By: Matt Flanagan 

In both churches and other positions, success is often seen in acquiring positions that involve greater resources, greater numbers, and greater opportunities.  It is upward mobility.  If one is really doing a good work at one location, wouldn’t the natural move be to do the same work in a new and better place?  The plight of ministers is often to be on the search for the next great opportunity.  This seems to be the only way to increase in church size, opportunity, and pay.  The statistics of a minister’s tenure bear this reality: either we are looking to move up or we are looking to move out (perhaps another blog). 

As a sophomore in college, FBC Junction City approached me about serving as their part-time Student Minister.  Though I did not understand my call to ministry at this point in my life, it seemed a great way to serve Christ in the church.  My first Bible study had three of us: me and two other boys.  And in fact, for the next couple of years, that is typically all that came.  However, I did not see this as any failure.  I did not know what success or failure really was at that point.  As these two young men (and me too) began to grow in Christ, the Lord began to bring more and more students to this smaller country church.  As graduation from college neared in my future; I could not consider leaving what God was doing in this church.  I had only been there three years.  I made a choice to continue my education at a location that would allow me to continue to serve at this church.  It was an incredible blessing to see God grow a group of young people (who were just a few years younger than me); one that I would have completely missed without making the decision to stay put for a while.

As I near completion of my tenth year in Student Ministry at Parkway, God has taught me some incredible lessons about the value of remaining in one church for a longer period of time.  My prayer is that these would serve as an encouragement for pastors to value the call and church that God has placed you rather than seeing the current situation as a stepping stone to the next church.

My Family

Aside from the struggles of changing homes, schools, and neighbors, the blessing of my immediate family embracing and connecting long term with their church family has been tremendous.  Parkway is their church.  There is no sense in our home that we will leave one day (though we must be obedient if God does move us).  We are in with both feet.  There are no reservations or guarded walls in fear of future separation.

Growth in Ministry

Let’s face it, we all have experienced ministry such as sermons, Bible studies, events, and training that have worked well.  Some might call this our “bag of tricks.”  What do we do when these things run out?  Do we look for a new venue or do we continue to be learners so that we can faithfully shepherd people?  Serving in one place for a long time requires a transparency and authenticity about our own growth and obedience to the Lord.

Multiplication

I am grateful that there are many other leaders in our Student Ministry that are as capable as I am to lead, teach, counsel, and disciple.  However, this is never the case on arrival at a church.  This is the fruit of sharing long term ministry together.  For those of us that would describe ourselves as “task-oriented,” this is must become our priority.  Yes, it is often easier to do it ourselves than train someone else.  However, it is not about what is easy; discipleship is a process that involves sharing our lives and ministry with key people.

Relationships

Felicia and I have been blessed to experience wonderful friends in every church that we have served.  However, as God as allowed us to raise our children, work alongside, serve in ministry and missions, attend ball games and community events, and simply share meals with the families of Parkway for so many years it has allowed a depth of friendship and relationships that many other ministry friends of mine do not have. 

Life Change

And finally (and the best) blessing of staying put is seeing authentic growth in people that God has entrusted to your care.  To see the journey of a shy seventh grader enter your ministry and now watch them serve across the globe is a blessing that only comes with long term tenure.  Our faithful preaching, teaching, and discipling plants and waters the seed; though it is God that does the growing.  However, it is a great blessing to see His work over an extended period of time.

Matt is currently the Pastor of Discipleship and Student Ministry at Parkway Baptist Church and has been the Youth Pastor since 2005. Matt has held youth ministry positions at three other churches: FBC Junction City, KY; Calvary Baptist Church Danville, KY; and FBC Jesup, GA.

Matt Grew up on the family farm in Campbellsville, Kentucky as the youngest son to Dan & Ginny Flanagan. After graduating Taylor County High School Matt enrolled at Centre College to obtain a degree in mathematics and physics. Later attending the University of Kentucky to  pursue graduate studies in chemical engineering. Matt received his Masters in Theology from Campbellsville University. He has been married to Felicia for 17 years and have been blessed with two boys, Caleb (13) and Eli (10).

 By: Joe Dotson

The “front door” is how people become a part of your church, how they discover it, their first experience. The front door to many churches is the literal front door. Here I will contend that there is a better door. Some churches put an emphasis on having a small group ministry and some don’t.  Many of us know that small groups are an effective way of ministering to the community.  Then again, some may be wondering what all the hype is about. Hopefully I will be able to shed some light on the importance of small group ministry and how your church could benefit from it. Or, if you do have a small group ministry what are some of the pitfalls to avoid. 

One of the most threatening things for a non-believer to do is walk through the front door of a church.  In fact walking through the front door of a new or different church can invoke anxiety among even the most devout follower of Christ. Here lies reason number one to have a small group ministry. A small group, if done well, will be a less threatening front door to your church.

I am a small group leader in my church. This year we have multiplied our groups from two to four. Our groups, called “Missional Communities,” are families of missionaries sent out to make disciples. According to Mathew 28:18-20 (esv) 

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  

We are all called to be on mission together to go and make disciples of all nations. This is the primary mission of each small group. Our groups are not gender based, or age based, they are mission based. For example, the small group I lead focuses on A NEW HOPE PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTER. By supporting a group that is already established there is less stress on the group leader because the organization can help develop the missions. This is a lesson I learned the first year of leading a group in which we were not on mission very much because I was not good at coming up with things for us to do. So our group’s secondary mission is to support A New Hope. We do this in various ways, such as having work days, in which we go and do physical labor to help maintain their facility. We support them through prayer, or by simply bringing awareness to the organization by word of mouth. There are a number of other ways we help them but I think you get the picture. By having this secondary goal our group can develop different Missions in support of A New Hope. By planning these missions we can then enlist the help of our friends and neighbors (non-believers) to join in a great cause. In turn our service alongside them providesthe opportunity to share the gospel and to show God’s love. We are intentional about building relationships with those we partner with and since these groups are comprised of single adults, married couples, children, teenagers, elderly and all types, we become a “family”. This family environment is less threatening and can foster great relationships.  So to clarify, We do not have a “men’s over 40 who like to golf on Wednesday’s but only if it’s not too hot” , or a “women’s you are only allowed in if you know how to sew and can contribute to the quilt group” or whatever else qualifier that can be thought of to make a group exclusive.  Our groups are always open and are always looking to multiply. 

Our third goal is to get new folks committed to the group. Once committed they join us during the non-mission weeks. It’s during this time that we grow spiritually as a group. The activities during these weeks include in depth study of the Bible and the main sermon series, potluck dinner, guys or girls night out, (girls go out for coffee or shopping etc. while the guys keep the kids and study, or vice versa) game nights or other fun stuff. We begin to bear one another’s burdens, lift one another up, and a transparency develops that reveals our sinful nature. When non-believers see that we openly embrace our sinful nature and we work together as a group to eradicate it from our lives they will be comforted, and will be able to recognize the sin in their life. Soon thereafter they can begin the healing in their own lives through acceptance of Christ as their Lord and Savior. And this is how we get them to walk through the front door of our church. This may be a long process, but it is sustainable, and fruitful.

A few of the logistical challenges with small groups are, who is going to lead them?, where are they going to meet?, and what do you do with the children while the adults are trying to talk? There may be others, but these are some of the challenges we face within our groups. 

Developing Leaders – Finding a small group leader can prove to be difficult for any size church. In a small church or a start-up church all too often the task of small group leader is another duty assigned to the already overloaded head pastor. In a Large church this duty may land on one of the associate pastors whom are being held accountable for a completely different ministry. Within church leadership we tend to delegate this responsibility to someone with a theological degree, rather than looking within the lay leadership, or within the congregation. The challenge with the latter is oftentimes folks are reluctant to step forward and lead because they feel they are not qualified. Such was the case when I was asked to lead my first group. I recall being asked if I would lead a small group. My first knee jerk reaction was “heck no”. I was intimidated, what if someone in the group was stronger than me theologically, and what if they challenged my leadership? I wanted no part of that. I felt as though I was not “qualified” to lead. And then through consultation with one of our pastors Iwas reminded of the twelve that Jesus called to his ministry. Were they “qualified” before they were called?  No, in Mark 6:7-13 we see that he sent them out with nothing, forcing them to rely on their faith to sustain them. So that is what I did. To address this we began a training program to help prepare those considering leading a small group. The leader of each existing group is tasked with finding a potential leader, and mentoring them. We also partnered with another church that has a successful small group ministry and held a training class for all potential group leaders. This process has made it feasible to multiply our groups.   

Where to meet?  For larger churches this may seem like a non-issue, but remember the anxiety of a non-believer walking through the front door? Meeting in a meeting hall, someone’s house, or other non-threatening environment reduces the anxiety that might deter new people. This poses a challenge and could be costly. We began our groups in homes which is a great place to start. This lead to our next challenge, what to do with the children? While we strive to include them in all that we do, it is often times necessary to have them separated while the adults learn, plan, socialize etc.  I suggest finding someone with a home that has separate areas (such as a basement) and can host your group, or contact the organization that you’re supporting and see ifthey have a location that could accommodate your group, also budget for a dedicated childcare worker or two. When we first started we had a rotation of people within the group take care of the children, what we found is, when you have a small group, if part of them are missing the meeting to provide child care it is counterproductive and it really throws things off if that person does not show up. We now have dedicated personnel. 

Small Groups really can be the new front door to your church, but like anything else they must be Christ centered, relationship driven, and purposefully planned. I hope this helps in the planning or revitalization of your small group ministry. I am always available so please contact me if you would like to discuss this in more detail. 

Joe Dotson is a Senior Sales Representative for HMC Service Company, a pastor at Mercy Hill Baptist Church and a retired US Marine. He and his wife Susan have been together for 20 years and have four children: Caisey, Bradley, Addison and Damian. He and his family have resided in Mt. Washington for four years and enjoy Uk Basketball, home improvement projects, and youth sports.