Small Group Ministry
During the worship service on Sunday I introduced the spiritual and community practice of small group ministry. While your congregation is richly familiar with this type of small group gathering, I shared that I have found these five (hexagonal like in a honeycomb chamber) practices to be essential to small group ministry
I want to share a little about what I hope these small group circles will be like:
- Groups begin with five to seven participants who show up monthly for regular meetings. Each group has one or two trained facilitators who help the group create and adhere to a group covenant wherein deep listening is practiced.
- The biggest discipline, aside from deep listening, is the practice of The Empty Chair. Your group literally keeps an empty chair present and continually prepares itself for new members through openness, flexibility, and curiosity. Groups will never be asked to have more than ten members.
- Each group will meet once or twice a month and utilize a themed agenda to create a deep listening experience. Deep listening does not include advice giving but rather listening and sharing from the heart, speaking from experience and sharing equal time.
- The groups will last from October until June. Then disperse. New groups, I hope, will begin again the next year.
- Participants, as a group, will provide a service project for the church or the community during your nine month period.
PLEASE send me, Rev. Mary Ann, a list of three people from the congregation whom you would consider a trusted person to be a small group ministry facilitator. More information on how to sign up for a small group ministry group will be available after the September 15 worship service.
In peace and love, MAM |
