Newton SGM Program Holds True to Principles
July 15, 2007
First Unitarian Society in Newton, MA (385 members), may have one of the best Small Group Ministry (SGM) programs around. The program began in 2001 with ninety people in nine groups. Today there are seventy-two members in eight groups."It's a very solid and very significant program in our church," says Holly Zeeb, coordinator of the program since last fall and co-leader of one of the small groups since the beginning. "These groups contemplate really significant questions, and members are witnesses to each other's spiritual reflections and growth."
She says the program has attempted to stay true to the original concepts, as laid down by Rev. Calvin Dame, one of the founders of Small Group Ministry within the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). The following aspects help make the program at Newton successful, Zeeb says:
- Continual publicity about the groups through a Small Group Ministry brochure, a monthly information table at coffee hour, and newsletter notices. In February the SGM program organized a worship service on Small Group Ministry, which generated many new members.
- Twice since 2001 there have been daylong workshops on Small Group Ministry, reminding everyone of the program's principles and structure.
- Openings in the groups are filled by the program coordinator, not by the groups themselves, ensuring that new folks are made fully aware of the program's structure.
- New topics are always under development by the curriculum coordinator, Bob Zeeb, and by the groups themselves. When a group comes up with a good topic it passes it along to Bob, who compiles them periodically into booklets for all the groups.
The groups do service projects mostly within the church on a regular basis. "Our members were already so involved with social justice in the larger community it made more sense for the groups to focus their projects within the church," says Zeeb. Such projects are a core principle of Small Group Ministry, helping the groups connect with something outside themselves.
There have been challenges. Originally all of the group facilitators met monthly to share information. "Over time facilitators stopped coming," says Zeeb. "They felt like they knew what they were doing." Instead, the SGM steering committee meets three to four times a year to discuss the groups and whether they need to do more recruiting. Generally a representative from each group is present.
Another challenge is that some groups spend much of their meetings on check-in, not leaving enough time to discuss a topic. Zeeb says, "We talk in our facilitators' meetings about how to keep members on track." "Having structure helps," she says. "We've been able to handle some challenging people because there is a definite structure and everyone knows what it is."
None of the groups have divided to form new groups, as originally recommended, which sometimes worries Zeeb. She says the groups could be considered both islands and bridges. "There are people who seem only to connect with others through their group. But many others have spoken quite eloquently about how deep they are able to go in their group because it's been together a long time, and some say SGM has been the springboard for deeper engagement in the larger church."
She adds, "I do consider the groups to be a ministry of the church rather than just another program. It's really meeting a need."
Barbara Bates, a member of the initial steering committee, believes the program has continued to be vibrant because the steering committee meets several times a year and helps the groups adhere to SGM core principles. And every few years they have a worship service where people testify about the value of SGM. "It may also be a result of this congregation's historical focus on creating strong community," she says.
For more information contact interconnections @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
