Find a Spiritual Home in Small Group Ministry

Small Group Ministry (SGM) provides a place for members to explore significant questions and to experience community through deep, intentional listening.

The purpose of SGM meetings is not to problem-solve, offer advice, or reach consensus but rather to witness and hold the amazing diversity of experiences and journeys. By listening to one another’s faith journeys and beliefs members clarify their own. And in the process, members come to know and care about one another as they provide intimate company in the search for meaning.

Small Group Ministry offers connection in a large congregation. For visitors or new members especially, it can facilitate a sense of belonging to the larger circle of FUSN membership.

How Does Small Group Ministry Work at FUSN?

Members meet twice a month for two hours in groups of 8-10 in one another’s homes. The meeting is guided by a facilitator and follows a simple format: candle lighting, an opening reading, a check-in, the topic, a check-out, and closing reading.

Participants are expected to make an effort to come to each meeting and to stay with the group for at least a church year. After that time, groups may re-form, with the hope that participants come to know people in other groups. New members may join any time there is an opening.

Topics

At the core of each meeting is a topic designed as a springboard for reflection on the deeper issues of who we are and what gives our lives meaning. Topics developed by small group members and gathered from other SGM programs across the country are printed in booklets available in the church office or topics are also online. Topics cover a range of spiritual and experiential themes such as Forgiveness, Solitude, Prayer, Doubt, Home.

Facilitators

Facilitators are chosen and trained to facilitate the SGM group process. Unlike traditional facilitators, SGM facilitators are members of their groups with all the members’ benefits and responsibilities. Their particular function is to ensure that the SGM format and process is followed. They meet periodically for training and support.

Group Ground Rules

All group members are encouraged to observe these norms:

• Speak in the first person
• Share your own truth without making another's wrong
• Listen carefully
• Participate, but share speaking time
• Make no judgments
• Offer no advice
• Abide your group’s decision about confidentiality

Service

Each group is expected to engage in some service to the congregation or the larger community annually. Serving together gives members a chance to experience how values and actions are connected as well as an opportunity to acknowledge the church’s role in sustaining SGM.

How to Join Small Group Ministry

Speak with someone at the membership table or contact the coordinator, Holly Zeeb (hollyzeeb [at] rcn [dot] com). You will be asked what days or evenings you are available and will be placed in a group on the basis of time compatibility and available openings. Efforts are made to keep groups balanced in terms of age and gender.

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee consists of current group facilitators or their proxies, so that each group is represented at regular meetings. It responds to concerns, links to the Committee on Ministry, develops and maintains the SGM curriculum, assigns new people to SGM groups, trains SGM facilitators, and oversees periodic assessments of the SGM process

Please talk with the facilitator if your group meetings are not starting or ending on time, if ground rules are not being followed, if not all members are getting time to check-in and share their thoughts, or if you have questions or other concerns.