eBook - Countdown: Launching and Leading Transformational Groups

Countdown: Launching and Leading Transformational Groups is a helpful guide for group leaders seeking to start a group or to improve an existing one.

When NASA (or other private enterprises) wants to reach the moon or mars, or accomplish any mission, they expend tremendous energy, enlist the best resources, and monitor every detail. They do this because they have a challenging goal and lives can be lost if they make mistakes.

The goal of a small group intent on discipling believers is infinitely more important and consequential. But do we approach it with the same intensity or care? For those leaders who do want to take their commitment and effectiveness to a whole new level, this book is for you. Based on extensive research, and the decades of experience shared by the authors in Sunday School and small group environments, Countdown is a comprehensive yet streamlined guide: How to start a group, and why. The types of groups. The various roles within them. What to study. Recruiting new leaders. How to arrange the chairs. And so much more.

Features:
10 Terms Impacting Conversations about Discipleship through Groups
9 Research-validated Reasons to Disciple People through Groups
8 Big Choices Impacting the Dynamics of Groups
7 Elements of Transformational Churches Applied to Groups
6 Challenges to Conventional Thinking about Groups
5 Stages for Launching New Groups
4 Starting Points for Approaching Group Bible Study
3 Purposes for Prioritizing a Group's Mission
2 Key Words that Will Determine Your Ministry's Destiny
1 Essential Book for Guiding Group Conversations

Benefits:

• Get inspired to start a new group
  
• Learn about the different types of groups, so you can choose what's best for you
  
• Identify how the purpose of a group is impacted by the group leader
  
• Know the trade-offs for the decisions you make about your group or groups
  
• Evaluate your groups and set a purposeful course for the future
  

Authors:
Rick Howerton is the Discipleship & Small Groups Specialist at Lifeway Christian Resources. If you entered Rick's house on most any Tuesday night around 6:30, you'd find Rick and his wife Julie welcoming some of their closest friends: their small group made up of believers longing to live in authentic Christian community. Rick attends the church he planted, The Bridge Church, in Spring Hill, Tennessee and serves in the role of founding pastor.

David Francis is the Director of Sunday School at Lifeway Christian Resources. On a typical Sunday morning, you can find David and wife Vickie at First Baptist Church Hendersonville, Tennessee. They arrive about 8:00 to set up their pre-K room, attend the 8:30 worship service, teach their class of 4- to 5-year-olds at 9:45, and participate in an adult Bible study group at 11:00.