Walking the Small Group Tightrope: Meeting the Challenges Every Group Faces

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Summary: Walking the Small Group Tightrope
Review: Before I opened Walking the Small Group Tightrope, I feared another formula for "how to do small groups." But Donahue and Robinson provide fresh insight into the realistic tensions of small groups. Through their experiences, they share failures and successes.
Donahue and Robinson claim, "Each chapter will identify the challenge, define the inherent dynamics of the tension, describe what happens when groups lean too far toward one end of the continuum, and offer suggestions and tools so leaders can help their groups manage these polarities." The hope: leaders gain the skill to walk that tightrope. Overall, they fulfill their promise.
The authors, experienced pastors of small group ministries, who've overseen thousands of groups, studied their failures as small group leaders. Through these failures, they identified six challenges. Each chapter of this book defines one of the six challenges. And every challenge presents two tensions, creating the ends of the tightrope. For example, "the learning challenge" creates the tensions of truth and life. The other tensions consist of care and discipleship, friendship and accountability, kindness and confrontation, task and people, openness and intimacy. Small group leaders must find the balance between the two polar extremes. A target in the middle of the tightrope balances the continuum and gives the leader an aim. Tools and suggestions facilitate next steps.
The identification of the six challenges, definitions of the tensions, examples of the polar extremes and tools assist in management of these tensions. The real life stories and the honesty engage the reader. The authors reveal real struggles of small group ministry without pat answers. They give insight into identifying group challenges as well as ways to spot where the reader's small group walks on that tightrope continuum.