I was doing a seminar in a church recently in which the host pastor confessed, "I need help. I'm here as a learner. We've made a lot of mistakes, but we're willing to correct what we did wrong and try again."  I was impressed that this pastor (church of 800) would humbly admit to the entire seminar that he needed help. I reminded the people that even  David Cho, the pastor of the largest cell church in the world, said that you must fail at least three times in cell ministry to get it right.

Like many churches this particular church tried to copy the G12 model. The church started closed discipleship groups (G12 groups) but missed the cell, the crown jewel of the cell church. I talked to those present about the need for PRE-TRANSITION--instilling values, and the need to win the movers and shakers. I then stressed the importance of the TRANSITION--starting a prototype cell and eventually multiplying that pilot group before making announcements to the rest of the church. Only afterwards could a church enter the POST-TRANSITION phase--building the cell church infrastructure. This church, like many, had started with the POST-TRANSITION phase--developing the coaching structure first.

God showed up in a mighty way. The pastor was willing to plunge in with new ideas and vision.  He was willing to move forward. 

Just the opposite happened during another seminar months earlier. In this situation the  church tried to copy a model, turned off a lot of people, and quit midstream.  Some leaders became very excited during my seminar and could see the future possibilities for the church. When I talked to the key leaders after the seminar, most of them said, "yes, we've made errors, but let's try again."  But the pastor said no.  He didn't want to risk failure again.  "You have to fail and make mistakes to get it right, "  I told him.  He didn't budge. I was saddened as I left the church that day.

Failing, getting up, and trying again is part of life. Cell church ministry is no exception. We learn valuable lessons in the process.

How are you doing through the hard knocks of ministry?  The bottom line is that no one gets it right the first time. One of the key differences between those who make it and those who don't is the ability to see mistakes and failures as simply part of the learning process.

I hope you're still learning, growing, and moving forward. 

Joel Comiskey