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William J. McKay               “Nuts and Bolts Issues for Small Group Leaders”

                                                  

             Rev. McKay serves as Director of Project Development for the Stephen Ministries in St. Louis, Missouri.  He led the team that developed “Caring Evangelism” which is one of several resources that our Evangelism Team is studying.

             As the title suggests it is a collection of what works and what doesn’t, compiled by an expert who has spent a lifetime in the area of lay caring ministry.

             As a church grows the average attendee, who can remember the names of 50 to 60 people starts to lose their identity and feels like a very small fish in a very large pond.  Small groups re-establish a forum for intimacy and personal growth with a group of friends in a home or another safe setting.  Examples of these can be choir groups, women’s and men’s groups, seniors, etc.

             Rev. McKay discusses the various types of groups.  For example we can establish a group that focuses on growth.  Held in new or any members homes where family members, friends, and neighbors are encouraged to come.  Meetings are divided into sharing, study, and socializing periods.  The group is prepared and expects to divide when they hit a certain attendance which is around ten to twelve.  Properly managed the potential for new members is awesome.

             We learn how to make a group covenant and evaluate and upgrade our group from time to time to keep to our original purpose.  The church must be ready and able to fold these new members into our family while encouraging these small satellite ministries.

             Rev. McKay shares the strategies for discovering future leaders, welcoming visitors into the group and providing a comfortable start for new members. 

             Stevens Ministries provides a ChristCare Series system that helps churches like ours develop multiple small group ministries.  Rev. McKay details this system in the last chapter of this book.

             One hundred and forty four pages of easy informative reading.

 

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The Good News Travels

 

             I have had the opportunity to do a lot of traveling this summer. Unfortunately, this also means that I have spent countless hours behind the wheel of my car logging countless highway miles onto my odometer. I have visited such cities as New York and Washington D.C., where everyone is on the go and it is easy to lose your identity, to Charleston and Savannah where the atmosphere is laid back and southern hospitality is happily extended. Meeting different types of people and interacting with them on different levels has been one of the highlights of my summer.

             Though people have varying interests and come from all different walks of life throughout the United States, it is comforting to know that God has revealed his plan of salvation for all people through his Son Jesus Christ. Whether we live in the hustle and bustle of a metropolitan area, or in the quiet confines of the Old South, we all have one thing in common…..we are all sinners. Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden has brought death to all of us, his descendants. We cannot get around this dilemma. Simply put, we need a Savior. Jesus Christ, the Word made Flesh, came to a specific people- the nation of Israel. However, Christ’s perfect life under the law made Him the perfect sacrifice on the cross for all sinners. Not just to the Jews but to the Gentiles alike. Through faith we receive Christ’s merits won for us on the cross and become children of God.  As God’s  children, we have the comforting words of Jesus Christ found in Matthew 28 to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…..And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” This command and promise from our Savior gives us confidence to spread the gospel not just in our own state or country, but across the entire world.

             So in our travels, may we all have our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace (Eph 6:15) that we may be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have. (1 Peter 3:15).

 

Jevon Matthews