Backyard to the Universe
Welcoming Congregations
WELCOMING
CONGREGATION NETWORK
WELCOMING
CONGREGATION AND SMALL GROUP MINISTRY
Small
Group Ministry, or Covenant Groups, are integral parts of the life of
many congregations. Program. If you are not familiar with Small Group
Ministry, please see that section on this site for more description,
discussion and implementation of the concept, or go to
www.smallgroupministry.net.
Small
Group Ministry may be offered to a time limited group that focuses on
Welcoming Congregation issues. If this group is also a committee
to develop or implement a Welcoming Congregation Program, the session
would be a major part of a meeting followed by logistics for moving
the program forward (.5 hours). The critical part here is that the
time spent in Small Group Ministry focus on that, with the
understanding that the time for logistics will follow.
Small
Group Ministry may be used as a process to focus on an issue or topic
within the context of a larger educational program or workshop.
For example, the importance or potential impact of the Welcoming
Congregation program on individuals and the entire congregation could
be used at a Welcoming Congregation Program workshop or educational
program. This can be done by having the total group participants
divide into small groups of 5-6 people for a .5 to 1hour (depending
on the total length of the workshop). If more than one session is
used throughout the workshop, try to keep the small groups
consistent. The difference here is that there will be fewer questions
for consideration than in longer session.
Following
are some sessions that have been developed around the concept of
Welcoming, with a focus on Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Trans concerns.
The
Welcoming Congregation Network welcome sessions that you may have
used or topics that you would like to have developed.