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Invite, invite, invite

Some group leaders don't invite people "because they might not come." When people tell me this, I always ask, "If you invite them, what is the worst thing that could happen?"

They generally respond, "They might not come."

Then I reply, "If they are not coming anyway, how have you lost anything? After all, they just might come."

I like to say, "If you invite them, they just might come." In fact, it is exciting to know that if you invite them, they will come. Not all will come. Not all will come right away. But if you invite them, some will come.

According to Richard Price and Pat Springer,

Experienced group leaders ... realize that you usually have to personally invite 25 people for 15 to say they will attend. Of those 15, usually only 8 to 10 will actually show up, and of those only five to seven will be regular attenders after a month or so.'

This means you can grow a new group of ten to fourteen regular members in a year by inviting one new person each week! A wise leader tries to invite at least one new person a week and encourages the members of his group to do the same.

If you will invite enough people, some will come. When I start a new group, I start by asking two to five times the number of people I expect to have at the first meeting.

Some ask, "Where do I find people to invite?" There are at least five good types of people to invite.

• Family.
• Friends.
• Coworkers or fellow students.
• Neighbors.
• Church contacts. (This would include those church members who are currently unconnected to a group and new guests who visit your Sunday worship services.)

-- The 8 Habits of Effective Small Group Leaders by Dave Earley