Nearly every church is trying to help their congregants build relationships with others, grow as disciples, and/or engage in meaningful service through small groups. Many have argued that these small groups are the preferred vehicle for relationship building, disciple making, and membership assimilation in the local church, especially in large, multisite churches. Leading Small Groups That Thrive shows small group leaders, step by step, how to plan for, launch, build, sustain, and multiply highly effective, transformational, healthy small group experiences where people grow spiritually together. Based on a large-scale research study of small group pastors, leaders, and members, Leading Small Groups That Thrive gives church leaders both what they want--practical, straightforward, actual small group member voices and experiences, and compelling guidance on how to build transformational groups complemented with real-life examples and data of successful small groups--and what they need--substantial, challenging insights and a data-driven model grounded in the latest research on church small groups.

Lead small groups through astounding growth with principles from the best-selling books How People Grow and Boundaries.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. With insights from their best-selling book How People Grow, Cloud and Townsend show how God’s plan for growth is made up of three key elements: grace plus truth plus time. When groups embrace those elements, they find God’s grace and forgiveness and learn how to handle their imperfections without shame as they model God’s love and support to one another.In addition to describing what makes small groups work, Leading Small Groups That Help People Grow explains the roles and responsibilities of both leaders and group members. Employing tenets from the book How People Grow, this book equips leaders to understand the ins and outs of how to promote growth, and using principles from their best-selling book Boundaries, they show how to identify and find solutions for common problems such as boredom, noncompliance, passivity, aggression, narcissism, spiritualization, over-neediness, over-giving, and nonstop talking.

What do the top church teams do to thrive together? Researchers and practitioners Ryan Hartwig and Warren Bird have discovered churches who have learned to thrive under healthy team leadership. Using actual church examples, this coaching tool presents their discoveries, culminating in five disciplines that will enable your team to thrive.

What is youth ministry actually for? And does it have a future? Andrew Root, a leading scholar in youth ministry and practical theology, went on a one-year journey to answer these questions. In this book, Root weaves together an innovative first-person fictional narrative to diagnose the challenges facing the church today and to offer a new vision for youth ministry in the 21st century. Informed by interviews that Root conducted with parents, this book explores how parents' perspectives of what constitutes a good life are affecting youth ministry. In today's culture, youth ministry can't compete with sports, test prep, and the myriad other activities in which young people participate. Through a unique parable-style story, Root offers a new way to think about the purpose of youth ministry: not happiness, but joy. Joy is a sense of experiencing the good. For youth ministry to be about joy, it must move beyond the youth group model and rework the assumptions of how identity and happiness are imagined by parents in American society.

What differentiates resilient organizations from those that are not? Do we need to wait until a crisis strikes to see how resilient an organization is? Resilient Organizations draws on primary research to reveal the answers to these questions and provides practical ideas and actions to make your own organization more resilient. Organizational resilience is about creating organizations with the agility to adapt to unexpected challenges and the capacity to seize opportunity out of adversity. Dr Erica Seville, founder of the Resilient Organizations research programme, provides readers with the essential knowledge required to enable organizations to thrive in a world of change and uncertainty. Drawing on a decade of research, her team have identified 13 indicators to diagnose an organization's resilience. Resilient Organizations draws out the top five ingredients and shows how organization resilience is a capability that can and must be proactively fostered and maintained over time. Using case studies, diagnostic tools and key actions and initiatives to develop and maintain organizational resilience, Resilient Organizations is essential reading for everyone tasked with developing strong organizations that can survive and thrive in crisis and change - from risk, resilience and business continuity professionals to leadership and management teams.

It’s a fact of life: birds flock, fish school, people “tribe.” Malcolm Gladwell and other authors have written about how the fact that humans are genetically programmed to form “tribes” of 20-150 people has proven true throughout our species’ history. Every company in the word consists of an interconnected network of tribes (A tribe is defined as a group of between 20 and 150 people in which everyone knows everyone else, or at least knows of everyone else). In Tribal Leadership, Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright show corporate leaders how to first assess their company’s tribal culture and then raise their companies’ tribes to unprecedented heights of success. In a rigorous eight-year study of approximately 24,000 people in over two dozen corporations, Logan, King, and Fischer-Wright discovered a common theme: the success of a company depends on its tribes, the strength of its tribes is determined by the tribal culture, and a thriving corporate culture can be established by an effective tribal leader. Tribal Leadership will show leaders how to employ their companies’ tribes to maximize productivity and profit: the author’s research, backed up with interviews ranging from Brian France (CEO of NASCAR) to “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams, shows that over three quarters of the organizations they’ve studied have tribal cultures that are adequate at best.

From the professors who teach NYU's most popular elective class, "Science of Happiness," a fun, comprehensive guide to surviving and thriving in college and beyond. Every year, almost 4,000,000 students begin their freshman year at colleges and universities nationwide. Most of them will sleep less and stress out a whole lot more. By the end of the year, 30% of those freshmen will have dropped out. For many, the unforeseen demands of college life are so overwhelming that "the best four years of your life" can start to feel like the worst. Enter Daniel Lerner and Dr. Alan Schlechter, ready to teach students how to not only survive college, but flourish in it. Filled with fascinating science, real-life stories, and tips for building positive lifelong habits, U Thrive addresses the opportunities and challenges every undergrad will face -- from finding a passion to dealing with nightmarish roommates and surviving finals week. Engaging and hilarious, U Thrive will help students grow into the happy, successful alums they all deserve to be.

Overcome your struggles. Fulfill your deepest longings. Your whole life awaits you. Many people today are struggling with unprecedented levels of anxiety, hurt, doubt, guilt, and shame. Medical and mental health professionals confirm that much of the dysfunction and disconnectedness we experience in life stems from unresolved relational and emotional hurts. These hurts leave us with unfulfilled God-given longings that we seek to fulfill through unhealthy behaviors and relationships. Yet, our struggles aren't random; they're signals that when answered, can pave our way towards a thriving life. In Free to Thrive, Josh McDowell and Ben Bennett invite you on a journey of healing and will teach you how to overcome unwanted behaviors by engaging your unmet longings. With a blend of hard-won wisdom and youthful energy, they present: Biblical teaching Recent neuroscientific research Time-tested principles Personal stories of deliverance Practical tools Opportunities for reflection No matter what you are struggling with, it is possible to experience the spiritual, emotional, and relational wholeness that God wants you to have--and live the thriving life you were made for.

Meant to both inspire and inform pastoral leaders, So Much Better examines the impact of peer group participation on pastoral leaders, their families, and ministries. This book goes beyond numbers and data by breathing life into the statistical bones. At this book's heart are seven peer group models including stories and examples from participants, families, and church members. Also featured is information about peer group recruitment, leadership, content, and structure, and practical advice about the cost, sustainability, and evaluation of peer groups. So Much Better can change the way you think about and perform your ministry and lead you to a life that is-- well, so much better. Authors: Penny Long Marler James Bowers Larry Dill Brenda K. Harewood Richard Hester Sheila Kirton-Robbins Marianne LaBarre Janet Maykus D. Bruce Roberts Lis Van Harten Kelli Walker-Jones From The Columbia Partnership (TCP) Leadership Series