By Joel Comiskey, latest book Empowered to Lead, January 2022
I have the tendency to follow techniques and formulas. Jesus might show me a new truth about the Christian life. I get excited about the new insight, but my problem is that I often try to convert the new truth into a 1,2, 3 formula. Those formulas eventually become stale and ineffective. Why? Because Jesus wants me to walk by faith and daily trust in him.
New Year’s Resolutions are similar. They rarely work. Why? Because it’s easier to set an idealistic goal or wish, but it’s far harder to practically fulfill the wish in daily life. So let’s take the harder road in 2022. What practical steps can we make in cell church ministry in 2022?
in December 2021, we talked about why we do cell church ministry. Most of the December bloggers wrote about their commitment to the biblical foundation of cell church ministry and how God uses small groups to make disciples who make disciples.
As you think about your own ministry, what do you need to improve? Some reading this blog are in the pre-transition state. You need to read all you can about cell ministry and maybe visit a cell church in 2022, as you prepare for a future transition. Some of you need to reinvigorate evangelism in your cells or need to do a better job of coaching leaders in 2022.
In 2019, my wife and I began attending Nuevo Amanecer in Los Angeles, California. Founding pastors, Moises and Ingrid Valentin had a desire to transition their church to cell-based ministry. Celyce and I helped start the first pilot group in 2019. In 2020, the church multiplied to five groups and Covid-19 struck. We were just in time. The church depended on those groups to care for and disciple the flock. In 2021 we multiplied to ten groups, and the cells were more important than ever to sustain the life of the church. We were fortunate to meet each week in a Sunday celebration due to a large tent structure on the property.
We are now part of the pastoral team, and along with Moises/Ingrid Valentin and Paul/Kathy Bradshaw, we are envisioning ways to improve the cell structure in 2022. Here are some of the areas we face:
- Face-to-face groups. Zoom cells have worked wonderfully “under the circumstances.” Now we want to go back to face-to-face groups.
- Church-wide equipping track. We want to make sure that everyone in the church is going through the equipping.
- Concentration. We want to stay focused and not allow programs and ministries to distract us.
- Statistical tracking. We need to improve our statistical tracking system. We are finding that the leaders are not sending in their reports.
But what about you? Where do you need to improve in 2022 in your cell system? I talked to one pastor from Australia who told me he needed to reemphasize evangelism in the cells. Maybe you need to fine-tune your coaching? Some need to reinvigorate the entire cell system due to Covid-19.
For the month of January, we will write twenty blogs on improving the cell structure in 2022. If you’d like to receive the blogs in your email inbox, click here. We’ll cover:
- January 09-15: Net fishing. In Mark 1:19, we read that the disciples were “preparing their nets.” Cell church ministry is net-fishing and we constantly need to prepare the nets.
- January 16-22: Beyond Covid-19. One special obstacle is Omicron, so yes Covid-19 looms large at the beginning of 2022. Yet, many hope that Covid-19 will become less menacing in 2022. We’ll blog about what we hope to see in 2022.
- January 23-29: Improvements. What do you need to improve in 2022?
- January 30 to February 05: Areas worthy of praise. Some pastors have a first-class equipping structure. We’ll talk about aspects of the cell system we can celebrate right now.
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