Me, an Evangelist? Every Christian's Guide to Caring Evangelism
Price: $11.95

Nuts & Bolts Issues for Small Group Leaders
Price: $11.95

Small Group Outreach: Turning Groups Inside Out
Price: $13.00

101 Ways to Help People in Need
Price: $8.99

Joy Comes with the Morning
Price: $9.95

Why Use ChristCare
Small Group Ministry?

There are many small group ministry approaches out there, and countless books, seminars, and classes about organizing a small group ministry. Why use the ChristCare Series?

Very simply, the ChristCare Series provides the most complete approach to small group ministry. It provides everything you need to succeed. The ChristCare Series offers:

A Complete System for Small Group Ministry
Training for Those Who Will Direct Your Small Group Ministry
High-Quality Group Leader Training in Your Congregation
State-of-the-Art Small Group Resources
An Effective Model for Supporting and Guiding Group Leaders
Christ-Centered, Mission-Minded Small Groups
Ongoing Support from Stephen Ministries St. Louis
System Flexibility to Fit Your Congregation
Groups That Can Meet Many Ministry Needs
A Way to Turn Your Congregation's Vision into Reality
A Very Cost-Effective Ministry
A Lasting, Growing Ministry

A Complete System for Small Group Ministry

The ChristCare Series is a complete system for organizing a small group ministry, training small group leaders, beginning and growing small groups, and providing ongoing support and guidance for your group leaders. More than a theory, a vision, a curriculum, or just training, the ChristCare Series provides a step-by-step plan, extensive training and resources, and proven solutions for every aspect of organizing and administering a highly effective small group ministry. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. You don't need to patch together ideas and techniques from books, seminars, and classes, filling in the holes through trial and error. The ChristCare Series provides the answers--all the whats, whys, whens, and how-tos.

"I worked with small group ministry at my previous church, but there we were reinventing the wheel. Stephen Ministries has the whole system figured out--the structure, the training, the resources, and what to do in different situations. And ChristCare Groups are transformational. People are being cared for and coming to a deeper expression of faith by studying God's Word and applying it to their lives."

Rev. Pete Mueller
St. John's Lutheran Church
Ellisville, Missouri

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Training for Those Who Will
Direct Your Small Group Ministry

The one-week Equipper's Training Course (ETC) allows your congregation to equip a team of its members as Equippers--the people who become your congregation's small group ministry experts and who oversee and direct your small group ministry. No longer must your small group ministry depend on one key church staff person. Lay leaders can be trained at the ETC to function at a very high level of overall leadership. Best of all, your congregation can send additional participants to ETCs as needed in future years as your small group ministry grows or current Equippers retire. The result is a strong, deep core of committed, knowledgeable, visionary leaders upon whom to build your small group ministry. Read more about the ETC.

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High-Quality Group Leader
Training in Your Congregation

Well-trained group leaders are essential to successful, life-changing small groups, and ChristCare training is excellent training for small group leaders. ChristCare Group Leaders are well equipped in:

• keeping their groups Christ-centered and focused on the mission and vision of the congregation;
• leading group members through the four ChristCare Group activities--community building and care, Biblical Equipping, prayer and worship, and missional service;
• encouraging group members to pursue spiritual growth between group meetings;
• building community among group members, leading them through the various stages of group life;
• caring for members and helping members care for one another;
• recognizing when a group member's needs exceed the care the group can provide and knowing when, how, and where to refer the person for additional care;
• keeping the group mission-minded and outward-focused;
• identifying and nurturing apprentice leaders;
• knowing how to handle the challenges and difficulties small group leaders typically encounter; and
• many other practical skills.

ChristCare Group Leaders catch the vision for the life-changing promise of ChristCare Groups by becoming a small group during training. They learn to lead as they try their hands at Biblical Equipping, prayer and worship, building community and caring for one another, and even providing service outside the group. They also learn key concepts of ChristCare Group leadership--for example, listening, feelings, process-oriented leadership, and confidentiality--in the context of a real group. Trainees become confident, experienced leaders with a transformational vision for what God can accomplish both inside and beyond your congregation through ChristCare Groups. Learn about the ChristCare Group Leader training topics.

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State-of-the-Art Small Group Resources

The ChristCare Series provides your congregation with access to state-of-the-art ChristCare Series resources. The Equipper's Manual contains more than 250 documents organized into file folders and offers everything your Equippers need to begin and grow a vibrant small group ministry, including:

• a complete road map for the ChristCare Series system with step-by-step instructions for building a successful small group ministry;
• a wealth of tools, ideas, sermons, publicity, and ready-to-use resources that you will use to run your ChristCare Group Ministry; and
• twenty-four user-friendly, fully scripted training presentations with experiential exercises that provide everything you need to train highly effective ChristCare Group Leaders in the congregation.

You will also be able to provide your group leaders with the Group-Based Manual for ChristCare Group Leaders and the other resources of ChristCare Group Leader training. The result will be skilled, committed group leaders who will confidently and joyfully lead Christ-centered, caring, welcoming ChristCare Groups. Find out more about ChristCare resources.

"I am amazed at the wealth of information that is available in my Equipper's Manual. I continue to find new and helpful ideas there. Everything I need for the day-to-day running of ChristCare Group Ministry is right there at my fingertips."

Jeff Ruiz
Christ Lutheran Church
Costa Mesa, California

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An Effective Model for Supporting
and Guiding Group Leaders

Coaching, mentoring, or supervising group leaders is a vitally important but frequently overlooked aspect of small group ministry. With the ChristCare Series, coaching is done through SEA Groups. (SEA stands for Support, Encouragement, and Accountability.) In twice-monthly SEA Groups, ChristCare Group Leaders receive care, nurturing, and direction to keep their groups healthy, growing, and focused on the mission and vision of the congregation. Best of all, SEA Groups provide peer support. They are facilitated by an Equipper but draw on the creativity, experience, and enthusiasm of other group leaders. The proven SEA Group process provides multiple benefits--group leaders receive insights and encouragement from their experienced peers, and Equippers provide valuable coaching to 5-7 group leaders in one meeting rather than scheduling time to meet with each of them individually on a regular basis.

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Christ-Centered, Mission-Minded Small Groups

ChristCare Groups intentionally focus on four primary activities--community building and care, Biblical Equipping, prayer and worship, and missional service. These four activities help group members to grow as Jesus' disciples by reaching up to God and out to others. Small groups can be nurturing places where people care for one another and grow in Christian community. Yet a group that is concerned only with its inward growth can lose sight of its purpose to make disciples. ChristCare Group Leaders help their groups strike the delicate balance between inward care and growth and outward mission.

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Ongoing Support from
Stephen Ministries St. Louis

A major benefit of enrollment is the ongoing support that Stephen Ministries provides ChristCare Series congregations. If your Equippers have questions, encounter a problem, or need to brainstorm ideas, our consultation staff is just a phone call away. Our experienced consultants share possible solutions, experiences, and insights from working with hundreds of ChristCare congregations for nearly a decade and with thousands of Stephen Series congregations for more than 30 years. In addition, the special-access, Equippers-only section of our Web site puts a wealth of creative resources, practical information, and downloadable documents just a mouse-click away.

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System Flexibility to Fit Your Congregation

What works well in one congregation simply may not translate to another congregation because the leaders, people, demographics, and other circumstances are different. Stephen Ministries developed the ChristCare Series over a five-year period, drawing on the experiences and input of more than 200 pilot-test congregations. We continue to refine and strengthen the system by building on the experiences and feedback of hundreds of Equippers and congregations. As a result, the ChristCare Series offers great flexibility and can be used effectively in hundreds of congregations of all sizes and settings:

• in mission start-ups and megacongregations;
• in urban, suburban, small town, and rural settings;
• in congregations across the United States and
  Canada; and
• in churches representing many different Christian
  denominations.

Some ChristCare congregations had no prior small group experience; some had tried and failed; others had dozens--or even hundreds--of existing groups and were turning to ChristCare for better organization, training, and group leader support. The ChristCare Series provides great structure--but retains the flexibility to work in your congregation.

The ChristCare Series can adapt to meet your congregation's specific goals and needs for small group ministry. Some ChristCare congregations weave ChristCare Groups into the very fiber of their congregation's structure by turning boards and committees into ChristCare Groups, becoming a church of small groups. Other ChristCare congregations include ChristCare as one of many ministries in the congregation, a church with small groups. The ChristCare Series provides the training, resources, and structure you need for effective small groups however you envision they will best serve your congregation.

"What I appreciate about the ChristCare Series and ChristCare training is that it can be used by people in Christian churches among a wide range of theological traditions. Its broad appeal does not in any way dilute its effectiveness. Top quality!"

Rev. Betsey Crimmins
First Presbyterian Church
Elmira, New York

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Groups That Can Meet Many Ministry Needs

A ChristCare Group can be an all-purpose small group, one that virtually anyone could join. Congregations can also form ChristCare Groups to meet specific wants or needs. Some of the specialized groups congregations have formed include ChristCare Groups for:

• young moms
• parents of teens
• retired persons
• couples
• singles
• blended families
• divorced dads
• professional women
• empty nesters
• new Christians

The list is endless. ChristCare congregations have found ChristCare Groups to be a powerful ministry tool to fill many specific niches that may have been overlooked or unaddressed before.

In addition, ChristCare congregations have found ChristCare Groups to be a tremendous tool for youth ministry, forming ChristCare Groups for high school-aged and middle school-aged children. ChristCare Groups become a safe place where a congregation's youth (under the guidance of adult group leaders) can care for one another, encourage one another, study God's Word together and apply it to daily life, pray with and for one another, and worship God together. ChristCare Groups effectively meet specific ministry needs across the entire spectrum of your congregation's ministry.

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A Way to Turn Your Congregation's
Vision into Reality

ChristCare Groups aren't an end in themselves. They are an effective, versatile tool for carrying out your congregation's vision or mission statement--turning ideas into concrete discipleship. We encourage ChristCare congregations to find ways that ChristCare Groups can help carry out their congregation's vision or mission.

What's your congregation's mission statement? Does it involve:

• caring for your members--and nonmembers--during
  times of need?
• introducing people to Jesus and bringing them to faith?
• helping congregation members grow in faith and
  become more fully devoted followers of Jesus?
• reaching out to the community by meeting physical,
  emotional, or spiritual needs?

ChristCare Groups can help your members participate in realizing your congregation's vision.

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A Very Cost-Effective Ministry

ChristCare is a very cost-effective way to begin, manage, and expand a highly effective small group ministry in the congregation. The initial enrollment fee, which provides your congregation with lifelong access to the resources, training, and support of the Stephen Ministries staff and organization, is a one-time investment. There are no subsequent annual dues or membership fees to remain a ChristCare congregation.

The Equipper's Training Course allows a congregation to train as many people as necessary to direct your small group ministry. Congregations don't have to worry about putting all their group ministry eggs into one basket--namely, a small group staff person whose departure can leave their small group ministry in shambles. While most ChristCare congregations have at least one pastor or other staff person trained as an Equipper, lay (volunteer) Equippers typically handle most day-to-day responsibilities of coordinating ChristCare Small Group Ministry. And as the number of small groups grows, the congregation can send more lay people to ETCs to expand the Equippers Team--instead of having to hire additional paid staff to manage your small group ministry.

ChristCare Groups offer many ministry benefits to congregations, as they:

• strengthen the faith life of a significant percentage of your members;
• provide an open door through which the unchurched
  can be warmly invited and welcomed into your fellowship;
• build community and expand congregation care;
• involve more and more lay people in significant ministry;
• equip a steady flow of lay leaders;
• improve the stewardship of time, talents, and resources
  as people joyfully and generously respond to God's grace;
• increase outreach and missional service to the community;
  and
• involve everyone in your congregation in living out your congregation's vision or mission statement.

The ChristCare Series is an investment in people, ministry, and mission that will continue to pay rich dividends for years to come.

"The ChristCare Series is far more comprehensive than anything else out there. It doesn't just tell you what you should be doing, it tells you how and gives you everything you need to do it. I'm convinced it's been worth every penny--and more!"

Rev. Cynthia Carter
Shadle Park Presbyterian Church
Spokane, Washington

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A Lasting, Growing Ministry

ChristCare is not a one-time program or a ministry that runs its course in a year or two. It is built to last. A growing number of ChristCare congregations have now had ChristCare Group Ministry going strong for nine or more years.

• The systematic approach lets you build a small group
  infrastructure that endures.
• The Equipper's Training Course provides the means to
  train additional "experts" to direct your small group ministry
  so that it doesn't fold up if a key staff person moves on. 
• ChristCare Group Leaders are trained to help their groups
  grow and birth so that more and more people become
  involved in life-changing small groups.
• The SEA Group process keeps your groups going strong,
  prevents leader burnout, and helps your groups remain
  focused on your congregation's vision.
• The enrollment process means that your Equippers will
  receive the ongoing support of Stephen Ministries year
  after year after year.

ChristCare is built to last so that ChristCare Groups can be a source of life change, spiritual growth, and mission outreach for years to come.

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