Is there any arena in the contemporary church more perplexing than small groups? Leaders and participants alike fill them with promises of unparalleled spiritual intimacy and reliable relationship. Experts put forward model after model, paradigm after paradigm, and frustrated small group leaders and followers meander from one to the next in increasingly vain hope that the next model will deliver the goods. What could be more natural than a group of people sitting together, talking? What could be more contrived than a packaged curriculum, with prefab questions and notes for leaders? Such is the problem of small groups. Scott Boren has wrestled with these challenges for years, in the context of his own small-group ministries and in consultation with churches of every stripe. In this book he reminds us that any small group, no matter how it's organized, is at its heart a collection of people each walking in the way of Jesus. That means we are going somewhere—together—and that means we have a reliable guide.
