What steps should we take to multiply?
First, assess the health of your group. Make sure you know where you’re strong and weak! Second, identify a leader for the new community that will be forming, and ensure they have a clear sense of purpose. I’d strongly urge that you take some time for this new leader to clarify their vision and help them work through the details of practices in their new community.
Third, have that leader recruit a small core of people. Don’t just divide up a group along geographic or demographic lines! Have the leader recruit a core of people who legitimately want to go join in this new mission. You want to ensure that you have people from your existing community who have said “yes” to joining in both the vision and practices of this new community.
Next, pray like crazy together for a season. Pray that God would soften hearts to hear the gospel, and that new disciples of Jesus would be made. Consider having a commissioning prayer time with other missional communities to send them well. Bottom line, pray, pray, and pray some more!
Lastly, regroup after a month or two for a celebration and to reconnect relationally. The task of multiplication isn’t complete at launch. You will definitely want to carve out time to circle back around and debrief the experience, as well as celebrate together!
Consider having a commissioning prayer time with other missional communities to send them well. Bottom line, pray, pray, and pray some more!
Why is it important to multiply well?
As I have multiplied communities and helped other communities multiply, here are a few things I’ve learned along the way:
- Recognize the difficulty. Multiplying can be tough relationally…don’t shy away from it. Celebrate the relationships that have formed, grieve their change, and move forward in faith that obedience to God’s word is the greatest source of joy.
- Take it slow. Multiplication isn’t a divorce, and it doesn’t mean you can’t have joint gatherings. Consider doing an event all together once a month for some time.
- Send a core, don’t just divide up a group. For multiplication to be legitimately effective, the participants in the group have to want to multiply.
- Multiply into many groups rather than just two. Sometimes the most effective task is to multiply along the lines of LTGs, and try multiplying into 4 or 5 different communities.
- There’s never a perfect time to multiply. If you’re waiting for “just the right time”, then chances are good you’ll be waiting until Jesus comes back. The right time to multiply is when there is a leader and a mission, which isn’t always convenient.
Celebrate the relationships that have formed, grieve their change, and move forward in faith that obedience to God’s word is the greatest source of joy.
What else do you think is important to consider when it comes to multiplying a group?