Sticky Church by Larry Osborne is an important read in the world of small groups. It's got the right blend: balancing concepts, questions and strategies to adapt to your own environment.
Chapter 13: Determining Your Primary Purpose. (What about chapters 1-12? Take the tour.)
Everyone has their own idea about the primary purpose of a small group. Look around and you'll find a plethora of mutually exclusive goals and purposes.
- Ideal vehicle for discipleship.
- Perfect tool for evangelism.
- Secret to unlimited church growth
- Shepard the flock.
- Administrate the church.
- Provide for deep Bible study.
- Produce an environment that fosters no-holds-barred sharing and prayer.
- A place to make friends.
With so many competing viewpoints, the bottom line is that you've got to define and agree on the primary purpose of your small group ministry before the launch (and continually articulate it from that point forward). Otherwise, everyone ends up using a different measuring stick. Chapter 13 gives you a framework for identifying and agreeing on your primary purpose for groups in your church. (What about chapters 14-19? Take the tour.)
Here's how we defined it at Granger. If you're interested in the why behind our what, you'll want to keep up with Kathy Guy's blog (she's our Directory of Community). Add her to your blog reader to get an inside scoop on discoveries and strategies we're finding along the way about small groups and community environments.
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