The creators of Q Conference have released 4 small group studies called Q Society Room.

This is my favorite small group curriculum thus far. It is a good balance of compelling content, beautiful graphics, user friendly length. It is also quite versatile and can stand alone as just a DVD curriculum or be extended with participant guides that help engage the small group around the topic. Each DVD lesson uses  If I had to nitpick, the conversations among a small group of experts at the beginning of each DVD lesson occasionally come across as staged and unnatural. But reality is these small group studies really are close to perfect.

THE WHOLE GOSPEL’s lessons include:
Get the DVD
Get the Participant’s Guide

1. Reframing the Gospel by Tim Keel
   Tim Keel of Laidlaw College’s School of Mission and  Ministry (Auckland, New Zealand) discusses the nature of the gospel message and challenges us to get a better picture of the gospel by returning to the Bible and, specifically, the Old Testament that shaped Jesus’ worldview.
2. Spiritual Conversations by Ron Martoia
   Author Ron Martoia discusses the ways we view God and how that influences the conversations we have.
3. Cultural Commission by Charles Colson
   Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries discusses the Bible’s holistic worldview and how it addresses God’s redemption of entire systems and cultures in the world.
4. To Write Love on Her Arms by Jamie Tworkowski
   What is love and its role in the church? Discuss this and hear Jamie Tworkowski’s about To Write Love on Her Arms.
5. Culture Shaping Project and Debrief
   Go on an outreach project with your small group. Ideas include helping widows, mentoring and tutoring, or visiting a prison.

THE SPIRITUALITY OF SCIENCE’s lessons include:
Get the DVD
Get the Participant’s Guide

1. The Language of God by Dr. Francis Collins
   Dr. Francis Collins of the Human Genome Project discusses the relationship between our two sources of knowledge - nature and the Bible.
2. Science and Faith at Odds? by Alister McGrath
   Theologian Alistar McGrath discusses if the natural sciences challenge the Christian faith and how our interpretation of Scripture affects this.
3. What Every Christian Could Learn from a Scientist by Catharine  Crouch
   Catharine  Crouch of Swarthmore College shares what the principles about understanding the world and faith in God that she learned from studying light emissions from individual tiny semiconductor particles known as nanocrystals.
4. Indescribable Wonder by Louie Giglio
   Louie Giglio discusses why he believes that Christians should be proponents of scientific discovery.
5. Culture Shaping Project and Debrief
   Take on a project with your small group. Ideas include meeting a professor, hosting a screening, or volunteer to care for creation.

WHERE YOU LIVE MATTERS’ lessons include:
Get the DVD
Get the Participant’s Guide

1. Grace of the City by Tim Keller
   Tim Keller of  Redeemer Presbyterian Church (New York, NY) suggests that every Christian who desires to be a culture-shaper should consider living in an urban context.
2. From the Garden to the City by Mel McGowan
   Urban designer Mel McGowan discusses how the meaning of community has been lost as well as how what we create and do today brings goodness and restoration to our cities that will endure in eternity.
3. The Future of the Suburbs by Joel Kotkin
   Joel Kotkin of Chapman University discusses the growth, future growth, and influence of the suburbs in American life.
4. Grace in and for the City by Tim Keller
   Tim Keller of  Redeemer Presbyterian Church (New York, NY) distinguishes the differences between cities and suburbs and why Christians should consider the benefits of living, working, and ministering in the city.
5. Culture Shaping Project and Debrief
   Go on a project with your small group. Ideas include supporting local businesses, police car ride-alongs or meet with the mayor.

ENGAGING POST-CHRISTIAN CULTURE’s lessons include:
Get the DVD
Get the Participant’s Guide

1. A New Mission to the West by Os Guinness
   Philosopher Os Guinness discusses the colossal changes that have taken place and how they threaten our faith.
2. Renewing Cities Through Missional Tribes by Jon Tyson
   Jon Tyson questions if attempts to program community inside the church (i.e, small groups) are disconnected from the norms, values, and networks of our everyday lives.
3. Post-Christendom Mission by Alan Hirsch
   Alan Hirsch challenges us t reconsider our mission within the post-Christian West.
4. Why We Can’t Change the World by Andy Crouch
   What if we have gotten it wrong when it comes to how the world is changed? Andy Crouch offers a different perspective that tests our assumptions.
5. Culture Shaping Project and Debrief
   Conduct a project with your small group. Ideas include volunteer in your community, host a film screening, or throw a party that includes non-Christians.

Disclaimer: This post features complimentary review samples and affiliate links.

In my book collection is The Class Leader. His Work and How to Do It. by John Atkinson. You can read it online or download a PDF. Originally written in 1874, it explains the methodology and importance of Methodist small group leaders. The ministry model it describes sets a challenging benchmark for effective small groups. Here are a few highlights:

The Structure

The pastor is the bishop or overseer of the entire membership of the charge to which he is appointed. It is his business to watch over their souls; to exercise discipline; to teach, reprove, rebuke, with all authority; to statedly preach the Gospel; to visit from house to house; and administer the sacraments.

The pastor, however, cannot exercise all the requisite personal oversight. The membership in many Churches is numerous, the demands made upon the pulpit are more and more stern, requiring a large amount of time to be given by the preacher to the studies and thinking necessary to the preparation of the Sabbath sermons; and with the numerous calls and interruptions inseparable from his office, it is impossible for him to give that thorough attention to all details of spiritual superintendance which the care of souls demand. The Church has made most wise and adequate provision for enabling the pastor to make his supervision complete by means of the services of Class Leaders.

All the members in full connection, and all on probation, are placed in classes, and each class is put in charge of a Leader. It is his office to see each person under his care once a week, that he may know the state of their souls. His office, therefore, is spiritual supervision.

Class Leaders in John Wesley’s Words

I called together all the Leaders of the classes, and desired that each would make a particular inquiry into the behavior of those whom he saw weekly. They did so. Many disorderly walkers were detected. Some turned from the evil of their ways. Some were put away from us. Many saw it with fear, and rejoiced unto God with reverence.
- John Wesley

Over time, the home-to-home Class Leader visits evolved into big group meetings of accountability.

How to Truly Lead a Small Group

Every Leader is in some degree a Gospel minister… The Leader, then, is to care not simply for his class collectively, but for all members separately.

If he simply hold class-meeting once a week, and look no further after his members, his knowledge of them will be very imperfect. He should know them, not simply in the class room, but in their daily life, their company, diversions, business; in their besetments, perplexities, discouragements; their temptations, falls, and uprisings. He should know their peculiarities of character, temperament, and condition, and so be able to rightly admonish, advise, and encourage them, and communicate to the pastor what it is needful for him to know concerning each.

Training Produces Results

The urgent need of the world is Christian workers who can accomplish results.

To ensure the largest success of Christian workers there must commonly be training.

These are just a fraction of the insights from The Class Leader. For more insights, read it online.

Seacoast Church recently launched Seacoast All Access which offers free graphics, sermon MP3’s and notes, and other great resources like small group study notes.

Also check out our previous posts about:
Southeast Christian Church offers free resources
LifeChurch.tv offers free resources

Special thanks to Churchonomics for highlighting Seacoast’s good news.

The Navigators have posted a thought provoking article by Carrie Wagner about Islam and the community.

She notes the irony that since 9/11, the number of Muslim converts in the United States have increased tremendously. Many have become interested in understanding the Muslim mindset and have sought out such understanding. Carrie considers that the influx in Muslim converts may be because of an attraction to what is considered stage four of Muslim thought. Stage four focuses on the “development of ‘the people’ (Umma); that is, the community of Allah, to include new converts into Islam.” Carrie believes that people are seeking a community that functions like a family. Our country has diluted the family structure, and Islam seems to be filling a need.

Carrie also notes that the early Christian church was also found appealing because of its family-like community, and she considers it time for the modern church to turn its attention back to community.

It is certainly a great point. Perhaps the church needs to focus beyond small groups and Sunday school and purpose more to create a family-like community.