The gospel can at times can be successfully shared in personal conversation or in one-on-one study; however, there are several reasons that a more ideal way to share the study is through seeker small groups. A seeker small group is a group composed of a mix of Christians and "seekers"--non-Christians or the unchurched--who come together to study a particular spiritual topic for the purposes of growing in faith. (For a good resource on this, see Gary Poole's book, Seeker Small Groups). The Story of Redemption is an evangelistic Bible study that I have written to lead a person to faith, and it can be used very well in a seeker small group.

One reason that the gospel--and The Story of Redemption--may often best be shared in small groups is that this helps tremendously in community formation. Being in community is an essential expression of the gospel, and people tend to like this experience so much that it helps them in overcoming intellectual questions that they may have.

A second reason that The Story of Redemption is often better studied in a small group is that the concepts found within the study become more real as they are discussed in the small group. Sociologist and Christian author Robert Wuthnow says that “social scientists have often noted the importance of social interaction for understanding the plausibility of beliefs and ideas.”[1] Through his research of Bible study groups he makes this observation:

Ideas from the Bible became more real for two reasons. They were there in print, in the first place, and everyone knew they were there. In other words, the act of sitting in one another’s presence and looking at the same words from the printed page helped underscore the existence of biblical idea . . . But the more important reason was that the ideas were generally reinforced by the personal experiences of people in the group. Asked if an idea made sense, usually people would say, yes, that it made sense to them at least because they had tried it, or they had thought about it, or even that at one time they had asked somebody about it and received an answer that satisfied them.[2]

Third, research has shown that when non-Christians are in a Christian social network such as a small group, they are much more likely to be a good neighbor and give to and serve others—which is part of what they are learning to live out in the study.[3]

A fourth reason that small group evangelism is often to be preferred over a one-on-one study is that it multiplies the number of spiritual gifts that can be brought to bear in the study, potentially making the study more successful.[4] 
A small group will likely have people with gifts in evangelism, teaching, administration, encouragement, mercy, and more. Certainly...

What experience have you had with seeker small groups? Do you think it is better to share the gospel one-on-one, or in a small group? What are the pros and cons of each?