I began asking the leaders I coached to adopt these habits and build them into their weekly schedules. By studying cell ministry and thinking through my own experience, I came up with eight regular practices that seemed to make the difference between effectiveness and ineffectiveness. Several years ago, I wanted to show the leaders I was coaching them in exactly what it would take for them to be highly effective. While these are valuable things, the real key to growing and multiplying a cell group lies in the practice of eight personal habits. They work on finding better icebreakers or asking better discussion questions.
Many leaders sincerely want to grow and multiply their groups, but they're not sure how. Through the years, I've noticed the long-range effectiveness of leaders revolves around simple habits that those leaders practice outside of the group meeting. Some of these various groups grew and multiplied others didn't. Later, I started a group in my basement that grew into a church with over one hundred groups. Then, I was hired to train, write curriculum for, and oversee 300 small-group leaders at a large Christian university. After I graduated, I started groups in rural Virginia. During my summers, I started groups in little towns in England and in high rises in New York City. In college, I started a discipleship group that spread over the campus.
It began when, as a 16-year-old, several friends and I started lunchtime Bible studies at our high school. I have had the privilege of leading small groups and coaching group leaders for 25 years. I believe I have an answer to these questions. Why do some small groups grow and multiply and others don't? Is there some activity or set of activities a small-group leader can do to increase the probability of the group growing and multiplying? If so, are these activities beyond the reach of the average leader? Will it take years of training to master them? Or is there a set of activities that are attainable and realistic that any small-group leader who wants to grow and multiply can put into his or her weekly schedule?
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