Being Together : Hosting a Relationship - Building Small Group

For any group that gets together to have fun and build relationships. Great for men's, women's, and couple's groups as well as recreational activities groups. One in a series of People Together Small Group Ministry Guides.

The People Together series identifies four distinct types of small groups. Special manuals of each of these groups have been developed to assist leaders prepare for the unique aspects they will encounter in the group.

The Rev. David Stark, M. Div. Has extensive experience in small group development and small group leader training. As a respected congregational consultant in small group ministries, the Rev. Stark has offered churches across the nation proven methods for developing effective small group ministries in a variety of congregational settings. Rev. Stark has been the Director of Outreach Ministries, an Associate Pastor of Small Group and Spiritual Formation, Pastor of Membership and Membership Involvement at Presbyterian churches in Seattle, Denver and Minneapolis. A noted author, Rev. Stark worked with Lyman Coleman on a series of projects at Serendipity, and has been the co-author of several well-known small group manuals and booklets.

Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison is a faculty member of Luther Seminary, co-author of the highly successful Business English for the 21st Century (published by Prentice Hall), and Associate Director of Research and Developmental Editor at Church Innovations Institute. In research she pioneers and trains groups from coast to coast across North America in The Discovery Process, an applied ethnography for congregations, schools, and other organizations who wish to do self-study and participant interpreter research; in developmental editing she takes what Church Innovations Institutes partners have learned and assists the Institute in turning these findings into helpful books and activities for enhanced thriving. Her decade of devotion to this work makes her a first-rate speaker and trainer, and she also has the gifts that make her a sensitive coach/consultant in congregational and educational settings. She consults primarily in The Discovery Process, visioning, planning, and conflict use/prevention.