[Editor's note: In part two of his series on church growth, consultant and author, Josh Hunt, presses the point that no program or philosophy can work well for a church without the buy-in of the senior leadership. He calls it, "the law of prime time."]

Canopy Roads Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Fla., is a 10-year-old Willowcreek-style Southern Baptist Church. Their services are very contemporary, seeker-driven, Willowcreekish. They have not seen the growth that Willowcreek has, but they have grown consistently over the past 10 years. They built a building and laid a foundation for many years of effective ministry. Worship attendance is about double their small group attendance.

Recently they went through the 40 Days of Community, the followup to the 40 Days of Purpose campaign. (I asked the pastor how the 40 Days of Community Compared to 40 Days of Purpose, because often, the sequel is not as good as the original. He said if 40 Days of Purpose was a 10, then 40 Days of Community was an 11. See www.purposedriven.com.)

The 40-day campaign includes a video-based small group component. Rather than just be content with letting the existing groups go through the material, the church decided to take this opportunity to start a bunch of new groups. They asked people to volunteer to do a home group once a week for 40 days. They provided a video based curriculum so that all people had to do is what group leaders do at Saddleback:

Heart for people

Open their homes

Serve refreshments

Turn on the television

They didn't ask people to teach for the rest of their lives—just once a week for 40 days. They didn't ask them to do lengthy preparation—just turn on the television. They got 10 volunteers and started 10 new groups overnight. Most of them are continuing beyond the 40 days as ongoing groups. I read on Saddleback's Web page that they started 900 new groups in a similar way!

Key point here: the pastor led this effort from the pulpit. It's the law of prime time. Nothing is important until the pastor says it is important. Nothing is important until the pastor says it from the pulpit on Sunday morning.

Perhaps you are intrigued, as I am, with the possibility of doubling groups. A group of 10 can reach 1,000 by doubling every 18 months. It is happening in church planting movements all around the world. It is happening in Atlanta. It is happening in Bogotá.

If it ever happens in your town, it will happen in cooperation with the law of prime time. The minister must say it on Sunday morning. Nothing is important until the preacher says it is important. Sunday morning is PRIME TIME.

Josh Hunt is the author of You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less and speaks nationally on church growth and adult education. You can contact him at www.joshhunt.com.

Read part one of this series, How to triple attendance in 10 years.