Building a Church of Small Groups: A Place Where Nobody Stands Alone (Paperback)

by Bill Donahue (Author), Russ Robinson (Author) "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury..." (more)
Key Phrases: small groups infrastructure, turbo groups, shepherding plan, Willow Creek, Holy Spirit, Bill Hybels (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This book provides pastors and church leaders with the vision, values, and initial steps necessary to begin building a church where small groups are integrated throughout the entire ministry.

From the Back Cover
Church Should Be the Last Place Where Anyone Stands Alone

Our hearts were made for deep, authentic relationships. For community. 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.

At Willow Creek Community Church, small groups are so important that they define the core organizational strategy. Willow Creek has gone from being a church with small groups to being a church of small groups. Sharing insights from that transition, its two chief architects tell how your church—whatever its size and circumstances—can become a place where people of all ages can experience powerful, transforming community.

Part one presents the theological, sociological, and organizational underpinnings of small groups. You’ll discover why they are so vital to church health. Part two moves you from vision to practice. Part three shows you how to identify, recruit, train, and support group leaders. And part four helps you deal with the critical process of change as your church develops its small group ministry.

“Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson have not just thought and read and talked about community. They have rolled up their sleeves and devoted their vocational lives to figuring out how to actually help make it happen with real-life people in a real-life church.”
—John Ortberg, author, If You Want to Walk on Water, Get Out of the Boat

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310267102
• ISBN-13: 978-0310267102
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #125,799 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Developmental Principles, November 25, 2003

By	Colin Ovenell (Clarks Summit, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building a Church of Small Groups (Hardcover)

The authors, Donahue and Robinson, have placed a superb community-building resource into the hands of the reader. This is not just another book about theory on the one hand or experience on the other. It is a book that provides the groundwork for a proper understanding of the implementation and growth of a community-based philosophy of ministry.

Whether or not the reader is in agreement with the Willow Creek philosophy of ministry or not this book has great value. The principles are expressed in a manner that is not context specific. In other words I can use the principles of community-building, leadership training, etc. in a variety of contexts and apply them successfully.

The authors acknowledge throughout the pages of the book that "simply copying a model is ill-fated (191)." This honest approach to small groups is what seems to be lacking in a number of similar resources. Donahue and Robinson face the readers with real-life examples displaying the diversity of methods used by churches across the nation to develop leadership and conduct small groups in accordance with biblical community.

"Building a Church of Small Groups," is an excellent resource for any pastor or lay-leader interested in understanding small group dynamics from a balanced philosophical and practical perspective.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you need to start a small group ministry, July 24, 2003

By	David T. Wayne "aka The 'JollyBlogger'" (Glen Burnie, MD United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Building a Church of Small Groups (Hardcover)

In the title to this review I said that it contains everything you need to start a small group ministry. By that, I don't mean to say that this book is the last word on small groups, nor do I mean to say that it has everything you will need to maintain and grow a small group ministry.

However, for those churches that are contemplating beginning small groups in their churches, I can't think of a better resource. The authors cover all the bases. The section titles of the book are:

Part 1 - Making the Case for Community
Part 2 - Pursuing Community in Small Groups
Part 3 - Developing Leaders of Small Groups
Part 4 - Leading a Church of Small Groups

These sections provide the rationale for small groups and the basic mechanics of launching and maintaining small groups. I particularly like the practical emphasis of the book. It gives you help on building relationships, resolving conflict, and shepherding small groups. Among other things, it encourages you to have "open" groups with an "empty chair" to emphasize the outreach aspect of small group life.

It covers all aspects of leadership training - although it doesn't give you an exact curriculum it gives you a process for leadership training. The authors focus more on apprenticeship and what one could call "on the job training" for leadership development than classroom training.

The section on "Leading a Church of Small Groups" is especially helpful. You don't just decide one day to "do small groups." Launching takes time and is best done in steps, phasing in over time.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a good, thorough overview of what small groups can be and do in a church.

8 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great So Far, November 18, 2001

By	Michael Lopp (Reedsburg, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building a Church of Small Groups (Hardcover)

We are in the early stages of small group development. I'm order this for all my existing small group leaders to us to help us formulate and understand the necessity and vision for small groups as the structure support a growing church. We currently have 8 groups.

I have only read the first one third. It gives a great theological basis of small groups. The theology was inspiring to me and will help solidify in our hearts that small groups are not a way to acomodate growth and build disciples but rather fundamental to it.

I can't wait to get into the practical stuff.