Growth Groups: a Training Course in How to Lead Small Groups: Student Manual

by Colin Marshall

Growth Groups is for any Christian or group of Christians committed to equipping leaders of God's people. It is designed to train leaders who can teach the Bible and pray with other Christians. It will prepare leaders to gather together fellow-believers in evangelistic enterprise. In short, it will equip leaders to grow Christians and grow the gospel. The course is for anyone who wants to pursue these ends. This manual can also stand alone as a valuable guide for leader's to work through on their own if they can't join a course with other leaders.

Genres: Leadership, Christian, Christian Living, Discipleship, Theology, Christianity, Religion

179 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Colin is married to Jacquie and they have three adult children, Karyn, Deborah and Jonathon.

Together with Jacquie he has spent the past 30 years training men and women in the ministry of the gospel, both in university and local church contexts. He is a graduate of Moore Theological College, Sydney.

He is the author of The Trellis and the Vine, Growth Groups, a training course for small group leaders, and Passing the Baton, a handbook for ministry apprenticeship.

Until 2006 he directed The Ministry Training Strategy, a ministry apprenticeship movement.

Reviews

[Peter Krol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top notch training for those wanting to lead Christian small groups. I wish I could give it 8 stars. It's hard to overstate how influential this book has been for me.

Update: Read again in 2016-2017. Still top notch. Still influential. Still difficult to overstate.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an extremely practical overview of what small group (or "growth group") ministry should look like. The book does a good job of laying out the goals behind growth group ministry, but then providing short, yet useful, training on practical subjects like preparing to lead a bible study, diagnosing the health of a group, starting up a group, praying in groups, and using the groups for evangelism.

The second half of the book is the 10 week training course which involves a good mixture of group discussion and practical exercises (accompanied by evaluation). Anyone involved in group discipleship in their church would be well served to read this book.

I definitely expect to lean heavily upon this material when training small group leaders at our church.

[Phillip Morrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Name a better book on the topic? I'll wait...

That's right you can't!

Col is a wizard at making the the art of writing a bible study and leading a "growth group" simple. To take a group of keen people through this is AMAZING! It's like a Jamie oliver recipe book because by the end you're like "I'm just a shmuck in my home kitchen but now I can prepare tasty tasty bible studies at a restaurant level!" He takes you on a journey of the theology and practice of exegesis, group dynamics and adult education without you even knowing that is what he is doing!

Be honest you're never going to write a better course and neither is anyone else. Just run this at least once a year with your keenest beans at church and then stand back and watch them whip up great small groups.

[Andrew Gates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good thoughts on the dangers of small groups as well as how to lead them effectively. I'll take away a few action points:
-All ministry is Word ministry
-Ask good starting questions that are specific and propel good conversation, such as "what did you think about the author's comments on [blank]?" (47)
-One question to ask is how someone would justify their correct answer from Scripture (48)
-Keep track of prayer requests, circle back to them, and pray spontaneously for needs that arise (64)
-I'm always needing to grow. God is kind.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

What should a Bible study look like?
And how can one be cultivated?

This short book with a training course is based on the core principle of maturity in Colossians. Chapter 2, verse 6-7. So helpful because it's biblical, and said in a very accessible way.

[Sam Luce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and Spiritual helps to grow and train small group leaders. Excellent!

[Levi Friesen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, foundational stuff.

[Yuri Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful for small group. On the practical side.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very practical book that might prove very helpful for someone who is starting out a small group ministry or beginning to lead a small group and wants some guidance. I wouldn't say that there is anything overly revolutionary, but it was indeed very faithful to having Bible centered, God glorifying groups. I was challenged in several areas, especially in serving and evangelizing as a group and in asking good questions to hopefully lead discussion towards the learning goals for the text.

I didn't walk through the group study at the end, though I did glance at it and bought the leader's notes should I ever decide to use the curriculum. Overall, I'd give it 3.5 stars.

[James B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but practical book on one of the critical ministry of a church: small group. The book presented a clear picture of what small group should look like using biblical principals. It also brought up various errors that we tend to make (which I can personally testify). As the title suggest, the book is helpful in building not just any group, but a growth group, which is rooted in Christ and live by Christ. Highly recommended to anyone who wish to be part of a small group as a form a discipleship.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a biblical philosophy of ministry for small groups with the author calls growth groups. The main idea is that small groups are only biblical if they have gospel motivated growth in evangelism and discipleship. It is very practical and addresses many common problems associated with small groups. It is well written, easy to read and convicting because of its clarity. A must read for any leader contemplating starting a growth group or one already in a small group.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be useful over all. It was written almost 20 years ago and some of it did feel a bit outdated. But I was particularly helped by the consistent emphasis on understanding the purpose of a group and also consistent evaluation of the progress of each member of the group.

[Ben Kreps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful thoughts about small groups in a church context. I especially appreciate the evangelistic dimension of the proposed groups

[Jonah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A necessary book for the church.

[Jacinta patterson]

Loved reading this book a second time, so helpful after leading groups for a while and having various problems to read it again and see some great content that I didn't take in on the first read.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very effective, especially when teamed with practice of the points

[Bill Forgeard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful and practical.

[Phil Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for training group leaders. Great material.