Building a Life-Changing Small Group Ministry: A Strategic Guide for Leading Group Life in Your Church

Our hearts were made for deep, authentic relationships--for community with others. And like nothing else, small groups provide the kind of life-giving community that builds and empowers the body of Christ and impacts the world. In this book, part of the Groups That Grow series of small group resources, authors Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson provide guidance for the strategic decisions that must be made to establish, develop and grow a thriving small group ministry in the local church. In Building a Life-Changing Small Group Ministry, they answer questions like: - Which approach or model for small group ministry is best for my church? - Who has responsibility for the ministry and how are they supported? - How do I organize the groups and coach the leaders? - Where do I find leaders and what kind of training do they need? - How do I guide people toward community life? What are the pathways and events that move people to become part of a small group? - What kinds of groups should we offer? - How do you multiply groups and launch new groups? - How do we define success in this ministry? As you work through the questions in each chapter you'll develop a coherent, strategic plan for building and leading the small group ministry at your church. And whether you are establishing a new ministry or transitioning from older models of small group ministry that are no longer effective today, you'll benefit from the time-tested wisdom of the authors. This workbook can be used as a stand-alone resource or it can be used with the five-session training videos taught by the authors available on the Equipping Life-Changing Small Groups DVD (sold separately).

Dr. Bill Donahue is the author of the bestselling Leading Life-Changing Small Groups, Building a Life-Changing Small Groups Ministy (with Russ Robinson), Coaching Life-Changing Leaders (with Greg Bowman), and the Equipping Life-Changing Leaders DVD.

Russ Robinson, formerly executive director of small groups at Willow Creek and senior pastor of Meadowbrook Church in North Haledon, New Jersey, is coauthor with Bill Donahue of The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry. He continues to speak and write while practicing law in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.