Chapter 1: Small Group Leadership: Building Community

Small Group Leadership Needed for Community Recovery
Passionate leaders build passionate churches.
A small group leader with a plan for the growth of its members
Checking the community spirit of small groups
Characteristics of a Fruitful Small Group Leader
Leadership of Service and Sacrifice
Elements to Remember for Unwavering Small Group Leadership
Resilient Small Group Leadership
How to effectively invite small group members to meetings.
Five Principles for Those Who Have Lost the Source of Living Water
The Importance of Open Small Groups in Settling New Families
Small group leadership needed in a non-face-to-face situation
A leader who constantly discovers and develops potential leaders within small groups.
A leader who turns the crisis of change into an opportunity

Chapter 2: Small Group Leadership for Soul Care

A small group leader who recognizes the value and weight of a soul
Encouraging small group leaders
Small group leaders who build deep relationships
A leader who serves small groups with true joy
A small group leader who serves to bring about healing and restoration.
Small group leaders who lead people to experience the grace of togetherness
Small group leader with a plan for habitual absentees
Small group leaders who secure a sense of sincere camaraderie
Small group leaders who understand and minister to the identity of the gathering church and the scattering church.

Chapter 3 Small Group Leadership for Ministry

A small group leader who knows exactly the benefits and grace of small groups.
Small group leader pursuing community spirituality
Small group leaders who build intimacy-filled communities
Small group leaders who enjoy the joy of working together
A small group leader who establishes members as volunteers, not spectators.
A small group leader who leads small groups as an outpost for evangelism.
Small group leaders who understand and pursue the principle of sustainability
Praying small group leader
A small group leader who enables small group members to practice God's will

Chapter 4 Leadership for Small Groups

Small group leaders who effectively prepare for their first start
A small group leader who entertains members with appropriate ice breaks.
A small group leader who motivates active sharing
A small group leader who sparks lively discussions by asking good questions.
A small group leader who delivers key messages while bearing the fruits of patience.
A small group leader who always recognizes the importance of conversation
Small group leader who listens and speaks 'saving' words
Small group leaders who maintain the tension between closure and openness

Attachment

*Questionnaire for small group reorganization
*Small Group Covenant Sample
*Small Group Leader Checklist
*Healthy Church Spiritual Health Checkup Chart

? In the COVID-19 era, small groups are the alternative for healthy growth in the Korean church.

It is no exaggeration to say that since the pandemic was declared, Korean churches have been struggling day after day to keep the flame of worship, fellowship, nurturing, service, and evangelism alive in a non-face-to-face environment, also known as "untact."
Above all, amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, small group ministry, the original community where believers could participate in each other's lives and laugh and cry together, faced a crisis within a crisis.
I had to experience the pain of having the very essence of the church, which is fundamentally a community (Communio Sanctorum) as a holy fellowship of saints, completely collapse.


Until now, there has been an illusion in Korean churches that if they simply set up a framework and group people by region or generation, small group ministry would proceed naturally.
However, due to COVID-19, small group ministries within churches, which involve sacred fellowship and fellowship, have been suspended for an extended period of time, leading to a crisis and a new awakening.
The realization that restoring the true dynamics of small groups is essential for the restoration of the church's essence and healthy growth has become a critical issue for pastors and small group leaders.


? Small groups need practical advice for small church groups within the church.

So how can we restore the essence of the church through small groups, where we cry and laugh together, fostering spiritual growth and development? Even amidst the extreme challenges of a pandemic, can the church maintain its power through small group ministry and, through its dynamism, achieve healthy growth and maturity without losing its strength? What should pastors and small group leaders recognize and prepare for?

The bottom line on this question is that properly trained and prepared small group leaders can revitalize small groups and drive healthy church growth.
The entire content of this book is a compilation of essential information for small group leaders about spiritual small groups and practical small group leadership methods.


Small groups, which have an environment where members can communicate and empathize with each other face-to-face, are the optimal alternative community for developing the spiritual, intellectual, relational, personal, and social aspects of the members in a balanced manner through the Word of Life.
Small group leaders must be prepared to maintain ongoing contact with their small group members, care for them with the heart of a father and mother, and serve them effectively with the word of truth.
Therefore, this book has compiled only the essential elements that leaders and pastors need when actually running small groups.
The core themes are as follows:


● Small group leadership to build community
● Small Group Leadership for Soul Care
● Small Group Leadership for Ministry
● Small group leadership for effective guidance

Continuous service from small group leaders is necessary for small group leaders to grow.


The importance of small groups has been re-emerging since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for a deeper theological understanding of small groups as spiritual communities has emerged, based on an ecclesiology grounded in Reformed theology.
Without a proper theological understanding, small groups can be treated as just another functional dimension of pastoral programs for church growth.
Based on this understanding, this book defines small groups as the essence of church ministry and organizes the relationship between the church and small groups.

Based on this, we have compiled a variety of practical small group theories and leadership that can help small group leaders mature.


As a person living in a constantly changing world, the small group leader plays an important role in directly meeting the faces of the small group members and sharing the word of God with them, helping them look to God, caring for them holistically with true love, enjoying the joy of spiritual fellowship, and helping them grow as Christians.
Ultimately, pastors must learn how to effectively provide spiritual and ministry energy to small group leaders so that they do not become exhausted or burnt out in their ministry.
Because the health and success of small group ministry can never be guaranteed without balanced training of leaders.
This book is an encyclopedia for pastors who recognize this importance and wish to provide spiritual provision to small group leaders. It provides them with a rich and balanced training in spirituality, intellect, character, and even the skills to effectively lead small groups.


? Dreaming of true church maturity and growth through healthy small group ministry.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there is growing self-deprecation that the growth of the Korean church has come to an end.
But believers are crying out for small groups where they can share their stories and feel stability and connection.
Pastors must not ignore the reality facing our society today, where everyone cries out that they are marginalized, yet at the same time, they are searching for meaningful community.
If we face this reality and prepare for small group ministry in a biblical and pastoral way that makes it easier to open our hearts and meet trustworthy people, church maturity and growth will not be impossible, but rather a phenomenon that can occur continuously in the churches we serve.


? Features of the revised and expanded edition

In particular, the revised and expanded edition has added questions for each chapter to help with division.
The questions that pastors who train small group leaders ask to help them read the book together and naturally recall the text are very different from existing books.
Additionally, a checklist for self-spirituality assessment of small group leaders has been prepared in the attached materials, so that students can check their spirituality when starting classes or finishing semesters.
Additionally, we have prepared a resource to help churches that run small groups take care of their own spiritual health and fill in any gaps by adding a Healthy Church Spiritual Health Checkup Table.

Readers of this book

? Pastors preparing small group leaders and leaders
Churches and small group gatherings that want to share in-depth meditation on the Word
? All Christians who dream of maintaining a spiritual community in church and daily life

Lead author | Lee Sang-hwa (Seohyeon Church Pastor / Director of the Korea Small Group Ministry Research Institute)

He has served as the director of the Korea Small Group Ministry Research Institute, which was established in 1994 to support dynamic small group ministry in Korean churches under the motto, "Healthy small groups, healthy ministry!"
While pursuing a degree in small group ministry at Westminster Theological Seminary and conducting interdisciplinary research and teaching at the Graduate School of Pastoral Theology at Chongshin University, he has also applied and practiced the theory of small group ministry in the pastoral field as the senior pastor of Seohyun Church.


In addition to books that effectively help small group ministry, such as “How to Do Healthy Small Group Ministry” and “Icebreaker Collection,” he has also written the “Small Group Bible Study Materials Series” (Korea Small Group Ministry Research Institute) with open questions to enable dynamic small group ministry. In addition, since the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been publishing “Jin QT” every other month, which includes daily meditation, weekday family worship, and Bible study materials that enable dynamic small group progress every week.