I’m the Sunday School, Small Group, and Discipleship specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (BGCO). I love my job! Really, it’s a ministry! I have the privilege of sharing my passion of making disciples through small group strategies with pastors, Sunday School and small group leaders, and anyone else who will listen. Frequently, I also get to serve local churches, usually as their Interim Minister of Education.

I have a great family. I’ve been married to my sweet wife Tracy for 27 years! I have two wonderful grown children, Zach and Mary Kathryn. We live in the Oklahoma City area. One of my new hobbies is woodworking. I make pens on my lathe (circa 1934), and I have a scroll saw too. I enjoy hanging out in my shed and making stuff for people.

I started blogging about four years ago. At first it was an experiment. I wasn’t too sure about blogging and to be honest, I had a few people roll their eyes when they asked me what I was doing and I told them I was writing a post for my blog. I originally started blogging on Typepad, but after I got the hang of it I moved over to WordPress because I think it is the best platform for blogging. I bought my own domain, and started blogging. I write on Sunday School and small groups a lot. Make that a whole lot. Small groups is my passion and I love reading, studying, and learning everything I can about groups.

Now, something I need to let you know. I am serious about building a community around the Sunday School/small group movement. Especially when it comes to starting new groups. If you are looking for some inspiration or some ideas to help you as a pastor, Sunday School director, education minister, or a leader of a Sunday School or small group; then I hope that you will subscribe to my blog because you have found your home. I really believe that the church’s small group organization, no matter what you may call it, is essential to helping people discover their identity in Jesus Christ. Very few of us really change unless we have some system of accountability. The church’s small group organization is the church’s first line of accountability. If you can’t handle being held accountable in an open group; well you are going to struggle growing in your relationship with Christ and with His bride – the Church.

The BGCO has begun a major initiative to help churches re-engage their Sunday School as their primary disciplemaking strategy. This strategy is called ReConnect Sunday School and it is my major focus for the next five years.

My Goal with the Blog
My goal here is to help people understand just how valuable being in some form of small group is to your spiritual life. I’m a Christian and I have learned first hand the power of being in community with other believers. I have this blog so that I can provide content, insight, and maybe some ideas to help a pastor, a Sunday School teacher, or a small group leader have a better group.

I generally have a couple of posts a week. Sometimes I do a special series and post every day for 31 days in a row, or emphasize some facet of Sunday School or small groups and have one or two posts every day for a week. To make sure that you are getting new content, you can subscribe to my blog through RSS or email.

Some of my top posts:

I’ve got over 400 posts here, so feel free to go to the Categories page and noodle around.

Publications & Leadership
I’ve also written some resources, like PowerUP Your Sunday School and One Day, to help get Sunday School groups on mission. Also, I’ve got a couple of books available: Missional Pivot Points and Sunday School Leader PocketGuide: Five C’s of Missional Groups. I have led countless number of seminars over the years, and since moving into denominational ministry leading seminars is one of my primary means of ministry. I’ve led seminars for LifeWay at both Glorieta and Ridgecrest Conference Centers.

My Biography
I was raised in Lubbock, Texas and I’m the oldest of four siblings. I am a graduate of Texas Tech University (Bachelor of Science) and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Master of Christian Education). In addition, I’ve completed all of the seminars for a Doctor of Ministry from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, but I just can’t find the time to finish that final step – the doctoral project.

I have been a student pastor at First Baptist Church in Waxahachie, Texas and also at Westbury Baptist in Houston. I served Indiana Avenue Baptist Church in Lubbock as Minister of Education. While there, we had the fastest growing Sunday School in Texas for four straight years (adding about 1,000 members/year). I also served First Baptist Church in Chandler, Arizona as Minister of Education.

In 2000, I moved to a totally new line of ministry with the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention; primarily leading in small group and Sunday School leadership and resources. My family moved to Oklahoma in 2005 where I currently serve as the Sunday School, Small Group, and Adult Discipleship specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.

My Contact Information
You can contact me through email at bmayfield@bgco.org, follow me on Twitter, or friend me on Facebook.

Some info about my blog
My blog is built on WordPress 3.5.1. I don’t update it often to newer versions mainly because when I do, the update often breaks links and rearranges things. I use a customized version of the “Builder Theme” from iThemes founded by Cory Miller. My site was built by Sara Graybill. I do a lot of the customization work myself now, but I do get help from a friend or two occasionally.