Simple Small Groups

Last night I finished up a short book called Simple Small Groups: A User-Friendly Guide for Small Group Leaders by Bill Search. It had been a while since I had read any small group material and these type of books don't usually make for the most engaging reading, but I really liked it. This book wasn't like most I had read before. It didn't talk about coaching structures or zone pastors, it didn't advocate for a cookie cutter type approach to small groups. It was refreshingly simple and I think anyone leading a small group (or a cgroup) could really get a lot of this quick read.

Search identifies three key components of a healthy small group (he refers to them as 'patterns')- connecting (relationships), changing (transformation), and cultivating missional patterns of living (an outward focus). The key insight from his book is that groups don't need to 'balance' these three components but every group must embrace these components to some degree. Some healthy groups will spend 80% of their time focused on transformation but spend the other 20% of their time/energy on relationally connecting and serving. His approach reminds me of what good parents know of their kids. My niece Kayla spends massive amounts of time playing basketball - that's why she's the player of the year in PA and has a full ride to Notre Dame. Yet, she still needs to study and relax with friends. My cousin David is brilliant and a really good artist. I would venture a guess that he spends more time studying and drawing and less time playing basketball. Yet, if he's going to stay healthy, he needs physical activity too. At the age of my kids, it's hard to tell what they'll be great at or love the most - so we try to expose them to a lot of things and keep our eyes out for what excites them and where they excel. Eventually we encourage them to be more specialized according to the talents and passions.

I do think this approach is more realistic that one that forces every group or ministry to spend balanced amounts of time on all three components. The beauty of Search's book is that it is simple and very useful. He does a great job helping leaders understand where their groups are and offers a lot of practical advice on how to help move a group to deeper levels of connecting, changing or cultivating missional lifestyles.

Again, I'd recommend the book. If your summer list is too long already, then mark off Sept 26th - Bill Search will be leading a small group leaders seminar here at ECC!

Song of the Week

It's a mellow Monday that needs a mellow soundtrack.

Waiting for My Real Life to Begin (Re-Release) - Colin Hay

First Day of Summer Vacation

Today was the first day of summer vacation for Caleb. It was pretty laid back around here today because he spent the night at a friends house last night (first ever sleep over). He came back pretty zonked. So, we laid around in the morning, wrested a little, played some PS2. At lunch we made our summer bucket list which includes camping, creek walking, hiking, drive in movie, reading a Narnia book together, the zoo, Chicago, visiting grandparents, cooking smores in our firepit, another baseball game, fishing, the art museum and learning to swim. It'll be a good summer.

After naps we headed to the library (our usual Friday routine). I always browse the Graphic Novel section (for the kids, seriously). There I saw the weirdest book ever - The 9/11 Commission Report: A Graphic Adaptation. Yep, someone made a comic out of it. Here's a look:

Song of the Week

Ok, so after being at the ball game this weekend and then watching the Indians score 7 runs in the bottom of the ninth, overcoming a 10-0 deficit, I'm into baseball today. I can't think of a better baseball song than "Centerfield".

Centerfield - John Fogerty

Indians vs. Reds

The family took the day and headed to Cincinnati for a ball game yesterday. I had never been to Great American Ball Park - it's awesome. It was a great game - a real pitchers duel with drama. Lee pitched well, allowing 3 runs in 7 innings. Sizemore, the boys favorite player, had a couple of hits including a triple and a close play at home in which he was called out but the call was reversed due to interference by the 3rd baseman. The boys favorite part was when "Redlegs", the mascot squirted me with his water cannon, stole my Indians hat and filled it with water before putting it back on my head. Great times. Luke was surprisingly good, as long as we kept feeding him stuff! The game was tied in the bottom of the 10th when we took off. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the Reds won in the bottom of the 11th.