Transformational Groups: Creating a New Scorecard for Groups

God declared through the Apostle Paul that the church would be a place of transformation. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we find, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. Despite this, the church seems increasingly to be a place where transformation fails to occur.

Surveying the landscape, however, there are some bright spots where churches are faithfully producing transformed disciples. Furthermore, as shown in Scripture and supported by new research, God designed such transformation to often happen in the context of smaller groups of people.

But what characteristics are true of churches that are making transformed disciples through group-based ministry-whether small groups, missional communities, Sunday school, or some other expression of groups?

In Transformational Groups, Ed Stetzer and Eric Geiger have created a new scorecard that will provide a map to transformational success for your church’s groups ministry. Using data from the largest survey of pastors and laypersons ever done on the condition of groups in the church, they define a simple process to lead your groups from where they are to where God wants them to be.

Ed Stetzer is vice president of research and ministry development at LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, Tennessee. He holds two masters and two doctoral degrees and has written dozens of articles and acclaimed books including Planting Missional Churches, Breaking the Missional Code, Comeback Churches, and Lost and Found. Ed and his wife, Donna, have three daughters and live in Nashville, Tennessee.                                                             

Eric Geiger is the Senior Pastor of Mariners Church in Irvine, California. Before moving to Southern California, Eric served as senior vice-president for LifeWay Christian Resources. Eric received his doctorate in leadership and church ministry from Southern Seminary. Eric has authored or co-authored several books including the bestselling church leadership book, Simple Church. Eric is married to Kaye, and they have two daughters: Eden and Evie. During his free time, Eric enjoys dating his wife, taking his daughters to the beach, and playing basketball.