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

by Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson

• ISBN13: 9780310267102
• ISBN10: 0310267102
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-01
• Publisher: Harpercollins Christian Pub

Summary

Church Should Be the Last Place Where Anyone Stands AloneOur 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

Table of Contents

Foreword	7	(2)
Acknowledgments	9	(2)
Introduction: The Willow Creek Story	11	(6)
PART 1: Making the Case for Community	17	(36)
In the Beginning, God: The Theological Evidence	21	(12)
Created for Community: The Sociological Evidence	33	(12)
What the Church Needs to Grow: The Organizational Evidence	45	(8)
PART 2: Pursuing Community in Small Groups	53	(68)
Small Groups Are Built on Authentic Relationships	57	(16)
Small Groups Are Places Where Truth Meets Life	73	(16)
Small Groups Experience Healthy Conflict	89	(16)
Small Groups Provide Well-Balanced Shepherding	105	(16)
PART 3: Developing Leaders of Small Groups	121	(36)
Enlisting Small Group Leaders	123	(12)
Training Small Group Leaders	135	(10)
Coaching and Supporting Leaders	145	(12)
PART 4: Leading a Church of Small Groups	157	(50)
Make Decisions	161	(16)
Choose a Strategy	177	(18)
Phasing in the Small Group Ministry	195	(12)
Closing Words	207	(4)
Appendix 1: Willow Creek Small Group Facts at a Glance	211	(2)
Appendix 2: Kinds of Small Groups at Willow Creek	213	(4)
Notes	217

Excerpts

Building a Church of Small Groups
Copyright © 2001 by Willow Creek Association
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Donahue, Bill.
Building a church of small groups : a place where nobody stands alone / Bill Donahue and Russ
Robinson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-26710-2
ISBN-10: 0-310-26710-2
1. Church group work. 2. Small groups—Religious aspects—Christianity.
I. Robinson, Russ II. Title.
BV652.2 D65 2001
253'.7—dc21
2001026969
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are 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 quotations marked MESSAGE are taken from THEMESSAGE. Copyright ” by Eugene H. Peterson
1993, 1994, 1995. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE “, Copyright
” The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used
by permission.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright
” 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights
reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible,
copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the USA. Used by permission.
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—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any
other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Interior design by Beth Shagene
Printed in the United States of America
05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 /? DCI/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1t 1
M A K I N G T H E C A S E
F O R C O M M U N I T Y
awyers live for closing arguments. There is no exception: those who
enjoy trying cases love launching into their closing argument. It’s
something I (Russ) looked forward to whenever I tried a case during my
legal career, which lasted from 1982 through the mid-1990s.
I still remember the thrill of making my closing statement in a personal
injury case I tried almost fifteen years ago. We had been on trial for
almost a week, had submitted all our witness testimony and evidence, and
were ready to address the jury. I tweaked my previously prepared remarks
during a break. My opponent went first, speaking on behalf of the plaintiff,
a large corporation, that had sued my clients—a young couple whose
alleged negligence had caused their company damage.
Then it was my turn. The other side had made good arguments, but
I knew the jury members’ sympathies, the law, and the facts were all on
my side. During that closing argument, all my work—during law school,
earlier trials, and preparation for this case—came together. My client,
and even the opposing lawyer, later commented that I had the jury eating
out of my hand. There are few thrills like delivering a closing argument.
Lawsuits sometimes last years, but all the investigation, witness interviews,
and evidence development culminates in those few minutes of making
a final plea before deliberations begin. The jury or judge has listened
and weighed nuances while attorneys present evidence and witnesses for
both sides. The judge has made her rulings; the parties have rested their
cases; the stage is set. At that moment, every trial attorney knows the pressure
is on; there’s one last chance before the verdict is rendered. The outcome
may well rise and fall on this moment of closing argument.
We have framed the first part of this book as a closing argument.
Your decision about community, about building a church of small groups,
and about your own leadership may rest on your decisions about what
you read in the next three chapters. We will make the case that, unless
you begin with a crystal clear vision for community, you will not succeed
in moving your church or yourself toward small groups.
We pull together a wide variety of evidence, mostly from the Bible,
into a closing argument that makes the case for community. As we begin
our journey to building a church of small groups, we aim to persuade you
that this vision is far more than a clever design for assimilation. We build
our case for small groups from the mind and the heart of God himself, for
God’s own words about community provide the best possible evidence.
Our motivation is simple. Both as laypeople and church staff members,
we have found we can rely for a time on purely human drive to keep
doing ministry. But experience, a hard taskmaster, has taught us that
human ideas—program concepts, good management strategies, and the
like—cannot sustain in us the energy we need to become a church of small
groups.
The more we’ve come to understand, however, that community is
essential in God’s identity, mind, and dream for us, the more we draw
fresh energy for ministry. We hope that, by the time we finish our closing
argument, you will discover a fresh understanding of community and endless
energy for accomplishing it through ministry.
Our case for becoming a church of small groups begins with theological
evidence, the study of God (chapter 1). Next we focus on the sociological
evidence, who we are as God’s creatures and why we need small
groups (chapter 2). Finally, we present organizational evidence for why
small groups are the best way a church can achieve community (chapter 3).
As the judge would now say, “Mr. Robinson and Mr. Donahue, you
may now address the jury. . .”
Making the Case for Community 19
In the Beginning, God:
The Theological Evidence
Whatever community exists as a result of God’s creation, it is
only a reflection of an eternal reality that is intrinsic to the being
of God. Because God is eternally one, when he created in his
image, he created oneness.
GILBERT BILEZIKIAN, COMMUNITY 101
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Yours is an awesome responsibility.
Soon we will conclude our closing arguments, and you will render the
verdict. Our society trusts fallible men and women with decisions like the
ones you now face. Soberly and objectively, you must review the evidence.
Our arguments are not evidence; you must judge our closing statement
to determine how you view the evidence. The verdict will rest with you.
But we believe there is clear and convincing proof for building a church
of small groups. We’ll begin by reviewing the theological evidence for
community.”
The arguments from theology—that is, the study of God and his person—
prove beyond doubt that God’s nature is communal. Our theological
analysis will show you why God’s communal nature requires you to
respond by building community—for yourself and for your church.

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Excerpted from Building a Church of Small Groups: A Place Where Nobody Stands Alone by Bill Donahue, Russ Robinson, Donahue
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