In most churches, the senior pastor wants to kick off a big fall series as soon as everyone has settled back into church. The pastor will give a “State of the Church” message right after New Year’s Day, then launches into a major sermon series. If these sermon series are aligned with a small group study, then when do you recruit group leaders? And, when do you form groups? Before everybody gets back?

The biggest issue in your small group ministry is the issue that is holding you back right now. You may be struggling to find new group leaders. You might be frustrated with connecting people into groups. Your senior pastor may not be as cooperative in promoting groups as you'd want. What issue is blocking you? For me, it was my need to control. And, that was holding all of us back.

This is the story that started it all for Allen White. After seven years of handpicking group leaders and then begging my leaders to develop an apprentice, our church hit a wall with small groups. We had 30% in groups and were completely stuck. Now, here's the part that will help you -- We figured out how to break through that wall.

Isolation from the pandemic is basically over in most quarters. But, if your church is like most, your worship attendance is not back to the where it was pre-COVID. Here are four reasons why.

The political landscape is more polarized than it’s ever been (and it’s never been great). Here are some ideas about how groups can make disciples amid a hostile political environment.

As much as you might hate to think about this, the world is on the eve of a global recession. Now, I am a pastor and not an economist, but I play one on Facebook. (Just kidding). Sequoia Capital, the backer of companies like Apple, Google, and AirBnb, just released a presentation calling for founders to preserve cash for survival. With the oncoming recession, things are about to take a downward turn. Here are five ways you can recession-proof your church.

If you are honest with yourself, the good old days were really not that good. Sure you would love to see your church’s worship center filled again. Of course you would love to see all of the people come back that you used to see for 20 seconds every Sunday morning. But in romanticizing the past, you’re forgetting about all the things that were broken and all of the things that you didn’t like. Now is the opportunity to fix them.

Sometimes churches offer so many competing groups, classes, Bible studies, and other activities for their adults that the small group message gets murky. But, this is not all bad news. Some of those other groups might actually be small groups. There no use in pitting small groups against Sunday school classes. There is also no use in promoting things that aren't producing the results you want. This episode includes a free exercise to define your small groups and see what's working in your church.

Fall 2022 promises to be the largest small group launch in your lifetime. Are you ready? Will you have enough leaders? In this episode, Allen White gives the keys to recruiting all of the leaders you will need for maximum group participation this fall. For more information, go to: https://allenwhite.org

In the last two years, you’ve experienced about a decade’s worth of cultural change. Organizations that were breaking quickly broke. Some startups and skunk works quickly accelerated.  Western culture has become very complicated to say the least. How do you discern what to invest your life and ministry in at this point? Here are some things to consider in navigating cultural changes in ministry.

Why let your sermons go dormant when they could do so much more? Pastors have lots of sermons. Even as an Associate Pastor over the years, I have lots of sermons, Bible studies, and class notes. What are you doing with those sermons now? Your sermon content holds the answer to discipleship resources for your congregation. Learn to produce books, curriculum, workbooks, devotionals, and so much more from content you've already created.

A year ago I wrote about the Post-Pandemic Small Group Boom. I wrote about it a year too early. In this article,  I’m going to build a case for the pattern leading up to the fall 2022 small group boom, then coach you on how to prepare for it. With COVID in the rearview mirror, let's look at what's ahead for churches and their small groups.

Whether your worship attendance numbers or small groups numbers are up and to the right, headed down into the basement, or somewhere in between, your numbers don't represent you. You are called. You are chosen. You are working hard. But, the results are entirely up to God. Don't allow your numbers to lift you up or bring you down. You are not your numbers.

Easter 2022 is an interesting moment. With most of the country easing their COVID restrictions, will people feel free to worship in-person for Easter? Or have two years worth of people watching online sunk in deep?

With many school districts introducing year 'round school or fall breaks, the timing of small group launches can be trick. In this episode, Allen offers some insights into when and how to launch groups around these calendar obstacles.

You’ve probably got a story about how you’ve tried coaching group leaders and how it failed. I actually have a few of those. But, let me assure you that coaching can and does work. You need coaches. You must multiply yourself in order for your small group ministry to grow. So, let me help you get out of your own way when it comes to coaching just like I had to once upon a time. Here are the three biggest reasons why small group ministry coaching fails.

The last two years have been unprecedented, unbelievable, devastating, incredible. (Pretend this is the Amplified version of this podcast. You pick the word!) Now, as the last holdouts for Coronavirus mandates, Oregon, Washington, and others, are reducing their restrictions, it’s time to put COVID behind us and move forward as a church. But, moving forward is not the same as returning to life as it was in 2019. Here are some things you should expect.

Welcome to the Healthy Groups Podcast. I am your host and presenter, Allen White. This is a weekly podcast for Small Group Point Persons that gives effective strategies, notable trends, and practical insights from my over 30 years of small group ministry experience as well as the latest learnings from churches across North America. This podcast will echo the weekly blog posts at allenwhite.org. I’ve learned that some people are readers and other people are listeners. Thank you for listening.