Does being a good organizer help?

Not really. Leaders who report high organizational ability are only 7% more likely to be growing than those who report low organizational skill.

What did matter, as we’ll see later, is having a big team—getting lots of people engaged and helping. But how do you get lots of people helping if you’re not good at organizing them?

The short answer: You don’t.

An elderly ladies’ group had a good leader who was excellent at ministering to the many needs of the ladies in the class. However, her husband became sick, and she was spending so much time caring for him that she could no longer lead the group.

Another lady stepped up to run the group. She was a great teacher who had been the main sub, and she did a great job of teaching. There was only one problem: This lady understood group life. She knew what needed to happen to make a group function in a healthy way. And she knew she didn’t have time to do it.

One day, she went to the group and said, “Let’s make a deal. I’ll prepare an interesting, biblical, helpful lesson each week. You guys need to take care of everything else—all the parties, invitations, phone calls, meals, visits, and everything else—and I’ll take care of the teaching.”

The group agreed, and did one more thing that was really key: They appointed one person to be the group coordinator. The coordinator got everybody else doing what they needed to do.

Bill Hybels says it this way: “What a wonderful plan God has for us: Let the teachers teach, let the leaders lead, let the mercy-givers give mercy.” You don’t have to be an organizational genius to grow a class. You do need to have a team of people helping. And one person on that team needs to have the organizational skill to get everyone else doing what they need to do.

So far, we’ve looked at three things that only matter a little:

• Is it more important to spend time with insiders or outsiders? My discovery: Balanced is best.
• Does the group need to share your vision of growing and multiplying. My discovery: Don’t wait until your group likes the idea; just work the plan.
• Does being a good organizer mean your group will grow? My discovery: It will help, but not a ton. And that organizer doesn’t have to be you. If you’re not well-organized, find someone in your group who is.

Let’s move now to things that mattered—some.