ through cell-based relation-ships. This resource is used at the Touching HeartsWeekend, and the cell member will complete it withthe five weeks of daily growth guides it contains.$7.95 (Quantity discounts available)

The Backpack- A Money-Saving Bundle!If you would like to see a sample of many of the resources found hereas well as a few others, we have bundled them and reduced the price.The Backpack bundle includes one copy of the following:• Journey Guides for New and Growing Christians (Assessment tool)• Beginning the Journey • Arrival Kit • Mentoring Another Christian• Touching Hearts Workbook • Cell Leader Training Participant’s

Guide • Welcome To Your Changed Life (new believer’s booklet)Free Gift!

Backpack Bundle $44.99 (does not include weekend resources)

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Resources to Develop and Support Cell Group Coaches We offer resources specifically designed to help you train cell

leaders into solid coaches, which are found below. But, thesecoaching resources are not enough! There are two other keycomponents to healthy coaching: 1) Relationships. The role of acoach is highly relational, requiring friendships to be formedbetween the coach and the cell groups he or she oversees. It’s notenough to meet with the cell leader occasionally.

2) Ongoing cell leader training: Employ your coaches to workthrough the other resources found here with their cell leaders toinsure the groups stay healthy, the leaders don’t burn out and thegroups achieve their goals.

R e m e m b e r, great coaches are raised up by great pastors justlike you! Invest in your leaders and you’ll see your cell group ministryg r o w.

How to Be aGREAT CellGroup CoachPractical Insight forSupporting andMentoring Cell GroupLeadersBy Joel ComiskeyResearch has proventhat the greatestcontributor to cell groupsuccess is the quality ofcoaching provided for cellgroup leaders. Followingin the footsteps of hisbestselling book, How to

Lead a GREAT Cell Group Meeting, author and churchconsultant Joel Comiskey provides a comprehensiveguide for coaching cell group leaders. Chapters include:What a Coach Does, Listening, Celebrating, Caring,Strategizing, Challenging, and more. This book willprepare your coaches to be great mentors, supporters,and guides to the cell group leaders they oversee. (139 p.)

How to be a Great Cell Group Coach - $12.99(Quantity discounts available)

The Key is the CoachAudio Tape SeriesHosted by Jay FirebaughAre your coaches too busy or don’t liketo read? Give them this audio tape seriesinstead of a book!

Every cell group leader needs ane n c o u r a g e r, an equipper, a coach! This series willexplain the three roles of a coach, how to develop theleaders under your care, and how coaching works inboth the 5x5 and G-12 systems. Includes 4 cassettetapes and a syllabus. Copy Privileges: Feel free to copythese cassettes for leaders in your local church (nooutside distribution, please!). (Audio Cassette, 180 min.)

The Key Is The Coach - $29.99

8 Habits of EffectiveSmall Group LeadersBy Dave EarleyAre your cell leaders truly eff e c t i v ein helping their members findtransformation? They can be! A f t e ryears of leading and overseeinggrowing small groups, Pastor DaveEarley has identified 8 habits ofgood leaders: Dreaming; Prayer;Invitations; Contact; Preparation;

Mentoring; Fellowship and Growth. When your leadersadopt and practice these habits, your groups will movefrom once-a-week meetings to an exciting lifestyle ofministry to one another and the lost! (144 p.)

8 Habits of Effective Small Group Leader - $10.99(Quantity discounts available)

Leading from the HeartA Group Leader’s Guide to aPassionate Ministryby Michael C. MackRecharge your cell leadership!Powerful cell leaders share acommon trait: a passionate heartfor God. They know their prioritiesand know that time with Him isalways at the top of the list. Eachhas a heart of brokenness before

God…a heart that is called to serve people…a heart thatlongs to worship and pray…a heart that pours out loveto others!

Do your cell leaders attract others? Is their cellministry central to their lives? This book will renew theirhearts, refocus their priorities and recharge their ministry.

If you have a sense that your leaders are tired ofministry or frustrated with people, this new title will help!And if your leaders have great attitudes and you want tohelp them move to the next level, this book will do justthat! (148 p.)

Leading From the Heart - $10.99(Quantity discounts available)

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resource to give each person as agift for participating.

7. If everyone in your church is in acell group (85% or more), it’s help-ful to preach through the disciple-ship track you’ve chosen to encour-age the cell members.

8. Repeat the “Spiritual Formation”quarterly for incoming members,adding elements to it such as infor-mation about water baptism, churchmembership, the vision and missionof the church, and testimonies fromcell leaders as to how great it is tobecome a leader. Use this time tocast vision for a new way to thinkabout doing church and whatchurch is all about.

During this first round of equip-ping, you’re sure to discover prob-lems. Some churches find that theircell members are not self-disciplinedenough to use the daily growth guidesfound in many discipleship resources.In this case, a classroom setting maybe required to overview the week’slesson and provide a time for themembers to talk to their mentor aboutthe material and pray together. Somechurches use their Sunday schoolhour for this purpose or meet at thechurch 60-90 minutes prior to theSunday service. The resources arestill provided to the members, and adaily time with God and in theresource is encouraged.

Other churches discover throughtheir first Encounter God weekend thatsome of their cell leaders have deeplyrooted issues that require ongoingm i n i s t r y. In this case, it will be impor-tant to provide ongoing ministry andaccountability to each leader. (This ismuch easier when coaching is inp l a c e ) .

A Quick Start for CoachingWhile I receive numerous calls frompastors who have no equipping inplace, I receive even more calls frompastors who have no coaching for the9 to 12 groups in their church. If youthink about it, the staff pastor over thegroups has probably been doing anadequate job of coaching the groupsup to this point as a vocational staffp a s t o r.

But, I always hear stress in theirvoices. Some share that they weregiven cell ministry in addition to alltheir other responsibilities and can’tgive the groups the time they deserve.Others tell me that they’re facing thetask of closing one or more groupsbecause they are stagnant and goingnowhere fast. Had coaching been partof the initial design instead of an after-thought, things would be very diff e r e n tt o d a y !

Coaching is not an easy thing tostart when you have a high group topastor ratio. Churches need every cellleader they currently have, and proba-bly need far more because the groupsare swelling to 20 or more people.How can coaches be raised up with-out doing damage to the existinggroups? Here’s a process that worksfor many in this situation:1. Gather all the cell leaders and chal-

lenge them to give away everythingthey are doing to various members.If each group does not have aintern or apprentice, don’t expectthe cell leader to raise one upalone… help them do it by befriend-ing the potential leader and encour-aging them to take more responsi-bility in the group as a member.When they’ve proved themselves,challenge them to take the role ofintern and prepare for their owngroup within a six month period.The principle here is that one can-not take on a new role until he orshe has found someone to taketheir current position. The baton ofcell leadership must be passed to aanother before the cell leader canmove on.

2. Visit each cell group and share theneed for additional pastoral supportin the form of lay coaches. Tell themthat to do this, the members ofeach group must be willing to takethe responsibilities of the variousparts of the weekly meeting andmore importantly, ministering to oneanother between meetings. Bydoing this, it will free up the celll e a d e r’s time to discover whetherhe or she should launch a new cellgroup or move into the coachingr o l e .

3. Ask each cell leader which of theother cell leaders they admire. If

you hear the same leader’s namer e p e a t e d l y, the cell leaders willprobably follow this person as theirc o a c h .

4. If you agree this leader has thepotential to help other groupsachieve their goals, then focus onhelping them give their group awayto a member and begin to shadowyou. If you visit a group, take themalong. If you go to pray for a cellmember or leader, ask them to joinyou. Spend about three months orso developing them into a coach, orone who thinks strategically about agroup and how to help it grow.

5. Repeat this process as often as youcan, keeping in mind that initially,the coach to group ratio must be farsmaller than most mature cellchurches, who have establishedsystems in place to raise up andsupport cell leaders and members.

In this edition of Fresh Insights,you’ll find a number of great resourcesfor developing coaches and resourcesthat your coaches should use to workwith cell leaders and groups theyo v e r s e e .

C o n c l u s i o nMany pastors who launch a cell min-istry are in a hurry. They don’t consid-er the needs of the cell members northe needs of the system a year or twodown the road. So, many of thesechurches grow to 10 or 12 groups,then begin closing groups for one rea-son or another.

Let me challenge you to take agood hard look at your cell ministry.Are you equipping your cell membersto be excellent leaders? Are you work-ing hard to raise up coaches or “mid-dle management” to keep the groupsstrong? Both of these systems, set inplace early on, will allow your cell min-istry to grow with enough leaders towork the harvest fields! �

Randall Neighbour is thePresident of TO U C H®, T h eCell Group People™ a n dthe author of Answer toYour Cell Group Questionsand Are You Fishing With ANet? If you need help withyour cell ministry, feel freeto give TOUCH a call . . .We’re here to help yousucceed with cell groups!

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