A Short Guide to Groups: The Art of Leading Community

by Jared Musgrove, Justin Elafros

People were designed for community. We long to know and be known by others, and local churches can meet that need by gathering people together in groups. 

In a world facing a loneliness epidemic and praising radical individualism, Christians are siloed as they experience anxiety, depression, disease, infertility, divorce, and other tragedies. Groups ministries are vital to local churches fighting the notion that we can face this life alone.

Small groups, discipleship groups, community groups, life groups––there's no one-size-fits-all formula for your church's groups ministry. A Short Guide to Groups is an accessible resource for your church to evaluate or start a groups ministry. With practical tips to consider, authors Jared Musgrove and Justin Elafros explain that while every ministry and group is different, there are several principles leaders can Groups exist for community with God and other people. There is no lasting transformation in anyone without another person or group of people. The more relational your church is, the more transformational your church will become.  Each person in every group is a gift from God to the others in that group. Where groups go, the church will follow.  Where the church goes, groups will follow. The New Testament is clear that people are called to do life together; in fact, the call to love one another can be found sixty-six times. A Short Guide to Groups can help pastors and ministry leaders guide their people away from the loneliness epidemic and toward radical togetherness instead. 

Genres: Christian, Discipleship

192 pages, Hardcover

Published May 23, 2023

Reviews

[Todd Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Groups is a book that does what it sets out to do - a deep dive into small groups ministry in the local church. The authors bring a wealth of ministry experience to the book. Ministry books like this are not my favorite to read, but for churches that have small groups ministry (which would be most churches) it should be a valuable resource and I would recommend it.

Why only three stars? Well, three stars in Goodreads represents "I liked it." Aside from my earlier note about ministry books not being my favorite category to read, some of the book's claims were overstated. Here are two examples: "So goes groups, so goes the church. So goes the church, so goes groups." This couplet is repeated throughout the book as axiomatic. But is it really true? If so, then developing a healthy community groups ministry would have to be the first priority of a local church, before or along side of things like faithful preaching, worship, ordinances, biblical leadership, etc. (all those things are explicitly commanded). I think small groups ministries could be very important depending on the size of the church. But the Bible no where commands small groups. Small groups COULD be a wise vehicle to do some of the other things Christians are supposed to do (like all the "one anothers" and exercise of spiritual gifts). So I would put small groups in the category of useful strategy to do some of the things that the Bible requires rather than the thing that the Bible requires itself. Second, (and this is a lesser example) the biblical justification for using homes for small group ministry felt a bit forced. Jesus did some of his ministry in homes, but not all. The early church met in homes (when they were not meeting in the other places). But where else were such things to take place in that early context? Again, I think meeting in homes is wise and effective for a myriad of reasons (many of which are helpfully given in the book). Claiming scriptural warrant for meeting in homes felt more like prooftexting.

[Matt Ecton · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 A brief, useful manual for church small groups. Plenty of practical wisdom for new leaders.

Overstates the importance of small groups to the health of a church, in my opinion: “So goes small groups, so goes the church.”

[Josh Rathmell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books is overall pretty good. It covers the positive reasons for having a small group ministry. A few things I don’t like about this book. I feel that it makes groups more important than they are. Maybe in a large church but smaller more average attendance would not make groups as big of a deal. Also I feel that they do not like sermon based groups at all which is sad because I have seen the benefits of it. Overall though it is a good little guide on groups

[Ryan Akers · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good—practical and not full of fluff, which I really appreciated. A lot of books in this space tend to sound the same, so I didn’t have especially high expectations going in. The content itself wasn’t groundbreaking—most of it I’ve heard multiple times—but it’s an easy, concise read. Short enough that I could realistically get small-group leaders to read it.

[Tyler Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm training a group of wonderful volunteers to launch our first round of groups at our new church plant. I've led groups and coached college-dorm-based groups for a decade, so I'm looking for nuts and bolts of transferring this ministry model into an intergenerational church context. This book had some gems, but it wasn't very helpful to me overall.

I think the authors have a foggy ecclesiology. The book isn't written in a very accessible way but wanders through several homemade proverbs about group ministry. Some of these proverbs are true and helpful (ex. The less relational your church is, the less transformational your church will be. 13) and others are not (so goes groups, so goes the church, 167).

[Jaimie Mattoon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall this book was ok. It had good content overall but I was not convinced as a must read book for small group leaders. I fully believe in small groups which is a main point this book is trying to drive home, the main idea being groups is where transformation happens and where we can live out the "one another" commands in Scripture. It had some helpful sections specifically on prayer and how to make that more of a focal point in your groups, but again it was overall just ok. Maybe it would be more helpful for someone feeling discouraged as a small group leader or who has not lead a group before.

[Robert Sutherland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good, short book on small groups in a church context. My main takeaway: "The less relational your church is, the less transformational it will be."

There is a focus on groups being the avenue to live out the "one anothers" of scripture.
There is a discussion of the seasons of groups--from beginning to end, and the growth/challenges in between.

This isn't a comprehensive groups book, so it should be supplemented, but it is worth the time.

[Brandon Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, will probably revisit throughout my life

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jared Musgrove and Justin Elafros have written an incredibly helpful and insightful book about small groups within a church context. I appreciated that Musgrove and Elafros shared the why behind the how to lead groups. That it wasn't just a how to book, but really shared the heart behind why groups work the way they do and how to build strong relationships and build context for how the group should begin, grow, develop, and even end! It was such a thoughtful approach and introduced some ideas I hadn't considered before! Highly Recommend!