This is a big book no pastor interested in small group ministry should be without.
Replete with stories, each chapter addresses a significant aspect of small group ministry. The first four chapters deal with discipling, building the church through small group ministry, the basics of such ministry, and leadership. The succeeding eight chapters deal with building a community of faith and service via small groups that is caring, dynamic, studying, worshiping, praying, evangelizing, and mission-oriented. The last chapter discusses structuring the small group ministry to get it started. Resources for training leaders make up the balance of the book (65 pages!). They include how to train small group leaders, leader's notes, key Bible study outlines, and small group activities to use in training. All are adaptable to various sizes and types of training pro grams and appear to be very practical.
I am looking forward to trying out the ideas presented. Arnold's leadership and training outline can be used as a 13-week program or as an intensive four-session plan.
