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We live and die in the ministry based on the number of laborers in the harvest field. The LIFEgroup structure not only provides a superior vehicle for providing quality care to every member in the church, it is also a fantastic leadership equipping environment where the burden of responsibility for the ministry is shared by many. Apprentices are a critical factor in the multiplication of LIFEgroups. Without them everything will grind to a screeching halt.

The primary responsibility of a LIFEgroup leader is not to fill a home with guests, but to raise up another leader who will eventually lead a group.

1) Why Developing Your Apprentice Is So Important

2) Selecting Your Apprentice

Prayer (Matthew 9:35-37; Luke 6:12-16) - Jesus needed His Fathers help due to his humanity; God can go places where we can't; helping us to see what might be hidden. This is the first and most important thing that a leader can do in selecting an apprentice for his group. Make a list of people you know who you think could fill the bill. Write down their names. It is amazing who the Lord may bring to your mind as you actually write out your list. The best apprentice for your group is usually someone with whom you already have a close affinity. Once you have identified who you think are your potential prospects, go back to step one and begin praying through your list. Ask God who He would have to be your apprentice. Pray first and you will save yourself a lot of time and energy.

Faithfulness (2 Timothy 2:2) - reliable, trustworthy, tested, willing and able to give their life away to others, remembering that they will be required to provide care and leadership in the future to those in their group. Communicate with your LIFEgroup Pastor who you would like to approach as an Apprentice. Sometimes the Pastor has confidential knowledge that would prevent a person from serving. By clearing the person's name with your LIFEgroup Pastor you can avoid the embarrassment asking someone to apprentice, and then having to tell them that they are not qualified. Generally it is good to give the LIFEgroup Pastor a week to clear a name.

3) Meet with prospective apprentice

There are several important reminders for being effective as you invite someone to consider apprenticeship. They are:

Choose the right time and place.

Timing and place are both important. Sundays between services is usually not a good time or the right place. Also don't recruit over the phone. It does not communicate importance. Face to face in a quiet location when you both have time is the best way to try and recruit an apprentice to be on your team.

Lay out the vision before them.

Don't recruit to a job, recruit to a vision. Cast the vision for LIFEgroups. Share with them the purpose, priorities, objectives and vision of our church and the LIFEgroup ministry. Help them to catch the dream of what God wants to do in our church and in their lives. We have a big dream, but big dreams recruit big people!

Carefully review the qualifications for leadership.

Read and discuss each of the "LIFEgroup Leader Qualifications" with them. Does the person come close to meeting the eight listed "LIFEgroup Leader Qualifications"? These qualifications are the minimum requirements for becoming a LIFEgroup Leader. They are also the measuring stick for determining a person's potential for apprenticeship. A person does not have to meet all of the qualifications of a leader to become an apprentice, but must be willing to meet those requirements before becoming a LIFEgroup Leader. For example, a potential prospect may not know how to effectively share Christ, but if he meets all of the other qualifications and is willing to learn how to share his faith, then he could become an apprentice and we will begin equipping him to share his faith in Christ. So, an apprentice can be someone who may not initially meet all of the qualifications for the leader, but he is willing to learn and move toward meeting them before becoming a leader.

Ask them, "Are you willing to become an apprentice(s)?"

It is important that both husband and wife pray and decide together. Couples need to see this as a ministry that they both share in equally together. In LIFEgroups, the wife is responsible to minister and care for the women in the group, as the husband is for the men. Give them one week to pray and get back to you about their decision.

Your Follow-up

If they have not called you back within one week, call them. If their answer is "no", ask why but don't push. Try to be sensitive. It may be that there is a need in their lives that you can help to meet. If they respond with a "yes", then arrange to meet with them again to discuss the "LIFEgroup Apprentice Ministry Description." After covering their ministry description, have them sign and date it. Then notify your coach and plan to get them into the next scheduled LIFEgroup Leader Basic Training.
There is no guarantee that the person will lead a group, as it may be that the equipping process reveals that there is need for growth in certain key areas prior to taking responsibility for the spiritual welfare of others.

4) Building Your Apprentice

The selection and recruitment and equipping of apprentices is one of the primary objectives of the LIFEgroup Leader.

5) Equipping Your Apprentice

Help Your Apprentice Move Toward Meeting Any Areas of Deficiency using the leader's qualifications as your guide to readiness, list any areas that need improvement and begin to work on them one at a time. As an example, say your apprentice has never learned how to share his faith, does not tithe, and has a weak prayer life. Where should you begin and what should you do?

The first thing to do is to prioritize your list. Establish what you feel is the most important area to work on first. Then second, develop a plan to begin meeting that need in your apprentice's life before moving on to the next need. By focusing on only one need at a time you will not overload your apprentice with too much change all at once. That will only bring discouragement. Helping him to grow in one area will build confidence in being able to work on the others also.

Here's how this might look:

A. You decide to prioritize these three areas in the order of 1) prayer, 2) tithing and 3) witnessing.

B. Your plan to help your apprentice strengthen his prayer life could involve:

• Assigning him to read through the prayers of Paul in his New Testament letters.
• Meeting with your apprentice each week to pray together.
• Having your apprentice begin to pray with his spouse daily.

C. When you are satisfied that your apprentice is developing a growing prayer life, you begin working on the next area of tithing. Your plan for this area could involve:

• Sharing your own testimony of how the Lord has worked in your life in this area.
• Discuss together some key passages that deal with tithing and giving.
• Work out a personal budget with your apprentice.
• Set up an appointment for them to meet with one of our church's "Volunteer Financial Counselors" if there are financial matters that are beyond your abilities to help with.
• When your apprentice begins to tithe to the Lord, then you begin to work through the area of witnessing with him.

6) Make a Weekly "I Care" Call.

Stay in constant touch with your apprentice. Find out how they are doing. Pray with them. Encourage them. Remember, the extent to which you are willing to give of yourself to them, will be the extent that they are willing to give of themselves to others.

7) Meet With Your Apprentice Before or After Each Meeting to Pray and Briefly Discuss Strategy.

Pray and discuss strategy for follow-up and care of the people in your group. Involve your apprentice in outreach and follow-up of any new people assigned to your group. Briefly evaluate how you felt the meeting went and plan for what you will do next time. The key to the effectiveness of this time is your willingness to share the ministry with your apprentice.

8) Assign Your Apprentice to Lead Various Parts of the Meeting and Occasionally Lead the Entire Meeting.

A good leader will share the ministry with his apprentice. This helps build confidence in the apprentice for when the group multiplies and it is time for him to lead his own group. This enables you to coach him and offer encouragement as he develops skills in leading the group.

9) Give Plenty of Positive Reinforcement.

Always extend a helping hand to your apprentice, not a heavy hand. Give lots of encouragement. Let him know that you believe in him.

10) Set a Target Date for Your Your Apprentice to Lead a Group.

Remember, apprentices are the future of LIFEgroups. The selection and recruitment of apprentices is one of your primary objectives as a LIFEgroup leader. The success of our LIFEgroup ministry hinges upon our ability to accomplish this objective!