Simple Small Groups , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Bill Search

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

89 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Over the past two decades, small groups have gone from spontaneous gatherings among friends to a major and elaborate phenomenon in the church. Many evangelical churches have some form of small groups ministry in place. But there's just one problem, says Bill Search--what started as a simple get-together has become a complicated process, especially for small group leaders. They are often not sure what is expected of them or what to expect from their groups as a result of their efforts.In Simple Small Groups, Search lays out the three C's of small groups--connecting, changing, and cultivating. This paradigm helps to simplify leading small groups in a way that is helpful, rewarding, and life changing. Unlike many other books geared toward small group leaders, Simple Small Groups does not require a church-wide adoption of an intricately designed system of assimilation, making it useful to any small group leader looking for guidance.

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 septembre 2008
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781585589395
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0432€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

simple small groups

A User-Friendly Guide for Small Group Leaders

BILL SEARCH
2008 by Bill Search
Published by Baker Books a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakerbooks.com
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Search, Bill, 1971- Simple small groups : a user-friendly guide for small group leaders / Bill Search. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ). ISBN 978-0-8010-7153-9 (pbk.) 1. Church group work. 2. Small groups-Religious aspects-Christianity. I. Title. BV652.2.S42 2008 253 .7-dc22 2008024788
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture marked NLT is taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture marked TNIV is taken from the Holy Bible, Today s New International Version Copyright 2001 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.
To my wife, Karyn. It s hard to explain something so wonderful . . .
contents
Foreword by Bill Donahue
Acknowledgments
Introduction : Confessions of a Small Groups Minister
1. How We Got Here: Hints from History
Part 1 Connecting: The Relational Pattern
2. The Pattern of Connecting: Overcoming Obstacles, Imagining Possibilities
3. The Nuts and Bolts of Connecting: Helping People Form Relational Bonds
Part 2 Changing: The Growth Pattern
4. The Pattern of Changing: Exploring How People Conform to the Image of Christ
5. The Nuts and Bolts of Changing: Helping People Become More Christlike
Part 3 Cultivating: The Missional Pattern
6. The Pattern of Cultivating: The Way Groups Revolutionize the World
7. The Nuts and Bolts of Cultivating: Helping People Become More Missional
Part 4 Harmony: Pulling It All Together
8. When Good Groups Go Bad: The Pitfall of Obsession
9. Real Simple: Harmony of the Three C s
Afterword by Bill Willits
Appendix 1: Key Scripture for Connecting
Appendix 2: Key Scripture for Changing
Appendix 3: Key Scripture for Cultivating
Notes
Bibliography
foreword
I have been more than encouraged by the rediscovery of communal life in churches that transcends Sunday services and official gatherings. The group life movement in recent decades is evidence of this return. As a result, a variety of models and strategies have evolved to guide people to a place-a small group-where, as Parker Palmer says, obedience to truth can be practiced. This has been a wonderful development.
But some approaches to group life in the church felt wooden and forced, placing institutional goals ahead of group health. It became more important to be in a group than to become a community. Leaders were judged by the size of their groups, the number of baptisms, study guides completed, problems avoided, or lost people invited. What began as a desire to connect people to community became a program-a rigid, lifeless system of rules, meetings, guidelines, and objectives. I should know. I have seen many of these. And unfortunately I have contributed to the problem myself at times.
Thankfully, a number of voices have emerged to call us back to the core. Voices that ask real questions: Why are we here? What is real community? What does it mean to be a grace-giving, Christ-loving collection of followers eager to support one another and rescue those who have strayed from the God who loves them?
Bill Search is one of these voices. In Simple Small Groups Bill calls us back to what got us here-a simpler journey into meaningful communal life that transforms followers and dispenses grace to those who wander. His candor, experience, and passion will cause the reader to ask one penetrating question: what are we becoming together, and for what mission are we giving our lives when we gather as a group? It is the question of a lifetime, and Bill not only raises it but offers some practical (but not simplistic) insights for group leaders like you and me to turn our missional vision into reality.
I hope that Bill s voice stirs the voice that speaks inside you-that still, small voice of the Spirit guiding you to a simpler life in community so that you are prepared to engage the challenges of a fragmented and complex world.
Dr. Bill Donahue Executive Director of Group Life, Willow Creek Association
acknowledgments
A good book on small groups must be written in community, not isolation. God has given me good communities and good friends who have influenced this work through the years, and I can t possibly thank all the many people whom God has used to shape my understanding not only of small groups ministry but of the Christian life. So please forgive me if your name is missing from the extensive list below, but know that I appreciate you nonetheless.
My most important community: My wife, Karyn, and our kids. I am so grateful to my beautiful, brilliant, godly wife who endured through this with me. You encouraged, supported, and bore the lion s share of family life while I escaped to Starbucks to write. Maggie, Emma, and Jack-thanks for your patience while Daddy sat at the dining table with earphones in, editing and editing and editing . . .
My staff: Nevan Hooker, Jon Weiner, Susan St. Clair, Ross Brodfuehrer, Jerry Naville, Rich Shanks, Jenny Brown, and Jennifer Ballengee. You pushed, questioned, and helped me better understand what I was trying to say. A special thanks to Jenny and Michael Brown, who found the right word, cultivate, to explain the missional C. Special thanks to Nevan Hooker for your dedicated, creative support for all things Simple Small Groups . Many thanks to Don Waddell for providing great questions and challenging thoughts to improve the manuscript.
My church: Thanks to Dave Stone, my senior minister and enthusiastic champion for groups along with Brett DeYoung. It is truly a privilege to serve with you both. I must also thank the small group (and big group) leaders at Southeast Christian Church who quickly embraced us almost two years ago and made us feel at home.
My spiritual family: Kent Odor-you really are my Obi Wan Kenobi. God brought your wisdom, guidance, and encouragement to me at exactly the right time. And, thanks to Brett Eastman for introducing me to Kent! Bill Willits-you are part coach, part cheerleader, and part role model. Joe Myers-your questions and ideas have propelled me into deeper thinking about the whole small group movement. Bill Donahue, Greg Bowman, Russ Robinson, Dave Treat, and Steve Gladden-you guys are a gift to the church and have taught me so much about this ministry. Anne Wagner-you have consistently challenged me both personally and professionally to aim higher and allow God to direct my course.
My groups: Cary, Daryl, and Dave-I look forward to our journey together. Josh and Doug-because of you I know what groups can be, and I know that there are bonds of brotherhood stronger than flesh and blood.
My heritage: Jeff Manion-thank you for bringing me back to church ministry all those years ago. I am grateful for my Ada Bible Church family, who provided the fertile soil for many concepts in this book and who allowed God to develop in me a love for groups ministry. Thanks to the groups team at Ada-Phil, Iva, Jim, Kevin, Mike, and Bob- with whom I was privileged to have learned and grown by serving so many great group leaders.
My parents: Mom and Dad-thanks for pushing and prodding me all those years ago. Mom and Dad Wallace, thanks for your constant encouragement and support.
And finally, thanks to my editor, Chad Allen. You transformed ramblings into coherent thoughts. Now I know what concrete means! It s been a pleasure working with you.
introduction Confessions of a Small Groups Minister
I am an unlikely small groups minister.
In fact, twelve years ago I was a small groups skeptic.
As the early wave of small group fervor was just hitting churches, I wasn t even sure what a small group was, but I was pretty sure I didn t want to be in one. Besides the obvious scariness of being in a confined space with church people, the whole thing seemed like a blind date that everyone expected to be a marriage. Then there were the terms small groups people threw around: discipleship, community, facilitating, birthing ! It s no wonder I ran in the other direction!
When my wife, Karyn, finally convinced me to go, I didn t know who the small group leader was, but I was sure, with my bachelor s degree in Bible and theology and my master s in educational ministries, that I was bound to be sharper than whoever they put in front of me. And here he was: a twentysomething, Brian, with a big grin and a Bible. Oh boy , I thought, here we go .
Like I said, it was Karyn s idea. We had met with the small groups pastor, Steve, and he talked with us about groups and where he thought we could plug in. I kept trying to put the whole thing off, but we had just gotten married, and Karyn was desperate for a place to belong as a couple.
So I bit the bullet . . . and signed up for leadership training. If I was going to be in a group, I reasoned, I would lead the thing. Unfortunately, leadership training was more like leadership torment. It involved several hours of watching videotapes of some ancient small group expert. I made it through exactly one hour of training, gave up, and Karyn and I joined a group.
It felt like defeat.
To make matters worse, the first night we were to meet with our new group, Ka