12-100-18 :: A small group story

So I gotta tell you about something going on with SummitLIFE up in Wake Forest. It is seriously cool what God is doing up there and I think very encouraging for the rest of us to hear. In the span of 18 months, the area has gone from one SummitLIFE group with about 12 people participating, to 7 groups with an 8th on the horizon. Let me tell you how it happened and what is so cool about it. Along the way I will identify some key group leaders who allowed themselves to be used by God in this whole thing. Try & Keep Up!

18 months ago I asked a guy named Matt Clark to lead a SummitLIFE group for our Young Professionals who live in the North Raleigh area. He accepted the challenge and brought alongside him a co-leader named Justin Patrick. I’ve become great friends with both of these guys over the past year and a half. They started a group by taking a list of names I gave them and started calling and inviting. A group of people showed up to the first meeting and more came the next time. Eventually there were about 20 people showing up to this “small” group. So, one of the women in the group, Melissa Holland, volunteered (after some nudging from yours truly) to plant a women’s group a little further south down in Raleigh. For 2 or 3 months she battled to get more than four or five women there. Those four or five were committed though, and they lived out community together. I think God was preparing Melissa, a first time group leader, for a great responsibility by keeping her group small during that time. After that slow start, Melissa’s group swelled to about 16 committed women. Now here is where it gets cool. Two girls in Melissa’s group volunteered to come through our Group Planter Training Course. Now those two girls, Elizabeth Preston & Michelle Kenney, are having their first group meeting with their group plant this month! Are you following this? It gets better. Back up in Wake Forest Matt & Justin are now on the verge of planting another group (24 people showed up to their small group Sunday) and already have another guy ready to go out who have been through the training course. During that same time period, the original Wake Forest group (which Matt wasn’t even a part of) led by Jeremy Cox has planted one group in Raleigh (Derek Hamaker) that has already planted a group (Dustin & Seth), and another group in Wake Forest that Russ Dredla & Matt Bennett volunteered to help get off the ground. Not only that, Jeremy is calling up more leaders by establishing 2 guys in his own group, Craig Eggleton & Andrew Hopper, as leaders in his group. Lost in all of this yet? I know I am!

For you bottom line people, that is 12 people to right at 100 people in 18 months. That simply wouldn’t happen unless groups planted more groups.

Listen, these leaders would each tell you this has been an act of God that they are simply riding the wave of and they are right. God is doing a great work. What is encouraging to me as a leader is that these folks allowed themselves to go along for the ride. There were plenty of sacrifices, uncertainties, and leaps of faith during the past 18 months. But this is small group planting at work. It isn’t necessarily easy, but it is awesome. Do you see in all of this a very VERY exciting thing happening? Disciples making disciples! “Go therefore unto all nations and make disciples…” Matt 28:19-20. So thank you Wake Forest & Raleigh groups for encouraging the rest of us with what God is doing in your lives. To the rest of our group leaders, who in your group could be the next SummitLIFE group planter?