Following the congregational assessment, which provides a broad brush understanding of the congregation’s needs, the search team provides interactive opportunities for the congregation to discuss the congregation and its needs and hopes for its next minister.

The small group meetings and focus groups coordinator is the main point person who:

• schedules and communicates multiple group meetings to engage the congregation as fully as possible, e.g. using sign-ups, tracking participation
• works with the rest of the search team to craft group questions based on the survey results
• recruits any additional help for group logistics (hosts, facilitators, note-takers)
• prepares a summary of what was shared for the documents packet, and shares it with the congregation

Small Group Meetings

Small group meetings are open groups of congregants invited to come to a facilitated conversation with prompts crafted by the search team. It provides an opportunity for participants to hear and build on what others say. You may call these small group meetings what you like: sharing circles, small group discussions, small group meetings, etc.

• Have several opportunities to participate at different times and days.
• Running two groups at the same time in different rooms is possible if you have the facilitators and note-takers.
• Require pre-registration to keep group size under a dozen
• Offer a couple of online options
• Keep the groups (generally facilitated by search team members) to provide an opportunity for people

Focus Groups

Focus groups differ from small group meetings in that they target specific groups within the congregation. Questions are the same as in the small group meetings, with additional opportunity to discuss needs specific to the group. (Sample question: “What would our new minister need to know about how to best serve the needs of our families?”) Typical focus groups include:

• parents/families
• past presidents
• youth
• young adults
• BIPOC members
• newer members
• long-term members
• staff (including the interim minister)
• retirees
• previous search teams
• various committees, teams, and task forces
• other key groups that you feel should be included as a group

Developing Discussion Questions

Each search team determine the questions for their own congregation and context. Start with the results of the the congregational assessment and compare the results with the profile prompts in the MinistrySearch congregational record. What do you still need to know? Where do you want to go deeper? What part of the congregation’s culture are you missing? The interim minister can be a helpful thought partner in developing generative questions.

One search team found that in its small group meetings, only three questions were necessary: “How would you describe this congregation to its prospective ministers? To prospective members? To a close, non-member friend?” Another search team used only two: “Looking back, after our minister has been with us a year, what will be your measures of a good match? How will we be together?”

Other potential good questions could be about the congregational culture and the ministers’ role in the culture. One way to approach this is to ask people to reflect on the rules and customs they had to learn, both spoken and unspoken, as they joined the congregation. Follow that up with a question about what the new minister(s) should know about the congregational culture.

Logistics for Both Kinds of Groups

• Reserve times and spaces well ahead of time. Provide a variety of opportunities, including online (e.g. Zoom®) options. Be clear about the start and end times,
• Use sign-ups, and set size limits for each session (under 12 participants)
• Have an an experienced facilitator and note-taker for each session, roles that can be filled by other congregational leaders. There should be at least one search team member in each session.
• Use a good process of encouraging all to speak, letting people finish their thoughts without interruption, and setting limits for individual speaking time.

Sharing the Results

Once the group sessions are complete, compile and analyze the notes, then write a summary. Review the materials as a search team, and share them with the interim minister.

Share the summary with the congregation. The summary may also be posted on the search section of the website.

The summary will also become part of the documents packet the search team prepares.

Creative Ideas for Engagement

The information gathered in these group meetings is crucial to developing the narrative for your congregational record, so you want to get a very high level of participation and involvement. In a time of information overload, it may be challenging to emphasize to the congregation how important these groups are to the search process. One search team called their meetings “search parties” and publicized them by dressing for them in rain gear and carrying flashlights when making congregational announcements about them! Feel empowered to employ your own creativity!

Time Requirement

Ideally, the groups are scheduled for after the congregational assessment summary has been shared, but there may need to schedule some groups earlier, especially in larger congregations. The summary must be complete before the congregational record is submitted for review.

Key Dates

• August: Set dates and set up registrations for small group meetings
• August-September:
  • Publicity (can start by mentioning the groups in the communications about the survey/assessment, i.e. “two opportunities for input to the search team”)
  • Identify and reach out to individuals to schedule focus groups
  • identify facilitators and notetakers
• September-Early November: Run the small group meetings and focus group conversations
• Mid-November: Prepare summary report, share with congregation and include in the congregational documents packet