Practical hints for leading cell

Preparation and organisation

Set time aside to prepare and meet up with your assistant for planning
Plan a whole term of cell meetings in advance, assign W topics and arrange locations and times. Maybe include contact details to encourage the cell to contact each other outside of the cell meetings.

Try to recognise where each member is at on their personal discipleship journey and find ways to help and encourage them. The development of the individual members of your cell can make the difference between an immature and mature cell.
Growth can be supported in cell members by encouraging them to spend time with more mature members of the cell.
Look out for any relevant training events or conferences and encourage your cell members to attend.

Set an example of welcoming new people into the cell community
Most people come to God through a process so appropriate timing for someone to come to the cell meeting will vary from person to person. People may be more comfortable coming to social events for a while before they attend a cell meeting.
When new people attend cell make sure that you keep the cell meeting as normal as possible. Try to avoid using any jargon language and concentrate on explaining everything that happens in the meeting.
Cell members should be encouraged to be open with their spirituality in the cell meeting as this is often something that attracts new people.

It can be really helpful for the cell leader to keep a diary of the cell meetings so the progress of the cell can be monitored. This will help you to remember what has happened in each cell meeting when you meet with your associate.

You should aim to meet up with your associate every 2-3 weeks. Don’t be afraid of asking the associate into the cell, especially if you have a specific problem you would like help with.
Refer any difficult situations to your associate. In the context of open and trusting relationships, people will choose to share sensitive information. It is not the responsibility of the cell leader to counsel the members of their cell. The associate is there to support you and they can meet up with individual cell members or refer them to appropriate people.

As the cell grows it will hopefully be aiming to multiply. It will be really useful if you can be looking for leadership skills in the members of your cell and a level of maturity relevant for leading a cell. You can then help to develop and encourage them so that hopefully they will be a good place to take on leadership when the cell multiplies. This should also be discussed with your associate.