Sticky Church

I recently completed reading Sticky Church by Larry Osborne. It is about small groups and how to create a stickiness factor by closing the "back door" of your church. There were some really great insights. Here are a few:

• "We often become so focused on reaching people that we've forgotten the importance of keeping people."
• "The ultimate goal of a sermon based small group is simply to velcro people to the two things they will need most when faced with a need-to-know or need-to-grow situation: the Bible and other Christians."
• "Empowerment without a platform is like responsibility without authority."
• "Rather than ask healthy groups to divide, we not only allow them to stay together as long as they like; we encourage it."
• Starting new groups: 1) Starting new groups for new people, and 2) hiving off leaders rather than dividing entire groups.
• Finding small group leaders look for: Spiritual warmth and Relational warmth
• "Best place to look for leaders is in a healthy small group."
• "Best way to find new leaders is to ask for recommendations. The worst way is to ask for volunteers."
• "In developing leaders, what matters most is the process of staying connected. Keep leaders growing and stay close enough relationally that when they face a problem, they'll feel free to quickly call for help or advice."
• "Aiming at everyone guarantees that you will have targeted no one."
• "Most important thing to understand about any potential misalignment is that what we do will always trump who we want to reach. It's what draws or repels people."