Creating Community

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 7 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!