Summary: Subscribe to the unSeminary Podcast: [iTunes] [RSS] [Stitcher] [TuneIn] // [VIDEO iTunes] [VIDEO RSS] At it's core every church has unique DNA that defines what it's going to be like and the impact it's going to have on it's community. On today's episode small group expert, Alan Danielson gives us some really helpful handles to understand our church's DNA and the impact it has on our small group ministry. Alan challenges us to build a small group ministry that is custom tailored to our DNA rather than just "copy and pasting" from another church. It's a great episode packed with lots of help for church's looking to improve their small group ministry. Alan Danielson // [Website] [twitter] Interview Highlights 00:52 // Alan describes his role at New Life Bible Church and former role at LifeChurch.tv 02:34 // Alan explains the biggest reason churches have a a hard time getting people into groups. 03:25 // 'A Cheetah does not hunt like an eagle.' 04:39 // Ways churches can understand their DNA 05:06 // 1. Growth or Control Bias 08:29 // How Newton's Cradle relates to small group ministry 09:50 // Saddleback leans to the growth side and cleans up messes 12:14 // 2. Understanding the Senior Pastor 13:14 // If the Small Group Pastor is aligned with the Senior Pastor the ministry can explode 14:07 // 3. Understanding the Church's Traditions 15:47 // Every church has traditions even if it is only a year old - anything you do consistently 17:32 // 4. Picking your Problems 17:55 // Err on the side of Growth Control Bias that has the problems you are best equipped to deal with 22:21 // Do the hard work of discovering your DNA Lightning Round Highlights Helpful Tech Tools // churchleaders.com, Basecamp, churchteams.com Book Worth Reading // David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell Inspiring Ministries // Lifechurch.tv, Seacoast Church, East Lake Church Inspiring Leader // Rick Warren What does he do for fun? // Star Wars addiction [info about next Star Wars movie!] Interview Transcript // Rich - Well welcome to the unSeminary Podcast everybody. My name's Rich Birch, the host around these parts. Today we have Alan Danielson on the line. I'm super excited to have him. This is one of those interviews I have been waiting for a while…it's a privilege to have Alan on the show. Thanks for being here today, Alan. Alan - Thank very much Rich. I really appreciate it. It's an honor to be here, man. Rich - Nice. I'm looking forward to today's conversation because I'm looking forward to leaning in and learning from you Alan. Why don't you give us a sense of your background. What church are you at now? A bit about your background. Who is Alan? Alan - Well, right now I am at New Life Bible Church in Norman Oklahoma, which is smaller church. We are kind of rebooting some things. It's a church in transition and I've been there for about three years. We have more than doubled in size in three years running just over 300 people now. Some exciting things going on in the life of our church. Prior to that I was on staff at LIfeChurch.tv in Edmond, Oklahoma where I was in charge of small groups in all of their campuses and that was an insane ride. When I started at LifeChurch we had about 9000 people on the weekends, 5 campuses. When I left we were running about 28000 people on the weekends, and we had 13 campuses. I learned so much during that time about leadership and small groups and about delegating and working with people over vast geographical areas, about multisite ministry. It was like drinking from a fire hydrant for four years straight. One of the best experiences of my life. Prior to that, I have been in ministry, well, since I graduated high school. About 2 weeks after I graduated high school, I moved out of my parents home and moved to another state to intern at a church and I've never looked back. I've been working at churches now for 24 years. Rich - Nice, that's a great thing.
