The questions you ask as a small group leader go a long way in determining the types of answers you receive. And the type of group you lead!

Bill Donahue and Dr. Henry Cloud continue their yearlong small groups series on CCN called Groups That Grow by helping leaders better understand the importance of deep discussions.

Turning Questions Into Transformational Discussions provides practical tools to help small groups pastors and volunteer leaders develop discussion-minded, not answer-minded, groups.

“In small groups, we want more than answers,” Dr. Cloud says. “We want to engage people in thoughtful, provocative discussions. Quick answers to difficult questions can stifle discussion. And content-heavy questions often provoke fear and hesitation as people wonder whether they have the ‘right' answer.”

Cloud and Donahue will help leaders learn to ask the right kind of questions — ones that promote dynamic and healthy discussion. They will help leaders understand:

• Open-ended versus closed-ended questions
• Using guiding questions to focus a discussion
• Using probing questions to prompt insight and reflection
• Asking clarifying questions that promote discernment
• How to craft engaging questions from Bible passages or curriculum

The big question: are you ready to turn questions into transformational discussions?

Dr. Henry Cloud is a clinical psychologist, international speaker, and best selling author. He is the co-host of the nationally broadcast “New Life Live” radio program. He co-founded the Minirth-Meier Clinic West and served with Dr. John Townsend as the clinic's co-director for nine years. Dr. Cloud is the author of Changes That Heal . With Dr. Townsend, he co-authored the best selling Boundaries series, How People Grow, Safe People, and What to Do When You Don't Know What to Do .

Bill Donahue is the executive director of Small Group Ministries for the Willow Creek Association. He is the author of Leading Life-Changing Small Groups, and with Russ Robinson the coauthor of The 7 Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry, Building a Church of Small Groups, and Walking the Small Group Tightrope. He also teaches at several seminaries and has written and edited many small group studies, including the Interactions Series, the New Community Series and the Bible 101 Series.