The Mathematics of Invitation

I had a chance to read up on some research about small groups. According to researchers, both secular and church-based, suggest that small groups are most effective somewhere between 8-12 people. The minimum number is 4 and the maximum is 17. But the consensus hovers around a gathering size of about 10.

Why does the literature suggest a group of about 10 as the optimal amount of people? With this size, the group dynamics make the meeting just big enough to hide a bit if you're too bruised to show it - with just 4 or 5 people, it's too small to hide. Yet with 10, the meeting is small enough to provide adequate time for everyone to share.

So if your target is 10 people, then the next step is to determine the number of contacts you need to cultivate. The general rule of thumb is:

Be in active communication with 20 to 30 prospective participants, and in all likelihood you will end up with 10 at a given meeting.

All 20 to 30 need to be viable as possible members at present or in the not-too-distant future. Generally these will be people who are somewhat interested, but who may decline because of scheduling conflict. It is important to keep talking with these people because you never know when their schedule will change.

By the way, here's a clip of our first MCG Promo videos starring our two MCG leaders, Karen and Suzie: