Drawing on her personal experience as someone who's been burned out, disappointed, and frustrated by small groups, Kim V. Engelmann makes a compelling case for changing our paradigm in her book Soul-Shaping Small Groups. Yet in the end, her critique feels like it's aimed at the wrong target.

• Soul-Shaping Small Groups: A Refreshing Approach for Exasperated Leaders, by Kim V. Engelmann. Foreword by John Ortberg. 168 pages, $15.00. IVP Connect.

As followers of Christ, we have a deep longing and need for genuine community and a genuine interaction with God's real, vibrant, life-changing presence, Engelmann writes. Too many small groups don't encourage or promote deep spiritual growth, she contends. People have inconsistent, uneven experiences in small groups, and participation in a small group can become another [chore, duty, obligation -- pick one, or more].

That's certainly how Engelmann describes her own experience as a small-group participant, and one day she became so miserable that she quit:

Perhaps I could have hung in there a little longer; I am not sure. My cynical nature makes it hard for me to eagerly embrace things that don't bring me life or encouragement. Ultimately, if I am entirely honest, I admit I felt as if it was a huge waste of time. (p. 18)

But Engelmann discovered new hope for the small group experience as she read the Emmaus Road story from Luke 24. These two disciples had an encounter with Jesus that truly, genuinely changed their lives-a statement most small group leaders long to hear from their participants.

Engelmann -- who's now senior pastor of West Valley Presbyterian Church in Cupertino, California -- suggests a different approach to small groups, drawing on the Emmaus Road story for inspiration. She proposes a structure of 90 to 120 minutes for a small group, with time designated for invitation of God's presence into the group, humble and authentic sharing, listening to God and listening to one another, interceding for others, and "befriending" Scripture.

And this is both the strength and weakness of her book. This approach isn't a radical shift from the way many small groups are structured, even though early in her book, Engelmann says she is presenting "a new format for the small group experience that gives authentic spiritual community a chance."

Engelmann accurately criticizes our tendency to turn our small-group ministries into predictable, formulaic programs that lack the much-needed life and power of the Holy Spirit. If God is not present and active in our lives through our groups, what's the point?

Yet this is where her analysis feels slightly misplaced to me. Perhaps the real issue isn't how we do small groups; perhaps the real issue is simply how we do church. If small groups are overly predictable and formulaic, maybe they're just a reflection of what we do in our weekend services. Ineffective, lifeless small groups may just be a symptom, not the actual illness.

Still, Engelmann provides a number of experiential ideas and suggestions that could help infuse new life into small group-ministries. Part Two of her book devotes six chapters to exercises that could help small groups have more soul-shaping experiences. While these ideas probably will resonate most strongly with leaders from more liturgical or emergent backgrounds, many of these exercises could be adapted to enhance small groups from a wide range of faith traditions.

Overall, this book failed to deliver the radical, new strategy I expected to encounter -- yet because of Engelmann's heart for a more passionate, life-changing encounter with God's presence in small groups, I expect to return to the book for ideas, suggestions, and exercises.

Rob Cunningham is a freelance writer and editor from Sacramento, California, who oversees the small-group ministry at Mountain View Church in Roseville, California.