Two Things to Know for Back-to-School Time

First – Learn from Disciple Making Leader: Small Circle

Steve McCoy is the leader of Small Circle, one of our trusted disciple-making partners. Here’s what he told us about his ministry during our interview with him:

Tell us about the name of your ministry.

Our organization is called Small Circle because of our focus on this “circle” of church environments. We can think of these in terms of “circles”: Big Circle is our worship gatherings, Mid Circle is group dynamic, Small Circle is a one-to-one relational approach to disciple making.

What is your unique disciple-making emphasis?

When you think of Jesus-style discipleship, he taught crowds (his Big Circle), he gathered his core (his Mid Circle), but he also had another dimension beyond the crowd and the group (his Small Circle). On special missions, he called out Peter, James, and John; he sent his disciples out in pairs; he had a great number of one-to-one interactions (Nicodemus, Martha, Thomas, Peter, and so on).

Every relational circle has a distinctive value and effectiveness. There’s an irreplaceable dynamic when we collectively gather for worship and the preaching of the Word of God. On the other hand, the closer connectivity that is experienced in a Mid Circle (home groups) cannot be replicated in most worship services.

As with the uniqueness of Big and Mid Circles, there’s a beautifully designed experience that ignites in Small Circle. There is no question that the conversations that Jesus must have had with John on a one-to-one level were different than what happened within the group setting. Transparency, vulnerability, safeness—all reach unparalleled depths in the distinctiveness of the Small Circle.

You’ll see that Jesus masterfully interweaves between all of these relational Circles. Being the Creator of our human design, Christ understood that we need the relational revenue that each circle engenders.

Pick up from the blog . . .

How do you help everyday disciples who aspire to be disciple makers?

Without intentionality and strategy, these relational circles will not permeate our church cultures. Without a doubt, there is a significant amount of premeditated planning for our worship services on many layers – worship, preaching, children’s ministry, follow-up, hospitality, and so on. And most every church has a strategy for small groups and Bible studies.

But when it comes to the Small Circle, this valued relational layer is often left to chance with a palpable absence of strategy. The result of this void of intentionality is hazardous with a flood of troublesome repercussions.

In order to create a culture of a Small Circle experience and not just a pocket of this relational tier, we need to equip our people and not merely advocate a concept. This is the very heartbeat of Small Circle. We have provided tools that are being used throughout the US and around the world to foster a Small Circle culture in local churches. The results have been phenomenal. The key that is critical: Provide tools for the everyday person in our church to catalyze a Small Circle movement. The culture of disciple making is possible and the outcomes are powerful.

Who are the key leaders in your network?

As God continues to expand 360 in the US and around the world, our key leaders are expanding. We now have trainers across the US and on 4 continents. Our primary navigator at the home base is Steve McCoy and Clay Barnett. Steve is the Lead Pastor at the 360 Church and Clay is the smallcircle navigator.

How can people connect with you?

Small Circle tools can be found at smallcircle.com. For the mobile app, search smallcircle on Google and Apple stores (free download). For the web app, smallcircle.io. All of our tools can be printed at no cost. Text the word disciple to 941-300-1371.

Second – Come learn from our partners at the National Disciple Making Forum in November!

Over the last several weeks we have been introducing you to our partners. Each of our partners that we have introduced will be leading track sessions at our National Disciple Making Forum in November.