What is Small Group Ministry?

Purpose:
The purpose of Small Group Ministry is to promote spiritual development and intimacy of community among members and friends of the BuxMont fellowship by meeting regularly in small groups.  

When:
Groups meet at least monthly for 2 hours.

Where:
Meetings are in homes, at the Fellowship, or another mutually agreeable location.  Locations are chosen to be within convenient distance and time to accommodate the maximum number of interested people. 

Topics:
Groups explore common themes throughout the year.  Session topics might include beauty and grace, Unitarian Universalist values, despair, justice, human nature, rituals in our daily lives, love, forgiveness, transition and more. 

Leadership:
Each group has a trained facilitator and co-facilitator.  Facilitators maintain an atmosphere where all feel comfortable to speak and discussion is responsive to the interests of the group.

Format:

Membership:
Groups have 6 – 12 members.  All groups covenant to attend regularly and to be open to new members and multiply upon reaching maturity at 12 members.

Process:
Main discussion topics are spiritual questions. Everyone’s participation is encouraged. Participants listen to each other without giving judgment or advice.  Each group also plans and conducts a community service project.

How Do I Join?
Signup forms for Small Group Ministries are kept by our bulletin board in the social hall and at the Visitor’s Center.  They are also available from the Minister.  After you signup, you will be contacted regarding a group.  Groups are formed largely on the basis of schedule and geography.  If you would like more information, talk to Rev. Schatz or the members of the Small Group Ministry Task Force.

Participants say...

“Through attentive, caring listening, we create sacred time, we fill time with the 
essence of sacredness.” 

- Rev. Dr. Thandeka
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“By sharing the experience of being human, we learn, we become more humane, more compassionate, to ourselves and to others. By exploring our own hopes and fears, we become stronger, better able to reach out and help others.”

- Melissa Egbertson
Member, BuxMont UU Fellowship
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“People come to our churches to be lifted out of the ordinary, to be drawn up from the mundane, and to seek relief from the omnipresent materialism of our culture.”

- Rev. Bob Hill
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“There are moments when we need to come together with a small group of fellow life travelers so that we can be together, hear one another, and for just two hours, live our lives intentionally....  This is what Small Group Ministries are about.  In the deepest and oldest meanings of the word, the people in Small Groups minister with one another.”