We’re coming out of coming out of winter.So often people are, people are tired because sickness has been in the family, sickness has been in, you know, in the school environment, you know, generally small group, you know, this is a time when small groups often have a time where they, there’s lot, lots more people not turning up as regularly as well as what they are used to doing.

There’s no real kind of major events like Christmas or Easter.There’s Father’s Day, but you know, really, we don’t really make a lot of Father’s Day often, you know, in, in Australia.So that’s sort of what’s happening in September.There’s long weekends around this period.But, but really, you know, often third term is the time I think we’re where people are tired.

They’re coming out of winter and yeah, we need, we need to be thoughtful about what we, what we put on.So I think the tiredness is true across the board.It’s interesting the winter thing up in the sunny all the time.Yeah, well, so not necessarily sunny, but it’s just warm most of the time.

This is a beautiful time of year.And so people actually are in in this time of year in Brisbane, SE, Queensland at least they’re going away as well because it’s beautiful out there.So people are tired, but they’re they’re also going away.So a little bit of absenteeism depending on where you are.

So what do you do given all that?What are you doing third term?Just shut stuff down for a for a term?They come back and forth.Too well, Eric for the whole church.I often I think third terms are really good opportunity to kind of dig deeper, to be sort of focused inward.You know, I know most of the time I sort of saying be outward focused, you know, push out.

But actually this is a time where you can be focused in on on raising up leaders, you know, training, you know, being thoughtful about well, how many litres do we actually need for next year?So what can we do to be intentionally raising up, you know, small group leaders, thinking about our teams that might be a bit under resourced.

How can we put some energy into the serving others kind of outcome area by by training up and raising leaders.And again, because people are kind of absentees from, from small groups, actually pulling people out sometimes out of those groups so you can actually focus on them before kind of, you know, putting them back into, into, into small groups for, for training.

OK.So you you’ve mentioned a couple of things in there.Just let me dig into that.First of all, you’ve mentioned you’re talking about just about leadership training there.You’re talking about possibly emerging leaders or identifying that it’s for the future.So my first question is, how are you?How are you going about it?

What have you got to do in order to know how many you need?Or are you doing some sort of ministry audit?Would you do this is the, I guess the second big thing you want, you want to be doing is as a ministry team or as a ministry leader, you know, working with your eldership or your key, your key leadership team is, is doing that strategic planning for next year.

And so part of that is actually, you know, under God sort of forecasting both in seeing, well, well, what’s it going to look like next year in terms of mission in church life, small, small groups, What are the key kind of projects and things we’re planning for?So out of that process, a whole bunch of resource needs are going to come out and you’ll actually be able to identify the gaps and the and the the people that are missing in order for you to actually achieve that result.

So doing some sort of ministry audit off the back of a strategic planning process is really helpful And all I mean by ministry or is saying who, who do we currently have in teams?What, what do we need, you know, what’s the gap?And then letting our strategic planning actually inform the priorities of that because there will probably be a whole bunch of gaps, but we actually want to put, you know, focused in intention into what are we actually wanting to, you know, do you next year and and what are the priorities?

Yeah, it’s interesting mystery or just send business.He doesn’t.But all the saying exactly, we said it’s a table because people like no church is looking around saying we’ve got enough.And so it’s just saying OK, how do we build capacity?How do we help people engage and serve within life church, mobilise them.But the other part of that you’re saying it’s emerging leaders.

So what what does training look like?That’s for people who are emerging and you’re training up into that or helping them think about it rather than training existing leaders.What’s the difference?Well, I, I guess you’re gonna have to be more thoughtful often about the recruiting conversation.

So you, you, you actually gotta put energy into tapping people on the shoulder again, Hopefully those leaders are already kind of identified because you’ve been having that conversation, you know, regularly who are the leaders that we need to be investing in.But you know, third term allows you to with a programme or a project, you know, really tap people on and say, I really want you to come to this or be a part of out of these.

So, um, yeah, it’s it is getting them together.Oh, there’s a little bit of vision casting here because not everyone who comes to these days necessarily will lead, but it’s worth throwing the net.I would argue much.Why don’t you would normally throw to get people in?So there’s some people you’re tapping on the shoulder, but it may be as well.

You just open it up to everyone.If you if you want to hear what it looks like to serve around here or be in leadership come along to these days.Yeah, I think that’s that’s really key.I I think it’s well on the training in my mind as well.It’s an opportunity to kind of give energy into your small group, you know, small groups ministry by pulling, you know, pulling the whole church out maybe for a, a night where you, you know, dig deeper into a theological issue or you do 2 weeks where you get someone externally coming in and speaking on a, on, on a topic.

And so, you know, the, the small group leader is not having to kind of, you know, yeah, we’re going to keep going through what we’re looking at on Sunday.Now you’ve got actually this, this thing that can gather people together again to give vision and, and cast, you know, and give and give energy to your small group ministry, which is that kind of bread and butter that you just want people to be investing in.

So we just I just passed Case Stace, who I think has been one thing recently, some episodes sometime around maybe coming up.I’m getting that ambiguous signal from the producer right there.But she was saying in third term for their preaching programme at Vine, they put on one little, you know, a little bit more exciting, a little bit more edgy, pushes into some of those things you can.

Say those words so we often we talk about sex, money and power.That’s kind of the series where.I try not to use the word money on my podcast, but you know, she she does, she she is that people drop off and so they try to do so.I think you’re right with leaders as well.

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