The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry by Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson tells the story of how the small groups ministry got started at Willow Creek Community Church. Donahue and Robinson share the insights they have learned over the years. They share the seven big mistakes (sins) they have made and seen other churches make and then offer solutions to those mistakes.
The first mistake (or sin) that many churches make is having unclear ministry objectives. Churches need to define the direction and purpose of their small groups ministry. When churches do not do this, people do not experience the best of Biblical community and those involved in the small group ministry are unsure of their role in the overall church strategy. Everything changes when the church leadership presents a clear direction and vision for the ministry. Donahue and Robinson state that “when you determine your small groups direction, express that in a well-formulated model, and then align yourselves around specific goals, you’ll feel remarkable energy.”
The second sin that churches make is not having a point leader for their small groups ministry. Often, a church will ask an already busy staff member to lead the ministry or try to have everyone on staff do a little instead of having one point leader. This creates confusion and a lack of focus. Instead, Donahue and Robinson suggest finding one person to be the champion for the small groups ministry. This person should have the spiritual gifts of leadership, administration, and discernment and be able to communicate vision and build a strong team.
Sin three is a church having poor coaching structures. The authors state that once the small group ministry has grown past ten or twelve groups, the church needs to institute a coaching structure. Each coach helps shepherd and care for a group of small group leaders. The books recommends about 5 small group leaders for every coach. It is very important that the church recruits and trains the right people to serve as coaches. These are people who need to be caring, able to listen, encourage, and commit to pray for their small group leaders. The authors state that “the bottom line is leaders want shepherding first, teaching and training second, and leadership (vision, instructions on what do do, how to manage their ministry, and so on) last.”
The fourth sin that churches make is neglecting ongoing leadership development. It is important that churches be continually raising up new leaders and coaches. The authors suggest using “turbo groups” to train a whole group of leaders at the same time.
The fifth sin that churches make is having groups with a closed mindset. This stems from people not having a passion for seekers and leads to stagnation. The authors suggest teaching people about the true purpose of community and to tell stories about those who were once lost and who now found their place in the church.
The sixth sin churches make regarding small groups is to use too narrow definition of a small group. The authors share strategies and tools for broadening the range of small groups. “Regardless of your approach, when you combine readiness for connection with someone’s interest or passion and then determine where that intersects with an actual or potential church ministry, small group community is possible.”
Finally, the seventh sin is neglecting the assimilation process. The authors share some strategies and tools for improving assimilation. “Whenever someone comes in contact with your the church, make sure you connect them to a person, a process, and if possible, a place.”
I have to admit that I did not really enjoy reading this book. I understand that Donahue and Robinson both come from Willow Creek Community Church and so they are writing about what they know, but I quickly tired of hearing about how great Willow is and how many ministries they have. I am not against mega churches in general or Willow specifically; I just grew a little tired of hearing about their church. I think it was more about the way in which they write about their church. I also felt that this book was too long. Donahue and Robinson use too many examples and stories to get their point across. I like stories but they used multiple stories for each point.
In spite of those things, there was some great information in the book. I enjoyed reading about the coaching structure. As the point person for small groups at my church, I am looking ahead to the near future when we will need to implement a system of coaches. I really appreciated the qualities and characteristics the authors recommended looking for in people when choosing coaches.
Although very Willow-ish, I appreciated the chapter where Donahue and Robinson describe the leadership pipeline at their church. There was some great information in that section that I will be looking at again in the future. Willow Creek Community Church is known for reaching seekers and for raising up great leaders and I want to be able to learn as much as I can on how to effectively do both in ministry.
Looking ahead to the future, there is a lot that I need to do! Our church has grown from averaging 50 people each week last September to averaging about 100 people each week. As we look ahead to the fall, we know that we will need more small group leaders. The other pastor and I have just started a conversation, in part sparked by this book, on how to create a leadership pipeline to raise up more leaders who can help more people experience true, authentic Biblical community.
As our church continues to grow, I know that I will need to create a system of coaches. This means that I need to start praying that God would help me identify two people who I can train to oversee and shepherd five small group leaders each. I would like to have both coaches in place by next Easter so that we can have ten small group leaders connecting with people and receiving pastoral care.
I do not want our groups to become closed and stagnant, and so I know that we will need to make sure that we are teaching on the purpose of small groups this summer. As the small groups champion, it is my responsibility to cast the vision for the ministry and make sure that all our groups are open to new people and especially open to seekers.
