For years, Good Shepherd attempted to do small groups the conventional way.
You get some leaders, get some groups going, and when new people express interest in getting in a group, you try and get leaders to contact and invite them. Or try to get them to contact leaders and get themselves invited.
The problems was it didn’t work. It doesn’t work.
People are hesitant to call folks they’ve never met; bringing new members into existing groups is awkward; and some groups are the wrong fit for certain people.
That’s why we’ve come up with Pathfinder. Adapting ideas from some of our friends at Granger Church in Indiana, we’ve come up with a simple, strategic, and Spirit-filled method for doing small groups.
You come to the church for the Pathfinder Launch Event on Wednesday, September 3 at 7:00 p.m., and there you will get connected with a new group under the leadership of a trained guide and that group will stay together for the next six weeks. That’s it. That’s the process. No phone calls, no awkward introductions, no frustration.
Just show up, have way more fun at the Launch than you expect to and by the end of the evening you’ll have 8-10 new friends with whom you will share conversation and life for the next six weeks. If the group wants to continue after that, great. If not, fine. You can try again at the next launch, which happens in October.
We did a Pathfinder pilot in May and June and it was phenomenal. Everyone involved loved both the pilot launch event (so we’ve already done what we’ll do in September) and, more impotantly, the pilot groups over the next six weeks. Our staff is committed and our leaders are excited.
So from now on, whenever someone asks us how to get into a group, we’ll simply point to the next launch date and say, “Come out to this event and you’ll be in.” Simple. Strategic. Spirit-filled.
Pathfinder launch. September 3. Put it on your calendar. Better yet, sign up here.
Because this way of doing small groups will work.