Engaging with the Bible in a small group context has the potential to be transformative, but the picture is not without some complications. Key factors in determining whether a small group can be transformed through scripture include the use (or abuse) of 'experts', the opportunity for challenge in the group, and how study materials are used. "Do Small Groups Work" not only presents extensive research into these questions, with the potential to transform practice, but also offers a unique window into how practical theological research can productively encounter scripture.

From 1824 to 1843 Newman was an active clergyman of the Chruch of England; during these years he entered the pulpit about 1,270 times. Newman published 217 of the sermons which he wrote during these years; a further 246 sermons survive in manuscript in the Archives of the Birmingham Oratory, some only as fragments but the majority as full texts. Volume I was published in 1991; the series will consist of five volumes in all. This volume presents 58 previously unpublished sermons of John Henry Newman. Those preached in his early days as Vicar of St Mary's Oxford include a series of sermons devoted to Biblical history and contain some searching moral portraits of patriarchs and kings. Another series of sermons on the Epistle to the Romans with subsequent extensive revisions reveals the development of Newman's views on Justification and Faith leading up to the Lectures on Justification published in 1838. Of the sermons surviving from St Clement's, 1824-1826, when Newman held Evangelical views, the present volume contatins a number of practical sermons dealing with details of Christian living. These are followed by sermons devoted to Biblical theology in which Newman among other issues explores various aspects of the Jewish religion as presented in the Old Testament. As many of these sermons were revised and subsequently preached again, they are important for an undrestanding of the growth of Newman's spiritual theology.