Going Regional

The recent shift in Small Group Ministry has been to go to "Regional or Neighborhood Groups". Maybe some of you who have been at this a lot longer than I have would say, "That's not new, we did that 20 years ago..." The first big push I saw for this was at Willow's Small Group Conference last year. Rather than 'grouping their groups' by affinity, age, or topic, they were blocking off areas within their reach and placing a small groups pastor over that area. The next step is to let the people know what groups are meeting in their neighborhoods and how they can get connected.

When I was up to Grand Rapids last week I came across some software that churches are using to help them map thier congregations by regions and build their small group ministry accordingly: www.mappingcenter.org Moncton Wesleyan told me recently that they have gone with a similar software from a different company: "Connection Power". Another site you might want to look at is www.frappr.com Frappr ( not a spelling error ) let's you place flags and identities on a virtual map. With the scroll of a mouse you can see where your people live and any key information that you or they enter.

What do you think??