3 Down - 9 More To Go

I'm happy to say I just finished finished the book “Sticky Church” by Larry Osborne. My lead pastor, Jimmy Britt got this book for me and I really enjoyed it.

This book is about small group ministries in a church. Since my primary role at Rocky River Community Church is Pastor of Connections, I made this book a priority to read.

Larry Osborne is the lead pastor at North Coast Church in Vista, California (7,000+ attend each weekend!) where he has pastored now for three decades. He believes the way to get people to connect or “stick” to church is through relationships in small groups. Besides Sunday services, small groups are North Coast Church's primary ministry. Osborne explains the process that led him and his ministry team to focus on Sermon-based small groups. As a result, the people who got involved in small groups at NCC were given an opportunity to apply what they heard the previous Sunday in the context of encouraging, accountable relationships.

I found “Sticky Church” very beneficial in helping to form and grow the small groups ministry at RRCC. Although small groups were already established before I came on staff, the church needed someone to champion these small groups. There were a lot of things going right, but there were also a lot of things that needed improvement. The biggest thing I picked up on was being intentional with what we did as a ministry in the church.

We have a lot of great small groups at Rocky River Community Church. They are the Taylors & Hills, Shropshires, Batemans, Britts, Mauldins, Bushes, GIGGLES (womens' ministry) and the worship band's small group that happens during their practices, as well.

I look forward to working with these leaders to make this a better ministry for our church. As our church grows (and it has grown a lot over the past few months!), relationships will be very important when it comes to connecting - both to people and to God.