Customer Reviews

Creating Community: Five Keys to Building a Small Group Culture

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When I first began reading Creating Community by Andy Stanley and Bill Willits, I was not impressed. Subtitled "5 Keys to Building a Small Group Culture," the book makes its points by means of simply structured sentences, personal anecdotes, and common-sense business principles. As an "armchair intellectual" who prefers "idea" books to "application" books, I glided through the pages of Creating Community in about an hour. About half way through, I realized that Stanley and Willits were teaching simple principles that I needed to learn and apply in my own ministry. Although I never set out to become a small groups pastor, I have become one for my church. Unfortunately, to be perfectly honest, I do not consider myself a very good small groups pastor. Why? Because I prefer to sit among abstract ideas - the native environment of armchair intellectuals - rather than to walk beside practical realities. I am good at writing curriculum and at personally leading a small group, but I have a hard time managing people and processes. Stanley and Willits offered several helpful insights about how to do the latter. Let's start with the five keys mentioned in the subtitle. They are (1) people need community, (2) leaders need clarity, (3) churches need strategy, (4) connection needs simplicity, and (5) processes need reality.

People need community - especially Americans, whom George Gallup has described as "among the loneliest people in the world." This is somewhat ironic, given that Americans are around other people all the time. But having company is not the same thing has achieving community. "We live and work in a sea of humanity," the authors write, "but we end up missing out on the benefits of regular, meaningful relationships." God created us to have those kinds of relationships, beginning with our spouses but extending to others as well. "Isolationitis" - the absence of meaningful relationships - leads to "lost perspective," "fear of intimacy," "selfishness," and "poor health." To the extent that we are isolated from others, we are also less like God - a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. "Just as He exists in meaningful relationship, so are we to exist in this quality of relationship as well," for we are created in God's image (Gen. 1.26-27). And Christ saved us so that we would live in the meaningful relationship called the church. Without authentic community, the world cannot know that God sent Jesus to save it (John 17.21). In the words of Francis Schaeffer, "Christian community is the final apologetic."

How do we - "we" meaning pastors and lay leaders - move from theology to practice, from vision to reality? Stanley and Willits' second key is this: Leaders need clarity. North Point Church in Atlanta, where the authors minister, answered that question by means of three others. The first question is "What do you want people to become?" This question provides "clarity of mission." The mission of North Point is "to relationally connect with people in such a way that it encourages them to follow Christ." The second question - "What do you want people to do?" - clarified North Point's "understanding of spiritual maturity." Focusing on the Great Commandment to love God and to love neighbor as self (Matt. 22.37-40), North Point answered this question by focusing on "intimacy with God"; "influence with insiders," i.e., Christians, members of the church; and "influence with outsiders," i.e., the unconverted. The third question is "Where do you want people to go?" This question clarified North Point's strategy, which is to get people "into a small group." Stanley and Willits explain the rationale for this strategy: "We have found that the best place for sustained life change to occur is within intentional relationships. And like many church leaders, we fell that the best place for encouraging intentional relationships is a small group. While we believe that other approaches can work, we think the small-group model works best."

That leads us to the third key: Churches need strategy. The founding members of North Point, which included the Stanley and Willits families, decided that they wanted their church to be characterized by one word: relational. This word not only captured their church's overall mission but also its daily operating strategy. "We want to do ministry in the context of relationship in communities, not on committees," the authors write. Why? Because groups: (1) "support our evangelism strategy," (2) "enable more people to serve," (3) "help develop authentic community," (4) "offer maximum flexibility," (5) "allow us to be better stewards," and (6) "remove the primary limits to growth." Not just any kind of group provides these benefits, however; only certain kinds do. Stanley and Willits call them "closed groups," which are groups that form and meet "throughout an eighteen- to twenty-four-month covenant period" without adding new members, "unless the entire group signs off on it." North Point has found that closing their groups contributes to the development of the "ABC's of group life": accountability, belonging, and care. Because the groups are closed only for a season, however, they do not become permanent cliques that are hostile to newcomers.

How do you get people into such groups? The fourth key answers this question: Connection needs simplicity. The chapter titles of this section of the book are particularly helpful: "create steps," "make them easy," and "try before you buy." The authors describe the steps under using the "'Foyer to Kitchen' strategy" of North Point. "Foyers" - such as the Sunday morning worship service - are designed to "change people's minds about church." "Living rooms" are "medium-sized environments designed to change people's minds about connecting." And" kitchens," i.e., small groups, are designed to "change people's minds about their priorities." Stanley and Willits write that "90 percent [!]" of the people who join small groups at North Point do so after attending GroupLink, "a two-hour event where people connect with others in their geographic area and stage of life to start a community group." And North Point is firmly committed to a short, initial small group experience of no more than eight weeks' length. If the group gels after this initial experience, it can commit to meet regularly over a longer period of time.

How do small group pastors and lay leaders manage the overall process of a small group ministry. Stanley and Willits' fifth key states, Processes need reality. For the authors, this means setting "realistic expectations" for small group leaders, coaches, and directors. It also means "train[ing] more for less." North Point leaders are routinely trained in six essential practices: (1) "Think life-change," (2) "cultivate relationships," (3) "promote participation," (4) "replace yourself," (5) "provide care," and "multiply influence." In the penultimate chapter, Stanley and Willits urge churches to keep their strategy "simple," "visible," "valued," "resourced," and "modeled" (by leadership).

As I noted at the outset, I wasn't impressed when I began reading Creating Community. "Armchair intellectuals" such as me prefer big, complex ideas to simple, usable ones. But as I continued to read the book, I realized that a lot of serious thinking underlay what Stanley and Willits had written. Moreover, I realized that if I paid attention, I might improve my own ministry by using their "keys" to diagnose and fix what is wrong with the small groups ministry I myself lead. So, in the end, thank you, Andy and Bill, for writing such a highly useful book for me and other small groups pastors.

Most "How To" books run the risk of taking readers down one of two bumpy paths. Either the reader becomes excited and tries to obey the book right down to the "letter of the law" and ends up creating a mess. Or else the reader yawns, tosses the book in a growing stack with other "How To" books and doesn't create anything at all.

Some of the ideas in this book probably will not work anywhere outside of North Point Community Church. After all, the ideas were developed for this specific church, and even North Point continually revises its programs. Don't copy this book. It just won't work the same for you.

Other ideas are innovative and valuable. Small group ministry has been around since Jesus called his 12 disciples. John Wesley built the huge Methodist movement on the structural foundation of small group ministry. Pastors salivate at the thought of using effective small groups. The problem is that most small groups are not effective. They become in grown. They fail to divide in life as easily as they divide on paper. They wander from the point and degenerate into globs of protospirituality. This book presents ideas to help keep those terrible things from happening.

Wich ideas are which? Which ones should be overlooked at the present time and which are valuable? Look the book over. Use those portions that meet your needs and ignore the rest. Don't throw the book away. Given time, you may want to consult it again. Given the right time and right circumstance, all these ideas might be valuable!

I love the work that Andy Stanley and Bill Willits are doing with small groups at North Point Community Church in suburban Atlanta. I purchased this book with huge expectations. Though I was slightly disappointed, there are a lot of gems to be found in this work.

One initial complaint is the fact that Andy Stanley basically wrote an introduction to the book, and Bill Willits wrote the rest. I have no problem with that, as Willits is the small groups guru at their church. However, I think it's unfortunate that they felt the need to slap Stanley's name as a co-author, presumably for marketing purposes. In any case, this is Willits' book. And having heard him speak several times before, that's good enough for me. He may not have Stanley's name-recognition, but he is the small groups guy whom I respect the most.

The book is basically the story of small groups at North Point, starting at the beginning and bringing us to their current organizational structure. It's a pleasant, easy read, and Willits makes no claims that this is the universal "How-to" book for small groups. He admits, thankfully, that certain things will transfer to other churches, while other choices are specific to their situation. It's an insightful caveat.

Many of the ideas in this book are not new. The rationale for people's need for small groups is largely recycled material. If you want a more thorough "defense" of group life, read Donahue and Robinson's "Building a Church of Small Groups" or Frazee's "The Connecting Church."

However, the next several sections were filled with accessible and applicable points, even if many can be found in other small groups resources. North Point is basically doing two things that are totally different from the mainstream of small groupdom. First, they have abandoned the meta-church model of coaches as an intermediate role between small group leaders and staff. It flies in the face of conventional small group strategy, but I love the explanation and result.

The other thing that North Point does differently than most is to require closed groups (for 18 to 24 months, at which time groups are expected to multiply and welcome new folks). I am less compelled to pursue this approach, but again, Willits provides a clear explanation for why they do it.

At the end of the day, this is a simple (not surprisingly, as simplicity is one of their key tenets) but helpful tool. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get charged up about small groups and think through a few things differently than what is typically presented by most small group experts. I look forward to further work by Willits!!

Title: Creating Community: 5 Keys to Building a Small Group Culture by Andy Stanley and Bill Willits

Pages: 190

How it was obtained: I was given this book before I started leading a small group at a church in Columbia, SC. Obviously I didn't read it when I was supposed to read it.

Time spent on the "to read" shelf: 4 years.

Days spent reading it: 2 months.

Why I read it: I was supposed to read it before I helped lead a small group. I felt bad about never having read it, so I added it to this list and completed my assignment years after it was originally given.

Brief review: This book is a Northpoint Church resource that talks about how they created a small group environment at their church. I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I recognize how important community is in spiritual development. So I think there are a few helpful pointers in this book about how that is accomplished.

But for the most part, this book really rehashes old business models and applies them to small groups. For instance one point of the book is "Clarify the win." Make sure you know what your end goal is. Gee, that sounds like Business class 101 to me. We need to know our goal to get there. I get it. Another section was about having reasonable criteria for small group leaders. Have quality leaders, but don't expect them to be perfect. Done.

In another section of the book they talk about how they want to see their small groups multiplying. SO every 1.5 years the group splits, but also grows. The chart goes:

Year/# of people
0/12
1.5/24
3/48
4/96
etc. etc.

However they never explain how these groups magically grow (especially considering they are CLOSED groups). It was like they were saying:

Step 1. Start small group.
Step 2. Double in size in a year and a half.
Step 3. Start new small group.

It reminds me of the only episode I ever saw of Southpark with these underwear gnomes whose motto was: Phase 1--Steal underwear. Phase 2-- Phase 3--Profit!

How do you do that? How do you double the small group size? I realize a church like Northpoint has new people coming and going all the time. But the old "if you build it they will come" mentality does not work for small groups in most churches, making this point practically worthless for those churches.

And one more personal pet peeve. Andy Stanley's name is prominently on the front cover, but I would be shocked if he wrote anything besides the introduction that is about 5 pages long. If you write a book, put your name on the cover. If you write the intro you're not the author! You're the "With intro written by" guy. His name is on the cover because it is his church and it will help sell this book. That's annoying to me. We might as well grab John Grisham, make him write an intro and put his name on the front cover of any book we want to sell. Why not? Ok, enough ranting.

So I did enjoy some of what is in this book. The opening chapters deal a lot with why people need a community they can fit into. There is a profound need in the human soul that needs community, and I think this book explores that need well. It gives us a glimpse of a biblical theology for small groups.

There are a number of small points that are applicable to anyone working on developing or strengthening their small groups. But this is not a book about how to start, grow, and develop your small groups. It is a big picture book that is not particularly practical for smaller churches, in my opinion. Not that the ideas are bad or wrong, they just are not for general application. I was hoping for something more and simply did not get it. Good thing this book was reasonably short.

Favorite quote: "Disconnected people tend to be more selfish. Isolation breeds selfishness."

Stars: 2 out of 5

Final Word: Disappointing.

Looking for a way to think about how to design your small group ministry? That might be the most helpful thing about Creating Community: Five Keys to Building a Small Group Culture. Although it's a short book (190 pages), it contains some very important keys to building a small group culture in your church. Most important? North Point's fundamental bias is to be intentional about the what and the how of everything they do. This is a huge lesson for the rest of us...one not to be missed.

Like the Seven Practices of Effective Ministry, Creating Community takes you sequentially through the process of making some challenging decisions as you begin to develop a small group ministry. Learning to ask three questions can provide a good foundation: (1) What do we want people to become?, (2) What do we want people to do?, and (3) Where do want people to go? These questions are all about "clarifying the win" and "thinking steps not programs" (two keys to the Seven Practices).

While Creating Community doesn't tackle how to take apart your existing program, it does a great job of providing a way of thinking about what a better approach might be. For all of us who are wrestling with systems that are less than effective, this is a good addition to the arsenal. At the same time, if you've got the tough work of taking apart a preexisting structure, you may want to consider John Kotter's Leading Change as a companion!

This book is not, perhaps, for the standard layman, but wonderful for anyone who wants to understand better in inner workings of their church and why some programs fail and others succeed. The questions at the end of each chapter are very thought provoking. The book is an easy read, but very powerful.

Creating Community is an interesting book, a big idea book. Reading it is like taking a tour of NorthPoint's small group ministry.

The tour includes the feel for the required environment and leadership participants. It includes glimpses into the planning and formation of this "Small Groups" church. There's also a peak into review and reformation when changes are needed.

As a big idea and invigorating planning book it succeeds,however, this book alone will probably not provide a blue-print for constructing a small group ministry. It will certainly inspire the framework and growth of smal group ministry!

This is a thought provoking read. I'm in my second year as a coach of small group leaders, in a church that bases ministry through small groups, and I picked up some good ideas that I think we can incorporate.

The strong suit of this book is the value of the clear and concise reasons the authors give for why small groups are needed in the life of worshiping communities. Straightforward and to the point, the theology supporting small group community is spelled out in an easy-to-understand and teachable format. While the mechanics of Stanley's small group ministry in his mega-church may not be transferrable to all churches in all places, the sound reasoning for the utility of a small group environment for the health of the worshiping body is well presented. This is a good resource.

Simply put, A great resource on the value of Small Groups. It's living out the Acts 2 church (Acts 2:42-47).

God created us for intentional, meaningful relationships. These relationships are best accomplished in intentional small groups.

Read the book!