by Mario Vega

As I shared on an earlier blog,  the leader is a Christian who shares his faith with a small group of friends in a house. The leader is not necessarily a preacher. When one thinks of the leader as a preacher, the cell falls into the trap of the mini-service syndrome. Therefore, the leader should be encouraged to stick with the theme of the cell material given to him.

From that perspective, the training to be a leader is very different than the one needed to be a preacher. A leader needs to be trained in relation to the effective way to share his faith with people who have no knowledge of the gospel.

One way to do this is to hvae a different two types of training, one for cell leaders and one for future pastor/preachers. The leader’s training should be kept simple and uncomplicated. While preachers direct their teachings to Christians, the leader directs it to non believers. While the primary objective of the preacher is the theological formation, the leader’s focus is evangelization. While the preacher exercises his ministry in the church’s building, the leader exercises it in the houses. The training must be focused and limited to those areas.

Comments?

Mario

Translation into Spanish

Entrene para evangelizar.

Como se dijo anteriormente, el líder es un cristiano que comparte su fe con un grupo pequeño de amigos en una casa. El líder no es necesariamente un predicador. Cuando se piensa del líder como un predicador, la célula se ve expuesta a incurrir en el síndrome del mini-culto. Por ello, el líder debe ser animado a solamente presentar su fe en torno al material para la célula que le ha sido entregado.

Desde esa perspectiva, el entrenamiento para ser líder es muy diferente que el que se necesita para ser un predicador. Un líder necesita ser entrenado en relación a la manera efectiva de compartir su fe con personas que no tienen conocimiento del evangelio.

Una manera de contribuir a ese propósito es establecer una diferencia entre el entrenamiento de los líderes y el entrenamiento de los predicadores. La formación del líder debe mantenerse básica, corta y sin complicaciones. Mientras que los predicadores dirigen sus enseñanzas a cristianos, el líder lo hace a no creyentes. Mientras que el objetivo fundamental del predicador es la formación teológica, el del líder es la evangelización. Mientras que el predicador ejerce su ministerio en el edificio de la iglesia, el líder lo hace en las casas. El entrenamiento debe enfocarse y limitarse a esas esferas.

Jeff Tunnell

Training should have an end in mind at the onset.  Training is task oriented. It would  be pointless to have a soccer match without a goal.  Endless running around with nothing to aim at is ridiculous!  No one wants that, even though the general Christian church has convinced believers that they should submit to never-ending learning without ever producing fruit.  This is unacceptable. Jesus stated in John 15:8 that our Father is glorified when we become His disciples and bear much fruit.

Jesus in Luke 13:6-9: “He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’  But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”

Likely the reason we take so long to prepare a believer for actually doing the work of ministry is that we do not provide close supervision in monitoring their growth in character.  Coming alongside someone to disciple them is a task of love and commitment that requires time, a lot of time.  Benchmarks for growth can be discerned from scripture rather than conjecture or culture.  By walking together with a goal in mind, an end to the training combined with activation in the task, the learner can begin practicing what they have learned.

by Joel Comiskey

I love learning. God wants all of us to become life-time learners. I believe God desires that we sharpen our brains through reading and study, and in the process become more like our maker, who knows all things.

There is a difference, however, between general education and training. Neil F. McBride, Ed.D., Ph.D., makes a helpful clarification:

Education is an expanding activity; starting with where a person is at, it provides concepts and information for developing broader perspectives and the foundations for making future analysis and decisions. On the other hand, training is a narrowing activity; given whatever a person’s present abilities are, it attempts to provide specific skills and the necessary understanding to apply those skills. The focus is on accomplishing a specific task or job (How to Build a Small Group Ministry, p. 128).

Education is a life-time quest, whereas training is for a specific purpose, with a limited time frame.

Cell church ministry encourages life-time education but focuses on specific training in order to turn members into disciple-makers. The goal is to move everyone through the equipping track to fulfill the great commission. Most churches don’t catch this distinction. The goal is simply Christian education, rather than preparation to be a disciple.

Let me give you an exampel from my own 5-book equipping series. In developing this equipping track, I’ve gleaned (stolen with pride) principles from cell chruches around the world.

• Live, my first book, covers key Christian doctrines, including baptism and the Lord’s supper (action step: baptism)
• The second book, Encounter, guides the believer to receive freedom from sinful bondages (action step: confession and repentance, resulting in spiritual freedom)
• Grow, the third book, gives step-by-step instruction for having a daily quiet time, so that the believer will be able to feed him or herself through spending daily time with God (action step: have a daily quiet time)
• The fourth book, Share, instructs the believer how to communicate the gospel message in a winsome, personal way (action step: share the gospel in a personal and group setting)
• The fifth book, Lead, prepares the Christian on how to facilitate an effective cell group (action step: lead a cell or be part of the leadership team in a cell)

Those taking the training are in a cell group, so they are living cell values while learning and obeying biblical teaching. Many cell churches have upper level training for those who have completed the first level and are applying the principles.

On the other hand, the general “educational” courses offered in many churches rarely lead to the fulfillment of a goal. As mentioned, training in the cell church is tightly focused on a step-by-step disipleshp process.

What’s your understanding on the differences between general education and specific training?

Joel Comiskey

by Steve Cordle

Virtually every believer knows that after his resurrection, Jesus commissioned his followers, saying, “Go into all the world and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19-20).

But how did those followers know how to do this? It was not by seeing the risen Jesus but rather because Jesus equipped them for ministry during the previous three years.

As pastors and leaders we must be careful not to exhort people to do something without equipping them to do it.

Setting up a training program for your members has many benefits, which include:

• provides a clear path for people to grow in a step-by-step manner into a group leadership role. This communicates an expectation in the church: “I assume you will want to know how to do this!”
• gives you a way to pass on your church’s unique values, making it less likely someone transferring from another church will be passing on a different vision to their group.
• allows time for spiritual maturing on the part of the trainee.
• gives you the chance to see if a potential leader will follow church leadership.
• allows timid people to gain confidence.

What other benefits can you think of?

Steve

By Michael Sove

The one thing you’ll never be able to say, “I have enough leaders.”  No sooner do you think you have enough and a leader will receive a job transfer and move, another leader will quit without warning, and some will go through a season of personal struggle and have to step down to strengthen their marriage or spend time with an unruly teen or care for an aged parent.

Mark my words, “You’ll never have enough.”  As I write this blog my greatest need is for additional leaders.  As Joel said a few days ago, you can’t increase cells without increasing the number of leaders.  Jesus said it this way:  Luke 10:2 “…”The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

If you are to multiply cell groups to hold the harvest and make disciples, you’ll need a constant flow of people into your training process.  This starts with prayer asking God to open your eyes to the people around you.  See everyone as a potential leader and have a system to raise them up and train them, whether they ever take on leadership or not.  The worst thing that will happen if you see everyone as potential and train them up.  You’ll have cell members who have a clear sense of vision and they will be great core team members and add value to the outreach and discipleship of their cell.

Since “You’ll never have enough” leaders, spend time praying, selecting, training all who are willing.  In this way you may be able to enter the harvest field with enough workers and cells to ensure all can connect to a “Basic Christian Community” and experience the intimacy and life change that God intends for all His children.

Do you have enough leaders?  What are you doing to stay ahead of the need?

Michael

by Mario Vega

A leader is basically a Christian who shares the gospel with a group of friends at a small meeting in a house. His or her effectiveness is determined by the ability to present the message of the gospel through lifestyle and words.

Every Christian has, because of the new birth, the potentiality to become a leader. That potentiality must be developed by the ministers of the gospel whose task is to “perfect the saints for work of the ministry”.

The training to become a leader lies in the development of skills for the work of evangelism. The reason Jesus gave ministers to His church was to prepare the laity for the work of the ministry. Yes, a Christian can perform evangelistic tasks without receiving any training, but in the cell model, the purpose is to perfect those evangelistic skills so that they become a lifestyle.

Evangelism can happen through one’s own initiative, but it is better to take advantage of the accumulated experience of others. New converts learn best through the efforts, failures and victories of their predecessors. Leadership training is a wise procedure. It is an important way to pass on the values of the gospel from one generation to the next.

Comments?

Mario

Translation into Spanish

El entrenamiento para nuevos líderes.

Un líder es básicamente un cristiano que comparte el evangelio con un grupo de amigos en una reunión pequeña en una casa. Su eficacia está determinada por su facilidad para presentar el mensaje del evangelio tanto en su conducta como en sus palabras.

Todo cristiano posee, por el nuevo nacimiento, la potencialidad para convertirse en un líder. Esa potencialidad debe ser desarrollada por los ministros del evangelio cuya tarea es la de ‘perfeccionar a los santos para la obra del ministerio’.

El entrenamiento para llegar a ser un líder reside en el desarrollo de las capacidades para la labor de evangelismo. El entrenamiento es importante porque es la razón por la que el Señor Jesús entregó a su iglesia a los ministros. Obviamente que un cristiano puede desarrollar una tarea de evangelismo sin haber recibido entrenamiento. Pero, en el modelo celular, el énfasis evangelizador ha logrado una especialización. Años de experiencia van acumulándose para convertirse en un estilo de vida. El entrenamiento tiene como fin forjar ese estilo de vida en los cristianos.

El evangelismo puede adquirirse por iniciativa propia; pero, es mejor aprovechar la experiencia acumulada para transmitirla a los nuevos conversos y facilitar a ellos el camino que solamente se abrió por el esfuerzo, los fracasos y las victorias de quienes les precedieron. El entrenamiento de líderes es un procedimiento sabio. Es la forma de transmitir los valores del evangelio de una generación a la siguiente.

Jeff Tunnell

Why is training for leaders emphasized in cell churches?  Again we follow principles found in scripture: each of us need to humble ourselves, become as children and learn the kingdom life from those who are ahead of us spiritually.  We come to the cross to surrender our previous accomplishments in order to obtain the prize of knowing Jesus.  We submit our skills and education to the new standards of the Bible.  Paul, after recounting his worldly and religious accomplishments said that he counted them all loss compared to knowing Christ.

For example, he church we assist in Texcoco, Mexico has converted to cell-based ministry after studying the principles of cell ministry and making a visit to ELIM of San Salvador.  This church is located near the University of Chapingo.  Many of the adults attending the church are highly educated professors who admit readily that their worldly equipping has some transferable qualities to the Christian life,  but these fall short of what is needed to shepherd people in the kingdom of God.  They are desirous of training from their Pastor for cell leadership, family life and personal development as Christians.

Training involves the application of Biblical wisdom that is from above, not of this world.  Many leaders in the world of business and finance are good in their line of work or field of professional training, but on becoming believers must take their personal development in Christ as seriously as they did their professional training.  They cannot do this without help and direction.  We must take this aspect of leadership development very seriously to ensure that God’s heavenly wisdom is ruling above any worldly practices.

by Joel Comiskey

A pastor approached me in 2003 saying, “Joel, What is the essence of cell ministry? If you could boil down cell ministry to one major theme, what would it be?” I looked at him and said, “Leadership development.” Or put another way, the essence of cell ministry is making disciples who make disciples.

I will start a men’s LIFE group in a couple months. Today, I talked with Joe, a one-year old believer who received Christ in our church. He’s a FAT believer (Faithful Available and Teachable). I asked him to join me to start a men’s cell. I told Joe that I wanted to go through the training track with him to prepare him to be a disciple-maker and to lead the group in my absence.

It will be great to fellowship with Joe in the cell, but I believe God has a greater purpose for Joe. God wants Joe to be a disciple-maker. I plan to disciple Joe in the new cell, but apart from the cell, I’ll also take him through our 5-book equipping track.

Disciples need training. All cell churches have a specific way to take a person from point A (salvation) to point B (becoming a disciple-make). In my book, Leadership Explosion, I talk about this process, laying out the training principles that cell churches use to convert members into leaders.

The cell vision is based on the vision laid out in Matthew 9:36-38: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

The underlying cell vision is to fulfill Christ’s plea by raising up harvest workers to reach a lost world for Jesus. The cell church strategy does this by getting people involved in cells and then training them to make more disciples by leading cell groups and preparing new leaders.

Comments?

Joel

by Michael Sove

I have experienced the truth of what Jim Egli’s research says about the importance of a coach to the overall health of a cell/small group ministry.

He says, “My research involved 3000 small groups in 200 churches.  The findings clearly demonstrated the most important factor for long-term success with small groups:  the participative coaching of small group leaders.”

I want to expand this to include all leaders from the Senior pastor to the Cell champion (if the church has one) to the coaches themselves as well as the cell leaders and those being groomed as future leaders.  In short “Everyone Needs a Coach.”

This past week I have seen coaching at every level in our church.

This week I, the Cell champion, and the Senior pastor were involved in a conference call with Joel Comiskey who functions as one of our outside coaches.

The Senior pastor met with the staff, who are all involved in cells, and we talked about guests from the weekend services and people who we are tracking for ninety days in our system.

Tonight the Senior pastor and I met with all our coaches and went over our coaching structure as well as handing out the stats for the last few weeks.

For the next few days I will be meeting with some of the cell leaders and coaches that I’m responsible for and part of what we’ll talk about is the people they are developing.

Next week all our leaders and coaches will gather for our monthly “vision, huddle and skill” time where more mutual ministry will take place and leaders will be lavished with encouragement.

Everyone needs a coach and no one can survive and thrive without one.  The beauty of coaching is that it mutually benefits both parties.  Today I received a call from one of my cell leaders who was aware of one of my needs. He wanted to see how I was doing and how he could pray for me.

When thinking of coaching, don’t focus only on your cell leaders,  “Everyone Needs a Coach.”  Think through all the levels in your system and make sure no one is overlooked when it comes to coaching relationships.

Have you found coaching to be the most important component to the long-term success of your cell system?

Michael