Our hearts were made for community. We hunger for the deep, authentic relationships Jesus had in mind when he prayed that his followers would be one. Yet in many churches, the connection we crave is lacking. How can church become a place where nobody stands alone? Through small groups. Like nothing else, they provide the kind of life-giving community that builds and empowers the body of Christ and impacts the world. At Willow Creek Community Church, small groups are so important that they define the core organizational strategy. Bill Donahue and Russ Robinson write, "We have gone from a church with small groups . . . to being a church of small groups." Donahue and Robinson share revealing glimpses of Willow Creek's journey to becoming a church where over 18,000 people connect in 2,700 small groups. And they tell how your church--whatever its size and circumstances--can become a place where men and women, adults and children, can experience powerful, transforming community. Building a Church of Small Groups unpacks the vision, values, and strategies required to integrate small groups into your entire ministry. Part one presents the theological, sociological, and organizational underpinnings of small groups. You'll discover why small groups, as reflections of God's communal nature, are so vital to church health. Part two moves you from vision to practice. Here is how to develop thriving small groups based on authentic relationships, where truth and life intersect, conflict leads to growth, and skilled leaders help group members mature into fully devoted followers of Christ. Part three shows you how to identify, recruit, and train group leaders and provide them with long-term coaching and support. Finally, in part four, you'll learn how to deal with the critical process of change as your church develops its small group ministry. Written by two of today's top authorities on small group ministry, Building a Church of Small Groups is a proven blueprint for health and spiritual vitality in your church. Here is thorough, seasoned guidance for helping people grow together in faith, heart, and lives through closely knit small group communities.

1In the Beginning, God: The Theological EvidenceWhatever community exists as a result of God’s creation, it is only a reflection of an eternal reality that is intrinsic to the being of God. Because God is eternally one, when he created in his image, he created oneness.GILBERT BILEZIKIAN, COMMUNITY 101“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Yours is an awesome responsibility. Soon we will conclude our closing arguments, and you will render the verdict. Our society trusts fallible men and women with decisions like the ones you now face. Soberly and objectively, you must review the evidence. Our arguments are not evidence; you must judge our closing statement to determine how you view the evidence. The verdict will rest with you. But we believe there is clear and convincing proof for building a church of small groups. We’ll begin by reviewing the theological evidence for community.”The arguments from theology—that is, the study of God and his per-son— prove beyond doubt that God’s nature is communal. Our theological analysis will show you why God’s communal nature requires you to respond by building community—for yourself and for your church. The theological case depends on three basic ideas. First, God exists in community; he has forever existed as and will into eternity remain three persons in One. Second, God was incarnate in Christ Jesus, whose trans-formational relationships offer a model you cannot ignore. Third, Jesus dreams of oneness for all Christians, which is why you must move your church toward his vision.The God of CommunityYou’ve read Genesis 1:26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness. . . .’” But have you noticed its remarkable expressions of plurality? These thirteen words include three references to God’s unique nature. Note the references to “us” and “our,” which proclaim the core doctrine of the Trinity. At the same time, God’s singularity is a core doctrine of the church universal. As Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” In other words, God begins Scripture and the creation story with the theological idea of plurality within oneness.The creation account provides us an amazing window into the nature of the community of God, in whose image we are created. This plurality of beings comes to consensus to create humans in their image. They create in their collective image, which, in part, is a community-bear-ing image. It is not enough to say God is interested in community or even obsessed with community. God, rightly defined and understood, is community. The doctrine of the Trinity is complex. Orthodox Christians have for generations accepted that God is Three in One, but few of us think much about it. This seemingly enigmatic doctrine of the Trinity, however, has massive implications. As Gareth Icenogle explains:“The small group is a generic form of human community that is trans-cultural, trans-generational and even transcendant. The call to human gathering in groups is a God-created (ontological) and God-directed (theological) ministry, birthed out of the very nature and purpose of God’s being. God as Being exists in community. The natural and simple demonstration of God’s communal image for humanity is the gathering of the small group.”Did you catch that? “God’s communal image for humanity is the gathering of the small group.” The entire Bible proclaims that God (expressed singularly) exists from all time and for all time in community as the Trinity (plurality). This Trinitarian doctrine begins with the creation account, where all three persons of the Trinity are present. When God created the world, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:2). John describes Jesus as the agent of Creation: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. . . . Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:1–3). Since God himself lives and works in community and since we are created in God’s image, then we too are created in and for community. You cannot come to understand the true nature of God unless and until you accept that he is not simply an individual. God is, in every sense of the word, a “group” as well. In the biblical framework (see, for example, Matthew 18:15–20), whenever “two or three come together” in God’s name, they together have an ability to act in concert for the good of themselves and others. Something unique happens when individuals work together. So it is with God in the Trinity. Without an ounce of sacrilege, we might call the Godhead the first small group!I (Bill) never fully understood this until I heard Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian first preach on community. He was one of the first theologians to present not only the powerful triune nature of God but also the relational aspects. If you want a vision for the kind of community that Gilbert shared with us, then read Community 101. Gilbert describes the community as both vertical and horizontal—just like the bars on a cross. They meet in the center, and true community is born when we experience God and all of his fullness and his people in all of their fullness.In God there is the identity of the One, and yet there are Three in One. There is distinctive individuality. God exists in community. This picture of the oneness of God shatters our independence.The Community GeneLet’s dig deeper into the statement “Let us make man in our image.” What are the implications of being image bearers, ones who bear a like-ness to this community defining God?It is clear what this does not mean. We are not triune deities. (Only a schizoid person says, “I am God, and so am I”!) So we know our image bearing must mean something other than a direct, one-to-one correlation of God’s community likeness.

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Excerpted from Building a Church of Small Groups: A Place Where Nobody Stands Alone by Bill Donahue, Russ Robinson
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