Steve and I have been talking a lot lately about how to improve our small group structure at our church, so I grabbed a bunch of small group books off my shelf and from Biola’s library.
My Favorites, with notes on what I got out of them:
1. The Connecting Church, by Randy Frazee – Small groups are geographically based (to the point of a few block radius), and demographically diverse (children to the elderly, and everyone in between, are in the same group). Small groups all meet on Sunday evening as a part of making room for life the rest of the week, and a reflection of a meaningful Sabbath. Small groups are the epicenter of missional activity for their church, so each group is expected to serve locally and/or around the world together.
2. Creating Community, by Andy Stanley and Bill Willits – The manual on how North Point Church does small groups. Since it’s North Point, things are very planned and strategic, which is both a plus and minus.
3. Connecting, by Larry Crabb – A Christian psychologist explains how people connect through small group environments (and what prevents that, as well).
Books I’m planning to read as part of our planning and study (and why):
1. Activate, by Nelson Searcy – Curious about the idea of a semester based small group system.
2. Making Small Groups Work, by Henry Cloud – I’ve really enjoyed what Cloud, Townsend, and Donahue did in their DVD series ReGroup on small groups.
3. The 7 Deadly Sins of Small Groups, by Bill Donahue – Willow Creek’s small group czar’s talk about what not to do.
4. The Big Book on Small Groups, by Jeffrey Arnold – Not sure why I’m so intrigued by this one, but I’m giving it a shot, too.
What books on developing our small group ministry would you recommend?
Bob Wriedt 