SG² Steve Gladen on Small Groups artwork

SG² Steve Gladen on Small Groups

247 episodes - English - Latest episode: 23 days ago - ★★★★★ - 38 ratings

Small group leaders, pastors, and more discussing strategies for growth and community in church groups. The Small Group Network is an international ministry that equips churches to engage in deeper discipleship and community.

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Episodes

March 2024 The Lobby Panel

March 06, 2024 16:22 - 58 minutes - 53.3 MB

This month's episode features a panel conversation between Steve Gladen, Dave Enns from North Coast, Rick Howerton from Lakepointe Church, and moderation by Carolyn Taketa. Join us as we listen in to their discussion on their decades of small group experience while at the Lobby Gathering small group conference and retreat in San Juan Capistrano. ★ Support this podcast ★

Think critically: Accomplish More with Less

February 07, 2024 10:00 - 40 minutes - 37.5 MB

Do you need more small group leaders? How would you like to see an exponential increase of volunteers stepping up to serve in your church? Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 25 years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve shares his timeless and commonsense keys to building healthier small groups. In this episode titled ...

Creating an Environment for Spiritual Growth with Dr. Bill Donahue

January 17, 2024 10:00 - 1 hour - 72.1 MB

Today's episode comes from a small group conference at Saddleback Church. The session speaker is Dr. Bill Donahue as he shares about how to create an environment for spiritual growth in small groups. Dr. Donahue is one of the most well respected and accomplished speakers and small group practitioners, having written several books and taught at the collegiate level. He also is a coach and leads cohorts at the small group network. To learn more about small groups, or to share your...

Interviewing Nicky Gumbel - Vicar, Holy Trinity Brompton, and Pioneer of the Alpha Course

January 03, 2024 16:10 - 37 minutes - 34 MB

Steve Gladen, pastor of small groups at Saddleback Church visits London to interview Nicky Gumbel, Vicar, Holy Trinity Brompton, and Pioneer of the Alpha Course. Nicky and his wife Pippa have impacted millions throughout the world with the Alpha course. Steve talks through what goes into an Alpha course and what makes it effective with Nicky. To learn more about small groups, or to share your own small group ministry experience, find Steve Gladen and others at https://smallgroupn...

How To Move From Making Friends To Reaching Friends

December 21, 2023 10:00 - 56 minutes - 51.6 MB

The episode features Steve Gladen who, leveraging his extensive experience of over 25 years, offers insights on leading small group ministry in churches. He addresses the common misconception of people fearing evangelism, emphasizing how the experience fundamentally transforms when done as a group. Gladen shares practical strategies to equip small groups in spreading the gospel, growing the church and leading people to Jesus. He also underscores the importance of sharing starts with...

Treasure Hunt: How to Find the Gold

December 06, 2023 10:00 - 41 minutes - 37.6 MB

Do you need more small group leaders? How would you like to see an exponential increase of volunteers stepping up to serve in your church? Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 25 years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve is joined by co-host Derek and special guest Mike Hinkle - author of the new book "Treasure Hunt." M...

Leading Up or Sucking up? How to lead up & lead out

November 01, 2023 09:00 - 56 minutes - 52.2 MB

Do you need more small group leaders? How would you like to see an exponential increase of volunteers stepping up to serve in your church? Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 25 years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve is joined by co-host Derek and special guest pastor William Johnston of Saddleback church  who share...

Is Sermon-Based Curriculum Hazardous to your Small Group’s Health?

October 11, 2023 11:00 - 13 minutes - 25.8 MB

8 Steps to Successful Recruiting

October 04, 2023 09:00 - 40 minutes - 36.8 MB

Do you need more small group leaders? How would you like to see an exponential increase of volunteers stepping up to serve in your church? Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve is joined by co-host Derek and special guest John Shin (One of the Connections Pastors at Saddlebac...

What We Can Learn From The 5 Words That Changed Amazon

September 27, 2023 11:00 - 19 minutes - 36.1 MB

How To Disciple People, Not Just Lead Groups

September 20, 2023 09:00 - 55 minutes - 50.8 MB

You can download your planner HERE and the church planner HERE and the full workbook from the conference HERE Check out the videos referenced in the podcast HERE Welcome to SG squared. Glad you joined us for this episode. In this particular one, we're going to be talking about how small groups just aren't a program in the church, but they are a powerful discipleship tool that your church has. As you know, we talk about temple courts and house to house and the house to house movemen...

The 5 Levels of True Fellowship

September 13, 2023 11:00 - 20 minutes - 39 MB

5 Steps to Creating a Workplace Ministry

September 06, 2023 11:00 - 42 minutes - 80.5 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve is joined by co-host Derek and special guests Mark Grunden and Ron Kelleher to talk about 5 Steps to Creating a Workplace Ministry: 1 Cast a vision 2 Create a leadership team 3 Convene a launch event 4 Compile study resources 5 Continue ...

4 Consequences You Need to Avoid

August 30, 2023 11:00 - 32 minutes - 60.7 MB

1. How do you handle unclear or wrong communication? 2. How do you handle worry? 3. How do you figure out who's after you? 4. How do you handle failure? 7 Lessons Learned from Face Plants 1. Think through your response and LISTEN 2. The response is always done with humility 3. Everything we do is being watched by the world 4. We must make sure our impact matches our intent 5. We can be creative without being offensive 6. When dealing with upset people, pray with them and have them ...

How To Connect To Everyone In Your Church!

August 16, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 59.9 MB

You can download your planner HERE and the church planner HERE Check out the videos referenced in the podcast HERE Everyone's got excuses... and here are 5 of the most common. But if you are hearing one (or all) of these excuses in your small group ministry, how should you respond? Listen to Steve's talk from the Purpose Driven Small Groups conference to get prepared for the next time you hear an excuse. For more great resources check out https://smallgroupnetwork.com And to conne...

7 Ways CRM Can Improve Discipleship!

August 02, 2023 11:00 - 58 minutes - 110 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve is joined by co-host Derek and special guest Christina Dawson to talk about 7 ways CRM can Improve Discipleship. In this episode we break down the following:  High Level Perspective Personalized Service Central Repository of Informatio...

3 Areas for Your Groups to Shine in Today’s Culture

July 26, 2023 11:00 - 42 minutes - 78.8 MB

Listen is as we go back to February 2021 and the 3 Areas for Your Groups to Shine in Today’s Culture. We still find that this will be relevant in your group's setting today! 7 Civilities  Listen with your eyes (don’t roll your eyes) acknowledge their view Sleep and hungry—know the right time Social media news vs. Good news Neither side may trivialize or dismiss the concerns of the other. Neither side should define the “other” according to one single characteristic or identity ...

Current and Future Group Trends w/ Rick Warren (Part 2)

July 19, 2023 11:00 - 20 minutes - 38.4 MB

Current and Future Group Trends w/ Rick Warren (Part 1)

July 12, 2023 11:00 - 31 minutes - 58.1 MB

Listen in as Pastor Rick Warren talks about the coming trends in small group ministries. This was from our Lobby 2019 Gathering and is still relevant today! Part 2 next week! ★ Support this podcast ★

10 Strategic Tips for Follow Up with Small Group Leaders

July 05, 2023 11:00 - 47 minutes - 43.5 MB

Goal: To know how to set and be comfortable having coffee/follow ups with Small Group leaders. Why: We want you to be totally comfortable contacting and meeting with small group leaders. It is important to remember that these folks are just like you. They have goals, fears, hurts, insecurities, families, family problems, health concerns and everything else you can imagine. Be confident - Biblical basics: God owns everything, and I am His manager. (Ps. 24:1, Matt. 25:14-30) You ar...

5 Areas to Reimagine Coaching

June 28, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 123 MB

In this episode, Steve Gladen breaks down 5 areas where ministry leaders can re-imagine how they do coaching for their groups ministry. The following is what will specifically be covered in this show: History of Coaching Staff or volunteers Serve in one Help in another Saddleback’s history—building upon, keeping best of… 1.0 version (1998) 1:5—I could recruit faster than our growth 2.0 version (2005)—why it changed, it was broken 1:25 paid Introduced not equal care, but str...

4 Vital Trainings, Which Are You Missing?

June 21, 2023 11:00 - 34 minutes - 64.7 MB

Current and Future Group Trends w/ Rick Warren

June 14, 2023 11:00 - 31 minutes - 58.1 MB

From the Lobby Gathering in 2019, Pastor Rick Warren shares his heart on Small Groups and what is to come. ★ Support this podcast ★

7 Thoughts on How DATA Can Help You

June 07, 2023 11:00 - 54 minutes - 102 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve is joined by co-host Derek and special guest Christina Dawson (Life Groups Director at the Woodlands Church in Texas to talk about 7 ways data can help you and your small group ministry. In this episode we discuss: How accurate data is c...

5th Wednesday: Crawl, Walk, Or Run Into The Future Of Small Groups

May 31, 2023 11:00 - 52 minutes - 96.9 MB

Steve Gladen and James Browning look at the history of the small group network and what things that are currently happening that could make a big difference for you or your ministry. ★ Support this podcast ★

10 Principles of Exponential Thinking

May 24, 2023 11:00 - 53 minutes - 98.3 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead more effective small group ministry.  In this episode, you will hear an audio recording of Rick Warren talking to the Saddleback church staff about his 10 Principles of Exponential Thinking. Steve Gladen will then breakdown how you can apply these 10 principles to your small group ministry. The following is what will spe...

Sermon-Based Curriculum w/ Dave Enns

May 17, 2023 11:00 - 34 minutes - 63.6 MB

Outreach in Small Groups

May 10, 2023 11:00 - 24 minutes - 46.4 MB

 Spiritual Health Assessment ★ Support this podcast ★

Should Groups Gather During Summer?

May 03, 2023 11:00 - 34 minutes - 63.6 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve is joined by co-host Derek to answer the question "should small groups gather during the summer?" ★ Support this podcast ★

Recruiting Leaders

April 26, 2023 11:00 - 19 minutes - 36.5 MB

4 Reasons to Throw Small Group Parties

April 19, 2023 11:00 - 17 minutes - 32.3 MB

The 3 Layers of Stacking

April 12, 2023 11:00 - 20 minutes - 37.4 MB

How BIG can a SMALL GROUP get?

April 05, 2023 11:00 - 33 minutes - 63 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve is joined by co-host Derek to answer the question "How BIG can a SMALL GROUP get?" ★ Support this podcast ★

The 5 Benefits of Belonging

March 22, 2023 11:00 - 14 minutes - 26.4 MB

3 Key Ways Leadership Coaching Can Help You

March 01, 2023 12:00 - 36 minutes - 68.8 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve is joined by three special guests - Carolyn Taketa, Bill Donahue and Philip Byers to talk about three key ways that leadership coaching can help small group ministry leaders. Shownotes: smallgroupnetwork.com/coaching smallgroupnetwork.c...

How To Have A Successful Retreat

February 01, 2023 12:00 - 31 minutes - 58.9 MB

Description: Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve talks about how to have a successful retreat for your small group ministry. Steve shares about the successful Saddleback church retreat that he and his team just concluded for their "Community Leaders" who serve to provide ca...

Best of 2022: 5 Areas to Reimagine Coaching

January 18, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 123 MB

In this episode, Steve Gladen breaks down 5 areas where ministry leaders can re-imagine how they do coaching for their groups ministry. The following is what will specifically be covered in this show: History of Coaching Staff or volunteers Serve in one Help in another Saddleback’s history—building upon, keeping best of… 1.0 version (1998) 1:5—I could recruit faster than our growth 2.0 version (2005)—why it changed, it was broken 1:25 paid Introduced not equal care, but str...

5 Ways to Start the Year Right

January 04, 2023 12:00 - 25 minutes - 48.3 MB

Description: Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve & co-host Deek talk about 5 Ways to Start the Year Right in regards to your small group ministry and will discuss the following five points: 1 What am I trying to produce?2 Do I have a team around me? 3 How to identify the ...

Evangelism Made Easy for Small Groups

December 07, 2022 12:00 - 23 minutes - 43.4 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve & co-host Derek talk about Evangelism Made Easy for Small Groups. The 6 Fs ★ Support this podcast ★

20 Ways to Celebrate Your Leaders

November 02, 2022 11:00 - 30 minutes - 27.6 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve & co-host Deek talk about 20 ways that you can honor and celebrate the leaders in your ministry this holiday season. Show Notes:  smallgroupnetwork.com/lookbook ★ Support this podcast ★

3 Leadership Pipelines You Must Have In Your Groups Ministry (Part 3)

October 05, 2022 11:00 - 23 minutes - 43.2 MB

Description: Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve talks about the third Leadership Pipelines You Must Have In Your small group ministry: the small group member pathway. Shownotes: Part 1  Part 2 ★ Support this podcast ★

3 Leadership Pipelines You Must Have In Your Groups Ministry (Part 2)

September 07, 2022 11:00 - 25 minutes - 47.8 MB

Part 1  https://open.spotify.com/episode/6v5K4Qx54JVRwJYvNvKLUR?si=IzSx5CoyRPeQUrxPtTIqjA 5 Ways to Reimagine Coaching https://open.spotify.com/episode/4yMNGT61KXKMAqiNtRehA7?si=XJeq4nbfTASKreJNwpLnRg CL Development Pathway CL Village Description: Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this...

5th Wednesday: Celebrating Sabbath In Community With Ruth Haley Barton

August 31, 2022 09:00 - 31 minutes - 43.1 MB

For more information on Ruth Haley Barton check out her website at https://www.ruthhaleybarton.com/ and learn more about the Transforming Center at https://transformingcenter.org/ Embracing Rhythms of Work and Rest: From Sabbath to Sabbatical and Back Again Early Release from IV Press: https://www.ivpress.com/embracing-rhythms-of-work-and-rest Amazon (Oct 11): https://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Rhythms-Work-Rest-Sabbatical/dp/1514002639 This episode really just took a surface level...

3 Leadership Pipelines You Must Have In Your Groups Ministry (part 1)

August 03, 2022 11:00 - 27 minutes - 50.9 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve talks about the 3 Leadership Pipelines You Must Have In Your small group ministry: the group leader pathway, the community leader pathway and the group member pathway. Host Development Pathway Nick and Dave Photo ★ Support this podca...

Church Wide Campaign: How to Grow your Small Group Ministry by 300%

July 06, 2022 11:00 - 37 minutes - 70.8 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead healthier, growing and more effective small group ministries. In this episode, Steve talks about how you can grow your small group ministry by 300%! You can do this by using Saddleback Church's secret sauce of ministry - the church-wide-campaign. Steve and Derek will break down the following: 1 Know the compelling quest...

Should Small Groups Meet Over Summer?

June 01, 2022 11:00 - 32 minutes - 61 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead more effective small group ministry. In this episode, Steve answers the question "should small groups meet over the summer?" He then proceeds to share some of the pros and cons of summer small groups as well as share some of the things he typically heres about why small groups do not meet over the summer.  ★ Support t...

Small Groups: 10 Principles of Exponential Thinking

May 04, 2022 11:00 - 54 minutes - 101 MB

Steve Gladen, Global Small Groups Pastor at Saddleback Church, pulls from his 20+ years of small group ministry experience to encourage and equip listeners to lead more effective small group ministry.  In this episode, you will hear an audio recording of Rick Warren talking to the Saddleback church staff about his 10 Principles of Exponential Thinking. Steve Gladen will then breakdown how you can apply these 10 principles to your small group ministry. The following is what will spe...

The Reading Lenz with Nick Lenzi has moved!

April 27, 2022 10:00 - 39 seconds - 627 KB

We are excited to announce some big changes to Reading Lenz, our monthly podcast by Nick Lenzi. Nick's show is graduating to its own channel and changing its name! Search for The Group Takeaways With Nick Lenzi in your favorite podcast app or go to https://share.transistor.fm/s/480a2b74. And don't forget to subscribe at its new home. We're excited for the upcoming season of Group Takeaways and can't wait to share it with you! ★ Support this podcast ★

Leadership Journey With Bill Search: Featuring John Ortberg - Now On A New Channel

April 20, 2022 17:43 - 43 seconds - 735 KB

Exciting news, everybody! Bill Search's podcast "Leadership Journey" has moved! It is now its own podcast on its own channel. Go to https://share.transistor.fm/s/b7e1a4de or search for "Leadership Journey with Bill Search in your favorite podcast app. This week, Bill interviews John Ortberg, the author and pastor on his leadership and legacy. Check it out and don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. it is an invaluable way to support Bill and our volunteers! ★ Support this p...

Carolyn's Show Has Moved!

April 13, 2022 11:01 - 33 seconds - 562 KB

If you're looking for the latest episode of Here To There with Carolyn Taketa, it has moved! Carolyn's show has grown enough to get it's own channel. Just head over to https://share.transistor.fm/s/b7677a39 or search for Here To There With Carolyn Taketa in your favorite podcast app. And don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. Reviews are an incredible way to support our volunteers! ★ Support this podcast ★

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