Has Anyone Used “Meetup.com”?
Has anyone used www.meetup.com to invite new people to your cell group? We have one couple in our church who has literally birthed a 
cell of 15-20 people through this website. John and Janet live approximately 15-20 minutes from our celebration venue. Janet said to me, “I became desperate for communication with young mothers who were experiencing similar struggles and joys of raising young children. So I began to search on the internet and discovered meetup.com. I posted that I was starting a group for young mothers and now I have 36 mothers registered.”
As a result of the mother’s group, John and Janet started a family cell group on Monday night for those who wanted to learn more about Jesus. They now have 15-20 people coming. They also post their Monday night cell group on meetup.com.
Meetup.com is not a Christian site. Every kind of group imaginable is listed. Yet, it might be a great way to attract pre-Christian people to your small group. The service is only free for the first 30 days. After that, it costs $12.00 per month for a minimum of six months ($19.00 if you just use it one month at a time).
I haven’t tried it but I think I will. Why? At least in CA it’s not attractive to go door to door. And fliers rarely work. Yet, people are on the Internet 24-7. It seems like an effective way to advertize the cell group to unchurched/pre-Christian people in the area. Janet told met that when people respond to the invitation, it’s wise to first set up a phone call with the person to make sure it’s the right fit (e.g., you don’t want to attract evangelicals from other churches to your cell). Granted, nothing can replace friendship evangelism. Yet, meetup.com might be an effective tool to add to your evangelism arsenol.
Has anyone on this blog tried meetup.com? Do you have suggestions or ideas?
Other comments?
Joel Comiskey
J said,
March 17, 2008 @ 9:22 am
Hi, everyone. In response to Mr.Comisky’s idea of meetup.com there are many others that pretty much do the same thing for free. (as is the case with most programs on the internet:) a few name’s are Google groups, Yahoo groups, and many others. (I use Google groups right now) and these are both totally free.
hope this helped!
Randall Neighbour said,
March 17, 2008 @ 11:21 am
I checked out meetup.com … interesting twist on the social networking web site thing. Found an openly gay house church just ten minutes’ walk from my house in Houston… and I never would have known they existed without meetup.com.
Years ago, my dad had a radio program here in Houston. During a series of broadcasts one week, he invited unchurched listeners to come to the radio studio’s large meeting room to learn about cell groups. After two weekends of intensive training and ministry time, he invited those who had made it through all the training to join a new cell church.
The results were a mixed bag of people who had fallen away from the church (but not their faith), folks who left their church because they were hurt, and a sizable percentage of folks who were very hurting and needed professional counseling before they ever set foot into someone’s home for a cell group meeting.
Posting an ad on meetup.com seems like it might attract a similar set of folks… which would be good for a single cell group to do if the interview process were just a bit deeper than a phone call as you mentioned above, Joel. I’d recommend that it would be prudent to meet them at a nearby coffee shop and get to know them and let them get to know you before an invitation to one’s home is offered… visiting a church service might be a good first step in any case, just so the person knows the cell group is firmly attached to and a vital part of a local church body.
One idea I have seen that seems to “wake up” people in a neighborhood to a cell group that meets there is a simple yard sign like this one:
http://www.cafepress.com/smallgroups.236108887
The groups I have visited that put out a yard sign the week before the group meets at their home (or the day of the meeting only if deed restrictions are strict) find that their inquisitive neighbors ask about it. Just food for thought.
Karen Hurston (an author whose books you should read if you have not done so) once told me of a door to door canned good collection project she did to get to know neighbors one one’s block. She said she went with a new host for a cell group door to door on their block and said they were collecting canned goods for a local food pantry, inviting the home owner to toss a can or two in the cart they brought with them. Everyone was happy to do it, and they were then able to ask them if they might want to contribute another can in a month’s time.
If they said yes, it created an opportunity to send along a thank-you note, visit them again, and begin to relate to someone who had a giving heart.
Like the web site mentioned in the blog post today, I think it as well as a bunch of other methods should be used to penetrate neighborhoods for Christ. Prayer walking is a must for me and my group… we do it a lot. If for no other reason, it keeps our eyes open to opportunities that will certainly arise.
Mike Donaldson said,
March 17, 2008 @ 1:11 pm
Joel,
I’m a member of several meetup.com groups, both Christian and Non Christian groups. I haven;t had teh opportunity to assess the results yet, but will let you know in the forthcoming months.
Mike Donaldson
Joel Comiskey said,
March 18, 2008 @ 8:57 pm
great comments, Randall. Your comments help me to assess whether I want to use meetup.com and also how to bring them in. thanks also for the other ideas about reaching people!