The Complete Guide to Small Group Ministry
Saving the World Ten At a Time
Covenant Groups are transforming Unitarian Universalism, giving churches a new way to serve their congregations’ need for spiritual uplift and connection. An accessible and thorough guide to this grassroots movement, Small Group Ministry, will teach readers why we need covenant groups and how to best convene and nurture them. The book also includes a complete list of resources, sample handouts, agendas and other tools for creating covenant groups.
Robert L. Hill is was formerly District Executive of the Southwest District of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and editor of the Covenant Group Newsletter. Hill received degrees from the University of Texas and Tufts University's Crane Theological School and was ordained in 1969. He was an interdistrict representative and then district executive in the Southeast before serving as UUA Vice President for District Services from 1987 to 1994. As an extension or parish minister, Hill has served sixteen of our congregations in six states.
Praise for The Complete Guide to Small Group Ministry
"Small Group Ministry is one of the great grassroots movements in
Unitarian Universalism today. It is also one of the healthiest. It is helping us
shape a faith that affirms real, lived human experience in all its complexity.
It is helping us live out our individualism in ways that not only support but
also enhances our sense of community. I believe that your time spent with this
small volume can pay handsome rewards."
—William Sinkford, UUA President
"For over thirty years, Rev. Robert Hill has been a leader in the UUA as a
minister, as a staff person at headquarters, and as a district executive. With
experience, passion and wisdom, he's been an early and eloquent proponent of
Small Group Ministry in fact, our most enthusiastic and successful evangelist!
In this book, Hill offers far more than succinct "how-to-do-it." He looks critically at our history, about periods of divisiveness, which have often led
to decline, at the self-limiting attitudes that bedevil our growth. This guide will be useful for readers who want to develop their own Covenant Groups as well
as experienced Small Group Ministry practitioners who want to know more."
—Glenn H. Turner, former UUA District Minister of the Northeast District
"Small Group Ministry has taken the denomination by storm. By some
accounts, at least half of our Unitarian Universalist (UU) churches have implemented some form of Small
Group Ministry in the past few years. Why? Because this approach meets needs
most of us didn't know we had the need for intimate connections with a limited
number of people, the need to process our fast-moving lives in today's world, the need for a trusting environment where we can be honest, and the need to care
for others."
—Roger W. Comstock, Acting UUA District Executive, Northeast
District
"What do people need most from their churches? They need community durable human
relationships that are grounded in a common vision, compassion, commitment and
celebration. Bob Hill’s practical, lively, passionate and witty book shows us
how we can create churches that minister to the deepest longings of the human
spirit."
—Peter Morales, UUA Director of District Services
"No one is better qualified than Bob Hill to make the case that, at a time when big
fears, big bucks and big missiles seem to rule the world, small really is
beautiful because small, done right, can lead to the large and glorious. A
sizable achievement."
— William F. Schulz, President, UUA, 1985-1993
"The twin challenges for Unitarian Universalism just now are finding a public voice
for our values and overcoming resistance to growth. Both of these challenges
require our spiritual maturity. This book provides an opportunity for us to do
just that find our own spiritual center in an intimate setting."
— Kay
Montgomery, UUA Executive Vice President
"This
is a road map for helping our congregations make a difference in people's lives
and in the world."
— Calvin Dame, Trustee, UUA Board
For more information contact skinnerhouse @ uua.org.
This work is made possible by the generosity of individual donors and congregations. Please consider making a donation today.
Last updated on Tuesday, March 30, 2010.
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