Sticky Church

Leading Life-Changing Small Groups

Bill Donahue (Zondervan)

Now revised, a comprehensive leadership tool for small group leaders and for churches seeking to structure their ministries around small groups.

Sticky Church

By Larry Osborne (Zondervan)
Releasing October 2008

The greatest challenge facing most churches today isn’t getting people through the front door—it’s keeping them from leaving through the back door. In his new book, Larry Osborne reveals what it takes to cultivate a “sticky” church and reveals the strategy of sermon-based small groups to retain members while leading your church into even deeper levels of discipleship.

	REACH: A Team Approach to Evangelism and Assimilation Scott Wilkins, (Baker) Scott Wilkins —director of REACH Network, an evangelism/church plant ministry—combines his 20-plus years of pastoral experience with a balanced hybrid of several evangelism “methods” (a la well-known pastors Bill Hybels, Joe Aldrich, Andy Stanley) to create the REACH (Relational Evangelism And Cultivational Hospitality) Team approach to evangelism and assimilation. Small group participant’s guide included. A great equipping resource for congregational unity in outreach.
	Membership Matters: Insights from Effective Churches on New Member Classes and Assimilation by Charles E. Lawless, Jr., and Chuck Lawless (Zondervan) Lawless offers samples of the best forms, covenants and surveys from his research base of close to 90 churches. Strategy and tools for transforming regular attendees into ministers.
	Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church Nelson Searcy, Jennifer Henson With Jennifer Dykes Henson (Gospel Light) Built on The Journey Church of the City’s Assimilation Seminar, Fusion embodies a step-by-step, biblically grounded, tested and proven plan for establishing a relationship with newcomers that ultimately prompts them to become fully developing members of our congregations. This innovative, practical guide is full of how-to information, testimonials from the recently assimilated and from participating church leaders, examples of the assimilation materials used and check points to make sure the reader is on track.
	Activate: An Entirely New Approach to small Groups Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas (Regal) (releasing June 2008)
	Simple Small Groups: A User-Friendly Guide for Small Group Leaders Bill Search (Baker Books/Baker Publishing Group) (releasing fall ’08)
	Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders: A Practical Guide for Those Who Lead and Shepherd Small Group Leaders Bill Donahue and Greg Bowman (Zondervan) Small groups transform churchesand lives. Small group leaders often feel the weight of shepherding their members. But who shepherds the shepherd? And what are the best ways to provide that support and guidance? These are the questions answered in Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders.
	Building a Church of Small Groups Bill Donahue (Zondervan) This book provides pastors and church leaders with the vision, values, and initial steps necessary to begin building a church where small groups are integrated throughout the entire ministry.
	Go Big With Small Groups: Eleven Steps To an Explosive Small Group Ministry Bill Easum and John Atkinson (Abingdon) In their book Go BIG with Small Groups, Bill Easum and John Atkinson deliver practical tools to start, build, and manage a life-changing small group ministry. If you are ready to start small groups or improve your current program, you will find this book essential to ensure the success of your ministry.
	Beyond the First Visit Gary McIntosh (Baker Books) This practical book offers sound advice on assessing and improving the ways in which churches attract people, welcome them, do follow-up, and bring them into the church family.
	Finding Them, Keeping Them: Effective Strategies for Evangelism and Assimilation in the Local Church Gary McIntosh and Glen Martin (Broadman & Holman) A basic resource for strategies of outreach and assimilation of new church members. Key resource for pastors and outreach ministers.
	Creating Community: 5 Keys to Building a Small Group Culture Andy Stanley and Bill Willits (Multnomah) In Creating Community, Andy Stanley and Bill Willits take you on their amazing journey of developing the small group culture at North Point Community Church. They reveal their five key discoveries about what it takes to create a compelling small group ministry. These discoveries have helped connect almost 8,000 people into North Point’s adult small groups.
	Making Small Groups Work by Dr. Henry Cloud (Author), Dr. John Townsend (Zondervan) No matter what need brings a group of people together--from marriage enrichment to divorce recovery, from grief recovery to spiritual formation--members are part of a small group because they want to grow. This book by psychologists Henry Cloud and John Townsend provides small-group leaders with valuable guidance and information on how they can help their groups to grow spiritually, emotionally, and relationally.
	Assimilating New Members (Creative leadership series) by Lyle E. Schaller How do you reach new members and help them adapt to the local church more effectively? In "Assimilating New Members" by Lyle E. Schaller, a recognized church planner, shows how to reach more people, bring them into the local church family, make them feel at home, and keep them active. Mr. Schaller discusses those things that attract and hold new members. he shows how to evaluate the local church recruitment and assimilation processes, recognize and avoid counter-productive behavior, and make the congregation more effective by involving more members in the ongoing life of the church.
	The Connecting Church Randy Frazee (Zondervan) This book explores the three essential elements of real community and helps readers put into practice the fifteen principles that undergird those essentials. Drawing on biblical models as well as sociological research and urban planning principles, Frazee makes a case that the mobility and privacy of "American Dream" suburbia fosters a spirit of fragmentation and isolation that is unworkable as a basis for authentic community. Frazee recommends "consolidating relationships," opting out of multiple activities and superficial social circles in favor of "a circle of relationships that produces a sense of genuine belonging.
	The Big Idea Dave Ferguson (Zondervan) Nothing is more dangerous than a single compelling idea that is lived out and nothing is more harmless than lots of little ideas never applied. By creatively communicating one Big Idea every week your church will transform people into genuine Christ followers who live out the mission of Jesus and help those people stay connected in community. Less is more!
	Doing Church as a Team Wayne Cordeiro (Gospel Light) Your church may have many members, but does every member have a purpose? In Doing Church as a Team, Pastor Wayne Cordeiro underscores that church numbers are insignificant when every individual is not involved. However, if the team members work together as one toward a single, clearly defined goal, anything is possible and everyone shares in the joys and rewards of success! Pastor Wayne Cordeiro shows you how to identify the hidden callings of the members in your church so that together you can accomplish anything God has called you to do.

Sign up for email updates

Membership Matters: Insights from Effective Churches on New Member Classes and Assimilation

Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church

Activate: An Entirely New Approach to small Groups

Simple Small Groups: A User-Friendly Guide for Small Group Leaders

Building a Church of Small Groups

Beyond the First Visit

The Big Idea

Doing Church as a Team