Well, as promised at our Life Group leadership meeting below are most of the resources I turn to for guidance, a memory-jog, motivation, tools, etc. Hopefully you will find them useful and will help in your pursuit to navigate Group Life well! Enjoy :)
Community 101 by Gilbert Bilezikian
Walking the Small Group Tightrope by Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson
7 Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry by Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson
The Search to Belong by Joseph Myers
The Church of Irresistible Influence by Robert Lewis
Building a Church of Small Groups by Bill Donahue
Making Small Groups Work by Henry Cloud and John Townsend
Soul Revolution by John Burke
Leading Life-Changing Small Group Leaders by Bill Donahue
Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders by Bill Donahue
The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith
The Good and Beautiful Life by James Bryan Smith
The Good and Beautiful Community by James Bryan Smith
No Perfect People Allowed by John Burke
Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley
Biblical Foundations of Small Group Ministry by Gareth Icenogle
Community that is Christian by Julie Gorman
Nine Keys to Effective Small Group Leadership by Carl George
The Big Book on Small Groups by Jeffory Arnold
Creating Community by Andy Stanley and Bill Willits
Activate by Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas
Simple Small Groups by Bill Search
Refrigerator Rights by Will Miller and Glen Sparks
Visioneering by Andy Stanley
Created to Learn by Rick Yount
Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Sacred Roads Review
So my small group recently finished Sacred Roads by Heather Zempel and I thought it would be helpful for all you small group leaders out there if I were to post a brief review of this study.
When I first sat down to read through the study I was struck at how well the content flowed together. The approach Zempel takes is truly engaging. Each pre-session reading opens with a brief snippet about a person and how they model the chapter's theme. For example, the pre-session reading on Incarnational Discipleship opens with a wonderfully worded summary of the early days and decisions of Agnes, better known as Mother Teresa. Educational Psychologists would be proud as this is a great learning readiness exercise for the student.
While each pre-session reading can be lengthy for the nominally engaged member, all the student must do is blink to realize that the content has the potential to challenge them in the walk with Christ. As I read through each reading I had many moments of sheer conviction as I reflected back on how many times I was not following Jesus way of building disciples. While one may disagree with the terms she uses, she more than drowns out any disagreement with a clear and concise explanation of Jesus' example for the type of discipleship strategy being studied.
To take things a step further each pre-session reading concludes on a high note. Zempel encourages the student with zeal to at least experiment with the different types of discipleship Jesus harnessed. It always left me with a good tast in my mouth.
Now, the actual study contains many questions for discussion, often too many to get through (well maybe that's just my group :)) The format of the leader guide is well written and this study scores an A+ in providing leader helps. I mean, we're talking a cd-rom of articles to dig deeper, videos by Zempel herself, emailable songs, articles, and short videos that enhance the learning experience. It's all around a top shelf resource for the small group leader.
Lastly, like any study, what the group thinks of the study rests solely on the leader in whether they ask good questions and are a good facilitator. Most of our group enjoyed the study and we often had conversations about the "what's next" aspect of a particular mode of discipleship. I fully endorse this study and would recommend it to groups that desire to self-evaluate how they grow closer to Christ.
Throughout the study, Zempel's sentiment rings loudly-Jesus made disciples in many different ways, it wasn't always sitting in a circle filling out a workbook. It was sending the disciples out 2 by 2, taking a walk through a grain field and expounding on God as the provider of everything we have, it was Jesus sitting by the fire and building into the life of a former tax collector to the point where that disciple chronicles in a book the story of Jesus, and 2000 years later I'm in the service of the King because of the truth of his book.
If you want to be challenged...do this study. Boom.
When I first sat down to read through the study I was struck at how well the content flowed together. The approach Zempel takes is truly engaging. Each pre-session reading opens with a brief snippet about a person and how they model the chapter's theme. For example, the pre-session reading on Incarnational Discipleship opens with a wonderfully worded summary of the early days and decisions of Agnes, better known as Mother Teresa. Educational Psychologists would be proud as this is a great learning readiness exercise for the student.
While each pre-session reading can be lengthy for the nominally engaged member, all the student must do is blink to realize that the content has the potential to challenge them in the walk with Christ. As I read through each reading I had many moments of sheer conviction as I reflected back on how many times I was not following Jesus way of building disciples. While one may disagree with the terms she uses, she more than drowns out any disagreement with a clear and concise explanation of Jesus' example for the type of discipleship strategy being studied.
To take things a step further each pre-session reading concludes on a high note. Zempel encourages the student with zeal to at least experiment with the different types of discipleship Jesus harnessed. It always left me with a good tast in my mouth.
Now, the actual study contains many questions for discussion, often too many to get through (well maybe that's just my group :)) The format of the leader guide is well written and this study scores an A+ in providing leader helps. I mean, we're talking a cd-rom of articles to dig deeper, videos by Zempel herself, emailable songs, articles, and short videos that enhance the learning experience. It's all around a top shelf resource for the small group leader.
Lastly, like any study, what the group thinks of the study rests solely on the leader in whether they ask good questions and are a good facilitator. Most of our group enjoyed the study and we often had conversations about the "what's next" aspect of a particular mode of discipleship. I fully endorse this study and would recommend it to groups that desire to self-evaluate how they grow closer to Christ.
Throughout the study, Zempel's sentiment rings loudly-Jesus made disciples in many different ways, it wasn't always sitting in a circle filling out a workbook. It was sending the disciples out 2 by 2, taking a walk through a grain field and expounding on God as the provider of everything we have, it was Jesus sitting by the fire and building into the life of a former tax collector to the point where that disciple chronicles in a book the story of Jesus, and 2000 years later I'm in the service of the King because of the truth of his book.
If you want to be challenged...do this study. Boom.
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