Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry, The [Hardcover]

Bill Donahue (Author), Russ Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

It's one thing to start a small group ministry. It's another to keep the groups in your church healthy and headed in the same direction. Whatever your church's approach may be---whether it is a church with groups or of groups---sooner or later, as a leader, you'll need to do some troubleshooting. That's when the expert, to-the-point guidance in this book will prove its worth. In The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry, what would take you years to learn through trial and error is distilled into some of the most useful information you can find. Drawing on the knowledge they've gleaned from working inside Willow Creek Community Church, from consulting with hundreds of churches, and from conducting conferences and seminars worldwide, small group experts Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson furnish you with proven, real-life solutions to the knottiest problems in your small group ministry. This is no theory---it's hands-on stuff you can read and apply today. The beauty of this book lies in its unique diagnostic process. It allows you to assess, diagnose, and correct seven common 'deadly sins' that can drain the life from your church's small group ministry. Here are the strategies and tools you need to deal with 1. Unclear Ministry Objectives 2. Lack of Point Leadership 3. Poor Coaching Structures 4. Neglect of Ongoing Leadership Development 5. Closed Group Mind-set 6. Narrow Definition of a Small Group 7. Neglect of Assimilation Process The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry is indispensable for every small group director, church staff, ministry leader, and senior pastor. It's strong medicine for the ailments that threaten the small groups in your church.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

It’s one thing to start a small group ministry. It’s another to keep the groups in your church healthy and headed in the same direction. Whatever your church’s approach may be—whether it is a church with groups or of groups—sooner or later, as a leader, you’ll need to do some troubleshooting. That’s when the expert, to-the-point guidance in this book will prove its worth.

In The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry, what would take you years to learn through trial and error is distilled into some of the most useful information you can find. Drawing on the knowledge they’ve gleaned from working inside Willow Creek Community Church, from consulting with hundreds of churches, and from conducting conferences and seminars worldwide, small group experts Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson furnish you with proven, real-life solutions to the knottiest problems in your small group ministry. This is no theory—it’s hands-on stuff you can read and apply today.

The beauty of this book lies in its unique diagnostic process. It allows you to assess, diagnose, and correct seven common "deadly sins" that can drain the life from your church’s small group ministry. Here are the strategies and tools you need to deal with 1. Unclear Ministry Objectives 2. Lack of Point Leadership 3. Poor Coaching Structures 4. Neglect of Ongoing Leadership Development 5. Closed Group Mind-set 6. Narrow Definition of a Small Group 7. Neglect of Assimilation Process

The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry is indispensable for every small group director, church staff, ministry leader, and senior pastor. It’s strong medicine for the ailments that threaten the small groups in your church.

About the Author

Dr. Bill Donahue is Executive Director of Small Group Ministries for the Willow Creek Association (WCA) and works with Willow Creek Community Church to train and develop small group leaders. The church has over 2,500 small groups and the WCA has over 12,000 member churches worldwide representing over 95 denominations in 27 countries. SPANISH BIO: Bill Donahue es director del ministerio de grupos pequenos de Willow Creek Association. Previamente se desempeno como miembro del personal de Willow Creek Community Church colaborando en la planificacion e implementacion del ministerio mundial de grupos pequenos. Reside en West Dundee, Illinois, con su esposa Gail y sus dos hijos.

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. SPANISH BIO: Russ Robinson, abogado de Hoffman Estates, Illinois, fue pastor principal de Meadowbrook Church en North Haledon, Nueva Jersey. Y con anterioridad fue director de ministerios y grupos pequenos en Willow creek Community Church. Es coautor con Bill Donahue del libro titulado Building a Church of Small Groups.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310247063
• ISBN-13: 978-0310247067
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,204,111 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Bill Donahue, Ph.D., is a popular conference speaker, prolific author and leadership consultant. A graduate of Princeton University, Bill also holds a Ph.D. in Adult Learning and Development from the University of North Texas. He is an adjunct faculty member at several graduate schools teaching courses in leadership and how to build effective groups and teams.

After working with P&G and PNC Corp., Bill co-founded a non-profit leadership development organization in Dallas. Later he joined the Willow Creek Association where he designed leadership strategies and resources for leaders worldwide. Contact Bill at www.drbilldonahue.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful tool for small group directors..., December 14, 2006

By 

Chad Oberholtzer (Boalsburg, PA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry: A Troubleshooting Guide for Church Leaders (Paperback)

I have read other books from Donahue and Robinson and heard them speak at several small groups conference, so the information in this book was relatively familiar to me. Nonetheless, "The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry" is a valuable resources in which these small group gurus share their experiences and failures in the hopes that others involved in small group ministry within the local church can avoid those same missteps.

One thing that I appreciate about this book is its straightforward format. The seven deadly sins of small group ministry, as assessed by the authors, each occupy two chapters. The first chapter on each sin describes the problem, and the second chapter provides some solutions. This allows the reader to pick and choose a particular issue and read about it in some detail without having to read the entire book. I appreciated the experience of reading it straight through but look forward to referring to it in the future on one or more specific topics, and the simple format makes that notion feasible.

The second thing that I appreciated most about this book was the author's experience and wisdom. It is clear that they have gathered insight from years of small group ministry, and they are honest in stating that they have actually committed almost all of the sins at one point or another. That humility (and the almost playful writing style throughout the book) makes the information very accessible. The suggestions are not coming from some perfect small group geniuses, but instead come from real people who have made real mistakes and can offer real solutions.

My primary criticism of the book is that a somewhat limited perspective is provided. It only makes sense that they would write from the framework of Willow Creek, where they both spent much of their ministry lives. However, they seem unable to extract themselves from the Willow way of doing things. Quite frankly, the assimilation structure that they suggest is nothing if not overwhelming. In fact, the entire book is rather formidable. Again, it is formidable because they have so much important information to share, but it might be more useful if they had eliminated some of the painstaking detail and emphasized the main ideas.

I am glad that I read this book, and I know that it will shape how I proceed in my role in leadership over the small groups at our church. We are actually committing several of these deadly sins right now, and I now have the ammunition to make some necessary adjustments. If you are willing to dive into the thick of Willow Creek's learning from groups, this is a great book. I highly recommend it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Seven Sins of Small Group Ministry, October 4, 2007

By 

Harold E. Covert (Hurricane, west Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry: A Troubleshooting Guide for Church Leaders (Paperback)

Our church is on it's second try when it comes to Smalll Groups. The first try was about ten years ago and in about 18 months they came apart. After reading The Seven Sins of Small Group Ministry, I realized that we had commited all seven of the sins or mistakes. This is an excellent book which is straight to the point and very easy to read.

thanks, Ed Covert

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where are the potholes in this road?, March 8, 2007

By 

A. Follower "Director, Small Groups Ministry" (Sonoma, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry: A Troubleshooting Guide for Church Leaders (Paperback)

Why waste a year or two in your congregation's spiritual journey? Why drive blind into dangerous, program-breaking potholes if they are, in fact, already identified? This book is a great resource reflecting some gifted teachers who have looked back and debriefed about what could have been done better "if only they'd known". Well, now they do and their feedback is available here. It has been referred to actively by our leadership group frequently in our 18 months of planning pre-launch. Now we use it to check our status relative to potholes. Our eyes are open to the Deceiver's obstacles and there are many. Plus, ol' Mischief Maker wants us to think good things aren't and so makes good decisions seem dangerous, like: embracing Holy Spirit-driven movement when a group comes together in an unexpected way. Sometimes there is fear of the unplanned. Sometimes there is confidence in something which generally hasn't worked elsewhere. So when is an idea constructive? When might it be destructive? This book addresses the 7 'sins' Willow uncovered; the flip side is knowing how to avoid them or fix them right out of the chute. Thank you, Willow.