- Goal of Stimulating Holy Spirit-filled Discussion Social gatherings are nice and have their place, but when you are trying to evangelize, establish and equip, you want to keep the focus spiritual. If you aim for the spiritual, the social will happen. But it doesn’t work the other way around.
- Balance of Heart and Head Questions, with an Emphasis on Living it Out There is always the danger of over-intellectualizing the Gospel to the detriment of putting it into practice. A discussion lends itself to the intellect by its very nature. A facilitator should guard against becoming excessively intellectual and focus on practical ways to live out what is being discussed.
- 3-12 Members A gathering of two people is more like a one-on-one. Any larger than twelve and it is not “small.” The ideal size is about eight to twelve people, however, three people can be the mustard seed that renews a parish.
- Regular Meetings — Preferably Weekly It is better to meet for a 6 weeks straight and take a break, than to meet every other week. This is because one missed meeting in an every-other-week schedule means that it will be a month between meetings. Also, if you meet ever other week, people tend to forget.
- Scripture Study As the Living Word of God, the Scriptures are a privileged place to encounter and be taught by the Holy Spirit. It’s great to study the Summa Theologica and documents of the Church or even to have a discussion about the latest Oprah recommendation, but in terms of facilitating Spirit-filled discussion, we have found that nothing delivers like the Sacred Text.
- Hospitality Afterwards with Food Some of the best conversations and insights happen after the formal discussion — over food. As a Eucharistic people, this should not surprise us. People often feel more comfortable exploring personal issues and questions in this context — questions which have arisen because of the formal discussion, even if not specifically on the formal topic.
- Group Ownership Members of a small group are only as invested as they are, well, invested. If a group member knows that they are counted on for something, it is more likely to feel like “their” group — which it ought to be. Distribute as many tasks as possible. These can include opening & closing prayers, snacks, music, researching a topic, and reading selections for the group. Hold off, though, on distributing the role of facilitating — this should be reserved for those who first go through training.
- Precise and Consistent Ending & Beginning Times Without strong boundaries and decisive leadership to stick to the designated beginning and ending times, people tend to come later and later and the group tends to start later and later. If there is consistent timing, they will be consistent. Others tend to drop out or come less often if they feel that it will take more time than they have allotted. You have a sacred trust with people’s time; be a wise steward.
- Well-Trained Facilitators with Ongoing Leadership Training Initial training is a pre-requisite. You should try to cover everything from how to ask open-ended questions to how to deal with difficult behaviors. But we all learn best through hands-on training, and a great way to do this is to pair an experienced facilitator with a new one in a small group. Theological training should be an ongoing effort, but facilitators do not need a Master’s Degree in Theology to begin. Faith, social skills, and the potential for leading others make a good foundation.
- Worship Music Optional, but it can set the tone and help the group focus on God at the beginning of the gathering. Often just starting out with an old hymn everyone knows, like Amazing Grace, can accomplish this, especially if you have no guitarists in the group. You just need someone who can carry a tune and who is comfortable taking the lead. Check out the Praise Primer in the “EC Ministry Handbook” for more information.
Ten Keys to Successful Small Groups
2009, May 1st
Issue 1