This question has been asked for two decades! Small Group Ministry/Covenant Groups developed locally and informally and spread. The UUSGM Network started compiling data in earnest in 2010 from about 200 congregations and interested individuals for Celebrating Congregations, We now have about 450 congregations on our working data base. Our sources include:

While there is some duplication in these various numbers, there is geographic and demographic diversity.

Invitation: If you are coming to GA, visit the Booth to see if your community is included. If it is, sign the list. If it is not listed, please add to our listing. You can also write to office@smallgroupministry.net to inquire about your community's inclusion on the listing. Recognition of you and your community's involvement with Small Group Ministry/Covenant Groups is vital!

The intent of the UUSGM Network to do just that -network. Questions that we receive have been posted on the Home Page of the Network website (www.smallgroupministry.net) for the last few months. Inquiries and responses may be sent to office@smallgroupministry.net. Responses may appear on the website, in CGN or the SGM Journal, on FaceBook, etc.

In January 2019 we received this inquiry: "How do you facilitate SGM for "Snowbirds" and "Blue Birds" or participants who are in our communities for a period of a few months?"

We received the following response from a member of UUFP (UU Fellowship of Paris, in France) who hosts a SGM group in her home in Paris.

We in Paris have a similar demographic, with people who travel a lot, and also some fellowship members who are in Paris just for a period of months each year. In addition, our fellowship is widely scattered geographically, and without a building, so we host in homes, all of which presents challenges to maintaining ongoing, full-bodied SGM groups.

So we decided to create a group that could never be 'full' but would always have an open seat/chair. Our approach was/is to be open to a 1-or-2-time guest but then ask for a commitment to be present consistently. We thought that if the group got too big (as we expected it would), we could then create a new group and keep growing.

After 3 years, we currently have a mailing list membership of our group of about 14 people, but most gatherings have 5-8 people. We have found that balancing the idea of "open-to-visitors" and "'committed and intimate" is interpreted by some as "committed when I'm available" ... leading to a group that has us asking how to deal with sometime participants. This was not quite what we had in mind, but turning away people is definitely what we wanted to avoid, so we've remained flexible... and have learned that it's working.

A key element that supports our group's functioning is to very clearly state at the beginning of each session how we function, with the focus on listening rather than having one's say. We use a "talking stick" to help this be more concrete. We always discuss "likes and wishes" at the end of each session, and this also helps to reinforce the desired behaviors that promote a deep and rich, meditative listening experience.

We are open to guests and to often-absent people returning to participate as well. This model also allows us to invite new friends that we think might find the UU approach to religion of interest, or to invite a houseguest that is just passing through but who might appreciate what we do.

Especially right now, many people coming here (to Europe) from the US talk about how many people they interact with, but seem to only know how to argue their point. When they hear about this listening practice (formalized as SGM), they are very intrigued and are very interested in it. Our format provides a sort of outreach ... and I love that!

Best wishes, and in fellowship, Karen Kyker

Session Plans are a dynamic form of UU Literature.
What other UU literature:
Is written extensively by both clergy and laity?
Has reached so many UUs in so many areas of our faith tradition?
Is shared in congregations and other settings, largely at little or no cost?
Has had such an impact on church and spiritual lives?
Has such a diversity of topics: life issues social and justice issues beliefs and faith traditions, and being in relationship/covenanting?

At GA 2018 we started talking about Session Plans as a dynamic form of UU Literature. We are developing a picture of the use and impact of the session plan.
The Small Group Sessions section http://www.smallgroupministry.net/public/sessions/ of the Network website is the most used section. The over-a-thousand session plans in the Directory have been contributed by several hundred congregations and individuals. Who are the contributors, and what are the stories behind the session plans?

Newly contributed session plans are noted monthly on the Home Page of the website and the Small Group Sessions page. Per request, we are adding a place for people to suggest session plans that they would like to see or would like to have developed. Here are recent inquiries about session plans:

• Topic: Climate Change Response: "Climate Change: The Threat Too Big to Talk About" from Bainbridge, WA (2019) and "Hotel Earth and the Threat of Global Warming" written for UUA Study Action in 2005 are on the website. Are there others?
• Are there Session Plans written in languages other than English, such as Spanish? Would you be interested in working to make session plans more accessible in languages other than English?

Session plans and titles may be sent to office@smallgroupministry.net.
Let us know if you would like to help with making session plans more accessible.
This is how we enhance the UU aspect of session plans.

Invitation: If you are attending GA, bring a copy of a session plan that was particularly meaningful to you for the GA Booth Book of Session Plan Samples. You may also add a title of a session plan to the listing at the Booth. Please include the following information on session plans that you bring or that you list: Title, source (author or congregation, etc.), date (if known), any comments that you have about the session plan.

UUA General Assembly starts in a few weeks in Spokane. We look forward to talking with visitors to the Small Group Ministry Booth. We enjoy meeting people for the first time and reconnecting with those who visit the Booth over the years. The more-than-eighty visitors give a sense of what is happening with Small Group Ministry, trends that seem to be developing, and what is helpful or needed from the Network.

Visitors to the Booth come from across the spectrum of involvement with Small Group Ministry: wondering what it is, early development, ongoing groups (long-term or short-term), energetic or needing rejuvenation or restart, expanding Small Group Ministry into activities of the community. Congregations and programs progress at different levels and in different ways. Engaging with each other enhances appreciation of our similarities and our differences.

SESSION PLANS ONLINE

The SGM Network invites session plans from individuals and congregations for listing in the Session Plan Directory http://www.smallgroupministry.net/public/sessions/index.html or the new section on Celebrations http://smallgroupministry.net/public/sessions/celebrations.html. Please include a suggested topic and key words with session plan submissions.

Send sessions to office@smallgroupministry.net

SHOP THE NETWORK'S ONLINE STORE
Purchase books and CDs from the SGM Network using PayPal, credit card, or debit card. Titles are listed below under "Publications."

Visit the store: http://www.smallgroupministry.net/sgmstore

CONNECT ON FACEBOOK
Share ideas and enrich the SGM community

Small Group Ministry Network Group - Now 269 members strong!
http://www.facebook.com/groups/158837360893790/

WEBSITE RESOURCES
Complete archives of Covenant Group News and the SGM Journal
Online Resource Directory
Over 750 session plans for download
Network member list. See "Who We Are: Our Members"
Event Announcements
Resources for Sale
Example SGM Brochures
Facebook

UU SGM NETWORK PUBLICATIONS - Order online or by mail
See http://www.smallgroupministry.net/forsale.html for pricing & ordering information

Implementing Unitarian Universalist Small Group Ministry - A resource for creating Small Group Ministry for your congregation or other setting. Sections include Overview, Life Cycle, Oversight/Direction and Coordination, Leadership, Group Formation and Process, Sessions, Service, Visibility, and Expanding Small Group Ministry.

Social Justice Work Through Small Group Ministry - Thirty-four sessions for preparation, action and reflection on topics of multiculturalism, radical hospitality, immigration, racism, marriage equality, and earth justice.

Small Group Ministry with All Ages - Implementation strategies, leader training, session development, and session plans for children through elders.

Facilitator Training and Development Manual - A guide for training and support plus a handbook on CD to customize for group leaders and facilitators.

Spiritual Journeys: 101 Session Plans for Small Group Ministry Programs - Sessions on Spiritual Journeying, Personal Beliefs and Values, Spiritual Challenges, Just for Fun, Being Human, Holidays, and Special Use subjects for life events.

Small Group Ministry for Youth - Twenty-five sessions for middle and high school youth.

The UU Small Group Ministry Network is a grassroots organization of Unitarian Universalist congregations, ministers, small group ministry/covenant group leaders and participants.

Our mission is to help create healthy Unitarian Universalist congregations and a vital Unitarian Universalist movement by promoting and supporting Small Group Ministry.

The purpose of the Network is "to support small group ministry and related shared ministry models in Unitarian Universalist congregations through developing new resources, networking, and training opportunities."

In addition to the SGM Journal for members and the free, online Covenant Group News, we publish new resources for program coordinators and facilitators, sponsor a consultation booth and SGM workshops at General Assembly, offer a week-long SGM Summer Institute, help local leaders plan regional SGM conferences, and give workshops in congregations and districts across the nation.

The UU SGM Network is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization supported solely by congregational and individual memberships, donations and publication sales revenue. Network Board members donate their time and personal resources to spread the good news of small group ministry.