Living Hope – Equipping Track

Activities of Effective Cell Leaders

"Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be…." 1 Peter 5:2

Introduction

This module provides an overview of the process of leading a cell group. It will help you to understand your role as a Cell Leader and see clearly the things you need to do.

A Word of Encouragement

In his book, Home Cell Group Explosion, Joel Comiskey calls his third chapter, "Relax! You don't need to be a superstar" in order to be a successful Cell Leader. In this book, based on his survey of 700 Cell Leaders from 8 of the world's largest Cell Churches, he says, "…cell churches worldwide …increasingly are accepting that every lay person can successfully lead a cell group." HCGE p. 30 (emphasis mine). If you feel weak, consider what the Lord said to the Apostle Paul: "But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" (Read it in context: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Even the Lord Jesus himself modelled for us a life, not of independent competence, but of dependence upon the Father and the Holy Spirit (see John 5:30; 10:18; 12:49-50; Luke 3:21-22; 4:1,14; Matthew 12:28).

The Cell leader's Role

The role of the Cell Leader is threefold:

• To shepherd their flock (i.e. pastor or care for their group)
• To lead the group into effective outreach
• To raise up new leaders by training apprentices

In addition, those who successfully raise-up new Cell Leaders will become their Cell Coach once they begin leading a group of their own.

Key Goals of a Cell Group

• To help members love God, love one another and love the lost
• To put the 5 purposes into practice
• To multiply into more groups by winning lost people to Christ

Key Activities of Cell Leaders

1) Pray!

In Joel Comiskey's survey prayer was consistently the most important factor in successful cell group multiplication. For the Cell Leader there are 4 critical areas:

• The Cell Leader's own devotional time – spend significant time with God daily!
• The Cell Leader's intercession for cell members – daily!
• The time spent with the Lord preparing for the cell meeting
• Prayer for unsaved contacts

2) Set Goals

In Home Cell Group Explosion, Comiskey quotes David Yonggi Cho, pastor of the world's largest church and pioneer of the modern Cell Church movement: "Cho says, ‘The number one requirement for having real growth – unlimited church growth – is to set goals.' He recommends four principles for setting goals:

• Set specific goals
• Dream about those goals
• Proclaim those goals to the church [or cell]
• Prepare for the fulfilment of the goals" (HCGE, p.48)

Every cell group should have at least one overall goal – to multiply into 2 (or more) groups by winning lost people to Christ within a set time. (E.g. the goal may be to multiply in 6, 9 or 12 months, but it must be specific). A specific goal for cell multiplication focuses efforts in building up and equipping the saints, evangelism and preparation of new leaders.

3) Lead cell meetings

The Cell Leader will:

• Prepare and run the cell meeting
• Delegate tasks to others, as appropriate
• Arrange meetings (day, time, venue)
• Ensure structure (4 W's) properly used
• Facilitate participation of all members
• Resolve conflicts
• Ensure the twin aims of edification and evangelism remain the focus
• Provide opportunities to involve each member in ministry
• Encourage love, acceptance, and open and honest sharing

4) Pastor the flock

The Cell Leader will:

• Pray for every cell member
• Monitor cell attendance (via Weekly Cell Report)
• Maintain contact with members who miss meetings
• Visit members, for general encouragement as well as specific needs
• Hold social meetings too

5) Equip the flock

The Cell Leader will:

• Conduct a ‘Growth Review' with each cell member once every cell cycle
• Engage new members in the Equipping Track
• Link new members with a suitable Mentor
• Monitor each member's progress

6) Lead outreach

The Cell Leader will:

• Encourage each member to build relationships with 3 local unbelievers
• Build a group Outreach List and use it regularly
• Develop specific ways to reach out to individual contacts
• Lead the group to pray regularly for unsaved contacts
• Ensure each member is moving forward in being equipped to reach the lost
• Regularly exhort members to invite and bring along visitors
• Facilitate visiting of contacts by pairs of cell members
• Continue to take personal responsibility for their own contacts!

7) Multiply leaders

The Cell Leader will:

• See every member as a potential leader
• Identify and recruit at least one (and up to 3) apprentice leader(s)
• Meet with the Apprentice Cell Leaders once a month to give training (using relevant equipping modules) and coaching
• Involve Apprentice Leaders in running all aspects of cell life
• Delegate tasks to Apprentice Leaders, giving feedback and support
• Briefly evaluate each meeting with Apprentice(s)

8) Receive support

The Cell Leader:

• Will meet once a month with his/her Cell Coach for encouragement and support

9) Give support

The Cell Leader will:

• Become Cell Coach to a new Cell Leader they have trained, once the new leader begins to lead a group
• Meet with their Cell Leaders once a month to give encouragement and support

Evaluating Your Ministry

1) Is Your Cell Healthy?

Ralph Neighbour states, ‘Always, always, the measuring stick for the health of a cell should not be how much they pray, or study the Bible, but how much they minister [i.e. serve others]' (Where Do We Go From Here? P.192).

2) Seven Questions to Evaluate Your Leadership

(Taken from ‘Questions about delegation', Cell Leader Intern Guidebook, p.106.)

The following questions can be used periodically to evaluate your performance. Use for self-evaluation before God, or with your Zone Supervisor [i.e. Cell Coach].

• Have I been successful in retaining my cell members?
• Am I exploring and discovering the gifts and talents of my cell members?
• Are cell members demonstrating spiritual and professional growth under my leadership?
• Do I take time daily to relax and think creatively?
• Am I able to leave my leadership role for periods of time with the assurance that the work will be done well?
• Am I discovering new leaders in the cell group?
• Do those I have equipped sponsor others effectively?

E8.2 Activities of Effective Leaders.docx Version 3 – Mar 11