REPORTS AND ARTICLES

Small Group Ministry Network
President's Report - June, 2010
from Steve Becker

Our Board of Directors has had a busy year building on the strategic foundation we have laid over the last three years. Significant events include:

1. Following our Annual Meeting last year in Salt Lake City, the BOD held its Annual Retreat at the Marriott. The Board established priorities for the coming year, defined as
1. expanding BOD membership (achieved)
2. focus this year on membership development (Phase II of Strategic Plan) (achieved),
3. reduced emphasis on income after Phase I successes (achieved), and
4. renewing our commitment to our District Initiative; for example, Steve suggested the use of Congregational Resource Teams in each district to provide support to local congregations (in process).
2. Christine Trigeiro joined our Board from California.
3. The Network held a successful workshop at The Mountain in NC and plans to hold its next training at Camp de Benneville Pines in CA in August.
4. For the September SGM Quarterly Steve initiated a new column called Connections to focus on the lighter side of Small Group Ministry, to run in each edition.
5. In October, the Board wrote a workshop proposal to UUA for GA 2010 about Energizing Your Small Group Ministry Program, which was accepted and is being offered as a panel presentation at Minneapolis.
6. In the spring the Board completed a new book, Spiritual Journeys: 101 Topics for Small Group Ministry, for publication through the Network.
7. In April, Steve requested the Nominating Committee to suggest recipients for awards for outstanding service. With the Board's approval, Steve created the President's Award for Outstanding Service.
8. Five candidates have agreed to accept nomination to our Board for next year.
9. The Board changed the Bylaws to allow for the Treasurer to serve up to 5 years.
10. The Board approved a new logo.
11. Helen is creating a new publication, Small Group Ministry 2010: Celebrating Congregations, for publication this summer.
12. Beth's hours were increased to allow for solicitation of articles.
13. Membership procedures have been revamped and we have several new members this year.

Steve Becker, President

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President's Annual Report
UU Small Group Ministry Network - June 27, 2009
from Diana Dorroh

We were excited to add four new Board members at the 2008 Annual Meeting: Alicia Hawkins, Rev. Melissa Carvill-Ziemer, Rev. Bret Lortie and Rev. Tamara Lebak. They joined Susan Hollister, Steve Becker, Rev. Helen Zidowecki, Anne Haynes, Mary Ann Terry , Walter LaFlore, and me. The Board later selected Rev. Helen Zidowecki as Secretary; Susan Hollister as Treasurer, Steve Becker as Vice President; and Diana Dorroh as President. Over the course of the year, we lost several Board members for a variety of reasons. Nevertheless, it was an active Board and an active year for the Network.

The UU Small Group Ministry Institute at The Mountain was a high for the year for me. We had about 35 participants, and it was an exhilarating experience for most everyone. The faculty learned as much as the participants, and we decided to hold a 2009 Institute at The Mountain. On August 26, 2008, our 501(c)(3) status was granted. Thanks to Susan Hollister for collecting the information and filling out the forms, and to Steve Becker for assisting Susan.

Membership Database - Early in the year, Anne Haynes, as Chair of Membership, entered our membership information into a spreadsheet and began to maintain it for us. Processes and strategies for following up on lapsed memberships have been put in place.

The Publications Committee, chaired by Alicia Hawkins, had a very good year. We continued to work well with contract employees, Beth Tiewater, Quarterly Editor, and Erik Zidowecki, Webmaster. I have enjoyed being editor of CG News and coordinating articles and material with Susan Hollister, who works directly with Beth Tiewater. The committee managed to better integrate the website, CG News and the Quarterly. Helen and Erik have added numerous articles and sessions to the website and made it easy to access them.

In December, the long-awaited Facilitator Training and Development Manual went to press. Susan and Diana co-authored. Calvin Dame wrote a forward. In June 2009, we published Ten Years of UU Small Group Ministry, UU SGM Network, June 2009, an anniversary compilation of SGM articles published throughout 2008-2009, plus rediscovered articles from the earliest issues of Covenant Group News, beginning in 1999.

In the spring, Erik Zidowecki managed to find all of the oldest copies of CG News, created by Rev. Bob Hill. They are currently on our website.

Rev. Melissa Carvill-Ziemer chaired the Education Committee and planning meetings for our GA workshop, sponsored again by the GA Planning Committee. That committee is planning a conference at The Mountain in August of 2009, and a conference on the west coast in 2010.

We have been in contact with Harlan Limpert, Director of District Services. In the spring, the UUA Board abolished Affiliate Status for independent organizations and asked the UUA staff to work with the former affiliates (like us) to accomplish their goals. We are stronger now and looking forward to working with the UUA.

It has been fulfilling and exciting to serve as President of the UU Small Group Ministry Network for two years. It was very daunting to follow in Calvin Dame's shoes as President and to make our way without the other two founders, M'ellen Kennedy and Peter Bowden, on staff. But we've worked together beautifully and, I hope, made them proud.

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Annual Report to the UU Small Group Ministry Network
From the President, Diana Dorroh
June 23, 2008

We Began the Year with Several Challenges, Issues and Problems:

1. The UUA had just sent us a letter informing us that the UU Small Group Ministry Network was no longer an affiliate organization of the UUA.
2. Rev. Calvin Dame, who had been the President of the Network since its inception in 2004 announced in May of 2007 that he would not be continuing in that role for another year. He asked me to succeed him as President.
3. The two co-coordinators, Rev. M'ellen Kennedy and Peter Bowden, who had been working with the network since its inception in 2004, told me that they would probably not want to continue to stay on indefinitely. M'ellen had been editing the Quarterly and doing leadership and administrative work; Peter had been webmaster and editor of our electronic newsletter, CG News...
4. Income continued to be insufficient to fairly compensate staff for this operating work of the Network.
5. The Network had not yet achieved 501c3 status. This prevented us from applying for most grants.
6. Income from both church and individual membership had declined. This is our major source of income. We receive no funds from the UUA.
7. There were no volunteer authors or editors to create the publications our members need and no funds to pay for their creation.
8. Our three founders, Rev. Calvin Dame, Rev. M'ellen Kennedy and Peter Bowden, who had been our major presenters, were no longer available to do workshops and conferences for the UU SGM Network. There had been no national conference since 2006.

On the positive side, though, we had a new Board of competent, enthusiastic small group ministry practitioners. All of us attended a retreat, at our own expense, in Devon, PA over Labor Day weekend... There, we elected officers and created a plan to address the challenges, issues and problems that faced us. Board Members: Diana Dorroh, President, Steve Becker, Vice-President, Helen Zidowecki, Secretary, Susan Hollister, Treasurer, Anne Haynes, Mary Ann Terry and Walter LeFlore.

How We Addressed the Challenges, Issues and Problems:

1. We began a discussion with the Board and staff of the UUA. Helen Zidowecki and Peter Bowden attended a UUA Board meeting in the fall, where the consensus was that our main connection is with the UUA staff, not the Board. We are in discussion with Harlan Limpert, Director for District Services and Tracey Robinson-Harris, Director of Congregational Services about the appropriate relationship between the UU SGM Network and the UUA.
2. Rev. M'ellen Kennedy resigned as editor of the Quarterly. We launched a search for a new Quarterly editor and hired Beth Tiewater from Mainline UU in Devon, PA. She began with the summer Quarterly.
3. Peter Bowden asked to be relieved of his duties of editing CG News and maintaining the website. I have taken over as editor of CG News and we have hired Erik Zidowecki to maintain our website for the next year. Helen Zidowecki will do the functional web work. The membership data base is now being maintained by Board member Ann Haynes. Many other duties, performed for expenses, hourly pay or gratis, by M'ellen Kennedy, have been taken over by Board members. We now have a working Board.
4. These changes reduced our expenses considerably. We have been concentrating on getting more memberships by better coordination of the website, Quarterly, and CG news, as well as some direct "asks" for renewals and new memberships. Income now appears to be sufficient to pay the new staff for the work we have contracted with them to do. Steve Becker has headed up the effort to set financial goals for the next 5 years.
5. Steve Becker and Susan Hollister have been working for many months on our 501c3 application. It was just submitted. Susan and Steve predict an answer within 6 months.
6. We have plans to get new and renewed memberships. This is a continuing challenge and has great potential. Only a small fraction of the churches doing small group ministry are members.
7. Two new publications are in process. Helen Zidowecki compiled and organized articles on small group ministry programmatic success from the Quarterly and CG News. The resulting publication is available for sale now. Susan Hollister and Diana Dorroh have begun work on A Facilitators Training Manual. It will be completed in the fall, but copies can be reserved now. These two manuals, the first on UU Small Group ministry in about four years, will bring some revenue to the Network and long-awaited help to people managing and supporting small group ministry programs.
8. The Board sponsored a regional UU small group ministry workshop at Mainline UU, in Devon, PA in March. Helen Zidowecki and Diana Dorroh presented. Helen Zidowecki has led the Board in organizing a national conference at The Mountain, in North Carolina in August. Steve Becker organized our GA workshop this year.

Conclusion
Working with the Board to produce this long list of successes has been very fulfilling and gratifying to me. With many of our organizational problems settled, we can begin to better serve churches and individuals doing small group ministry work. I believe that small group ministry has the power to provide intimacy and ultimacy for individuals and to transform churches into growing, thriving communities whose members listen, care and work effectively together to effect the changes we Unitarian Universalists long to see.

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Changes in Leadership in Covenant Group News

Thursday, March 13, 2008 CGNews #89 Change in CGN

MESSAGE FROM BOB HILL

Dear Small Group Ministry Friends,

I was delighted a few years ago to transfer to Peter Bowden editorship of the CGNews I'd begun toward the end of the last century because I knew him to be a person of great energy, skill, and commitment. I think he's done a tremendous job and I know that the Covenant Group movement owes him a ton of thanks. It'll be fun, watching his multi-media career soar.

I am equally delighted to see that Diana Dorroh is stepping in to take his place as editor. One of the most organized and committed Unitarian Universalists I know, Diana was instrumental in the success of Small Group Ministry work in the Southwest Conference and in her church for many years while I was DE there. With her as editor of CGNews, our cause has a bright future. Good for us! Full steam ahead!

-- Bob Hill, www.2texansdownunder.com

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FROM DIANA DORRAH

Friends, I'm honored to be able to communicate with you on a regular basis, following in the footsteps of Peter Bowden and Rev. Bob Hill. After Peter sent out the last issue announcing that he was passing the editing of CG News to me, I received an enthusiastic thanks for Peter's work, which I echo. His enthusiasm for small group ministry and the support he's brought to many of us has been inspiring. I included that message from Bob Hill below for those of you who began their small group ministry experiences, with frequent communications from and to Bob Hill. I, too, will need your help to get this conversation going. Please send your submissions to office@smallgroupministry.net

The SGM Network Board has been hard at work since September, getting a new membership database, exploring a new relationship with the UUA, shoring up our financial base, and planning educational opportunities. We just completed a workshop at Mainline Unitarian Church in Philadelphia. I hope there will be more regional workshops in our future and that we will get to meet and share with you. The Network is all about sharing.

*Send us your sessions and your ideas.

*Let us know if you have some time to work in the booth at GA office@smallgroupministry.net.

*And finally, join the Network and make sure your congregation is a member.

UU Small Group Ministry is bringing healing mutual ministry to thousands of UU's at hundreds of churches. It is making healthy connections between participants and between participants and their congregations. And when your congregation becomes a congregation "of small groups," it can transform the way you "do church," make your congregation stronger and healthier and then, finally, bigger, if that's what you want. The UUSGM Network allows us to help each other achieve these goals.

In faith, Diana Dorroh, diana_dorroh@hotmail.com 225-766-2764
President, UU Small Group Ministry Network, Editor of CG News

 

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January 28, 2008 Peter stepping down as CGNEWS editor

Convenant Group News

Friends, I write to you with a sense of excitement as we enter this new year. Let me start with a personal announcement. After seven years I am stepping down from my formal role with the UU SGM Network. With the addition of new television and UU video production projects I lost the time I dedicated to our network. Time to turn things over to our fabulous board and growing number of volunteers. Those of you interested in my work and keeping in touch, drop my website, uuplanet.com.

So what is happening with CGNews? Our amazing board will be compiling the news and our president, Diana Dorroh, will serve as editor. You can submit news by writing office@smallgroupministry.net. I will continue to be involved in with our network, just as a member, not a coordinator/editor. If you are not a contributing member, I hope you will join me. The UU SGM Network is funded in its entirety by your memberships. Existing members, this is a great time to renew.

Thank you for an amazing seven years!

In faith, Peter Freedman Bowden

Co-Founder, UU SGM Network, Retired editor, CGNews ;-)

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From the New President Of the Small Group Ministry Network

Diana Dorroh, Baton Rouge, LA

UU Small Group Ministry Network Quarterly, Fall 2007

The Annual Meeting of the UU Small Group Ministry Network occurred in June at the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly in Portland, Oregon. At the meeting, I was elected to serve as President of the UU Small Group Ministry Network. I am honored and excited to serve in this capacity. You are all doing very important work for your own congregations and for the growth and health of our liberal religious movement. The Network exists to support and enhance this work. The Network was founded three years ago by Rev. Calvin Dame, Rev. M’ellen Kennedy and Peter Bowden. Calvin has served as president since the Network started and his inspiration and hard work helped lay a solid foundation. He provided consistent leadership over these years, established the connection that made our week-long workshops at Ferry Beach possible, wrote many of our excellent resource materials and so much  more. It is very humbling to follow him as president. We extend our gratitude to Calvin as he completes his time on the Board. The other founding members, M’ellen and Peter, remain in staff roles. At the Annual Meeting we also elected three wonderful new Board members: Mary Ann Terry, Anne Haynes, and Steve Becker,Susan Hollister, Walter LeFlore, and Rev.Helen Zidowecki continue to serve. We wish to thank Rev. Marti Keller for two years of service, as she steps off the board this fall.

Also at General Assembly this year, I had the fun of spending some time in the Network’s booth in the Exhibit Hall. It was very exciting to talk to so many people about their small group ministry programs. I estimate that I talked to about seventy ministers and lay leaders. Nobody was saying to me “This doesn’t work. We tried it and it failed” or even “We want to start some groups and don’t know where to begin.” Instead, we were hearing about healthy, vibrant programs and were being asked specific questions about how to make them better. Questions like:

“How should we train our facilitators?”

“What should the role of the minister be?”

“Where can I get some session materials?” and

“What do we do with especially needy members?”

It was invigorating being in the booth and engaging in these conversations. Our two workshops were also well attended. Susan Hollister, Treasurer, and I had to sit on the floor for the workshop entitled “Emerging Models of Small Group Ministry.”

In July 2007, The Unitarian Universalist Association notified the Network that we are no longer an affiliate of the UUA. We are not alone. Only four reapplications out of about seventy were approved. We have been working with the UUA Board and Staff to design a new working relationship. We’ll keep you posted on the results, but it looks very promising.

In September, the Board held our annual two day retreat in Devon, Pennsylvania hosted by Mainline Unitarian Church and Susan Hollister. Thanks to the leaders of Mainline Unitarian Church for their gracious welcoming of our group. All of our Board members and one staff member, M’ellen Kennedy, attended. It was an intense and productive experience, as we addressed the organizational issues of a three-year old organization. We elected officers: Steve Becker, Vice-President, Helen Zidowecki, Secretary, and Susan Hollister, Treasurer.

We set goals and made plans to execute them. Many of our goals are institutional:

* Creating a workable relationship with the UUA;

* Completing the work to get our 501c3 status;

* Establishing a workable process for interrelatedness of our membership, web site, CG News and the Quarterly;

* Improving professional working relationships with staff;

* Developing a comprehensive data base of our constituency; and

* Fully funding our goals.

We also planned to:

* Continue the “District Initiative,” which consists of working within the targeted districts to promote SGM;

* Ensure that quality workshops and conferences are offered;

* Offer a national comprehensive small group ministry conference.

In summary, the challenge for the UU Small Group Ministry Network Board is to strengthen and improve the Network organization, and its relationship with the UUA, while continuing to offer conferences, training sessions and a presence at General Assembly. It’s a tall order and may take more than one year.

The rest of the Board, the staff and I continue to need your help and support to build on the foundation we’ve established in our first three years. The most concrete form of assistance you can give is to become a member or supporter. If you’re not yet a member, considering joining the Network.

In addition, there are volunteer opportunities on several committees including the Education and Conference Committee, the Membership Committee and the Fundraising Committee. I’m looking forward to working with and serving you in continuing to build a strong small group ministry movement.

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April 30th, 2007

Three years ago this June the UU Small Group Ministry Network was launched as an organization to promote and support UU small group ministries and covenant groups. We've accomplished a great deal since then, from compiling free sessions plans online and publishing the SGM Quarterly to offering GA workshops and week long Summer trainings. We have been working to build a network that can meet our shared need for small group ministry resources.

We've come a long way, but there is still much to do. Our network -- including you if you are reading this -- is a peer network. We are group participants, facilitators, coaches, coordinators, ministers and others working to deepen our faith, change lives, and heal our hurting world through this ministry. I believe the only way we can realize our potential as a movement is through strong relationships and the small groups that give rise to them. As our small group ministries grow and evolve, so too will our association. If you share this view, I'd like to invite you to become a member of our network for $35 per year.

Your individual memberships allow us to advance this ministry, to coordinate our efforts, and to move our movement. Members of our network receive the SGM Quarterly, our journal, in the mail four times per year. Please join me in creating healthy congregations and a vital Unitarian Universalist movement through our shared ministry. You may use the link below to download our membership form. If you would like to join as a congregation ($60 annually) take this form to your congregation's small group leadership.

New and existing members, thank you for your support! To the other ~987 of you - let us know how we can improve. If you're reading this message you must have some resource, networking or training need related to small groups. We want to hear from you.

In faith, Peter Bowden

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UU Small Group Ministry Network Retreat

Sue Stukey, Secretary, Evanston, IL

UU SGMN Quarterly Fall 2005

Summer often provides time for reflection and thought, so the Board of Directors of the UUSGM Network took that to heart, and met in Augusta, Maine for a day and a half in retreat on August 11 and 12. We set aside time to review what we've accomplished during the past year, and do a little dreaming, brainstorming and planning for the future. SGM President, Rev. Calvin Dame was our host. Board members Rev. Marti Keller, Sue Stukey, Elizabeth Barrett and Rev. Helen Zidowecki attended, as well as our co-coordinators, M’ellen Kennedy and Peter Bowden.

Susan Hollister wasn't able to attend, but was with us in spirit. It has been an amazing year! What began as a few folks around a restaurant table at General Assembly in Long Beach, is now a full-fledged organization, complete with a Board of Directors of dedicated lay and ministerial leaders, and two co-coordinators, all of whom bring a wide array of skills and views. The UU Small Group Ministry Network has over 160 members, both individual and congregational, who receive the Quarterly, discounts on workshops, and many electronic resources. We were accepted as an Independent Affiliate of the UUA and awarded a grant from the UU Funding Panel for Unitarian Universalism. We were invited to teach at Ferry Beach. We have come a long way toward our mission:

Our Mission: "To help create healthy congregations and a vital Unitarian Universalist

movement by supporting Small Group Ministry."

During our time together, we rededicated ourselves to continue that support by providing high-quality information through our SGM Quarterly publication and a well-organized website, running well and full of information. We clarified the meaning of membership, acknowledging that we need the financial support of members to create and support our print, electronic and training resources. We struggled with the need to finance our work, while still providing readily accessible information to a wide variety of individuals and congregations, encouraging them to network with each other. We clarified the roles of both volunteer and paid consultants, and the Executive Committee of the SGM Network board was empowered to make staffing decisions. We also ate, sang, went for a boat ride and spent hours talking together. After all, it was a retreat, and it was summer in Maine!

By the end of our time together, we arrived at several goals for the coming year and fleshed out a plan of action to: 1) Research and improve our marketing abilities, 2) Look for ways to increase our connection, and interaction with the UUA, perhaps to find increased support as well, 3) Improve our relationship with professional religious leaders, and 4) Strengthen our financial base so that our program co-coordinators are not over-stressed and stretched too thinly as they tend to this important work.

We left our retreat refreshed and committed once again to supporting our congregations as they plunge into the wonderful world of Small Group Ministry. We know that, done well, it can strengthen our congregations, energize our movement and, perhaps, change the world

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Growing Support for Small Group Ministry:
UU Small Group Ministry Network Makes Big Strides

By Mellen Kennedy, Burlington, VT

UU Small Group Ministry Quarterly, Winter 2005

Are you looking for help in starting a small group ministry program or in strengthening an existing one? Perhaps you’d like to learn some of the basics of what small group ministry is, or want to network with others involved in this exciting form of ministry? Well you’re in luck. That is just what the U.U. Small Group Ministry Network is for -- AND, we just passed two significant milestones putting us in a better position to serve you.

First, we are delighted to announce that the UU Small Group Ministry Network has been named as an Independent Affiliate Organization of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (U.U.A). Among other things, this means that we will be able to offer two sessions on small group ministry at General Assembly. Being an Independent Affiliate Organization also means that we’re listed on the UUA website list of affiliates, which will make it easier for folks to find us. Passing this milestone means that this organization and all the Small Group Ministry Programs out there in our congregations --like yours -- are being recognized as an important part of the landscape of our denomination! That’s a great step forward for all of us.

Second, we are thrilled to announce that the UU Small Group Ministry Network has been awarded a grant of $9,000 from The Fund For Unitarian Universalism. The award letter states: “The Fund for Unitarian Universalism is committed to strengthening Unitarian Universalist institutions and community life, to nurturing and celebrating our liberal religious heritage, and to encouraging a generosity among UU s that is reflected in commitments of time, money and energy. We believe that the work that you do exemplifies these values in action. On behalf of the Panel members, thank you for the opportunity to express our faith in action

through this grant.”

We are honored by this award and we receive it on behalf of you and all of our members. We agree whole-heartedly with the Funding Panel that Small Group Ministry exemplifies some of what is most hopeful and vital in our liberal religious tradition. We are especially pleased that the grant means we’ll be able to serve you better. Among other things, we plan to use the funding to develop the programs and materials which you’ve been telling us are needed. In particular we plan to develop resources on coaching facilitators and a manual for facilitators. Please continue to let us know through our website, at our workshops and at our booth at GA what you need to improve or launch your Small Group Ministry program.

In addition to these milestones, the UU Small Group Ministry Network was also featured in the January 2005 edition of “InterConnections” a publication for Lay Leaders of UU Congregations. Visit the uua.org website for archived articles from InterConnections. And, as we announced in our last Quarterly, we are also honored to be given the opportunity to spread the word of Small Group Ministry through a week long course at Ferry Beach.

It’s been a dynamic past few months for the UU Small Group Ministry Network and the next few months promises to be a time of fruition. Thank you to the Funding Panel, to the UUA, and to all of you involved in Small Group ministry, particularly our member supporters for actualizing the burgeoning, movement. We feel honored to be given the opportunity to serve you and collaborate with you in creating healthy congregations through Small Group Ministry.

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What Can You Do In Six Months?:

The UU Small Group Ministry Network Is Off to a Strong Start!

By Peter Freedman Bowden, Newport, RI

Small Group Ministry Network Quarterly, Fall 2004

Six months ago the UU Small Group Ministry Network was just a vision and a collection of links on www.smallgroupministry.net website. Today, it is a new and rapidly growing organization supporting shared ministry in our congregations! Below is a summary of our first six months.

Three’s a Charm: After a year of talking about forming a network to support SGM, Calvin Dame and Peter Bowden found a third person who shared the vision while attending the April 2004 SGM conference in Arlington, VA – Mellen Kennedy. With a core group of three things started to happen fast.

Launch at GA: By June we had growing board and set of advisors. During GA we held our first board meeting, Peter and Mellen provided free consultations all week long in the exhibit hall, and our membership program was launched to help fund resource development.

Today: We now have a growing membership, a fabulous board, new resources online and in development, multiple regional conferences in the planning stages and one already completed at Devon, PA (see p. 6), a week long program to be offered at Ferry Beach this summer (see p. 7), and have applied to become an official independent affiliate with the UUA which will grant us the ability to sponsor GA workshops. Not bad…

To Our Current Members: A special thanks to all of our members. Whether you joined because your desire for more resources or to help fund our work, together we are making a difference in our congregations. The stronger our shared ministry is, the stronger our congregations are.

To Potential Members: Regardless of where you picked up this issue of the SGM Quarterly, we are glad you did! We hope the articles and information in this journal help you lead a stronger small group ministry. We would also like to encourage you to look at the many resources on our site. There are shared resources anyone may view, links to resources on other sites, and resources for our members. These are accessible by joining our network for a small yearly fee. In time we expect these resources to be published and sold in book form. But why wait? You can learn more and join by visiting our website - www.smallgroupministry.net.

Donations & Other Funding: Our members are funding the production of this journal and the development of some new small group resources. However, there is more work that can be done to support our congregations. And we want to do it! In order to take on these research and resource development projects we are welcoming donations. We are now identifying a UU congregation to be our fiscal agent so that your donations may be tax deductible. As our network grows we will move towards having our own non-profit status.

Again, we thank our members for their support and welcome all additional financial contributions. For more information on making tax deductible donations, please contact Peter Bowden (401 855-0037).

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Announcing the U.U. Small Group Ministry Network

By Rev. Calvin O. Dame, Augusta, ME

Small Group Ministry Network Quarterly, Summer 2004, Vol. 1; No.1       

Small Group and Covenant Group Ministry holds the promise of transforming individual lives, transforming our congregations, and transforming our liberal religious movement. These are audacious statements, perhaps, but look what is happening. From two or three programs, at the most, five years ago, hundreds of congregations now have some kind of covenant group program in place. In my congregation and in others I have watched as the satisfaction and excitement of the small group experience spreads out to strengthen and energize other aspects of congregational life. And I have watched, in my congregation and in others as participation in small groups has rounded and connected members with one another beyond the limits of the coffee hour, and provided a forum for deeper spiritual inquiry and the exploration of vital questions of faith.

I have a deeply held respect for the promise of Small Group Ministry. Small groups provide the tool with which evangelicals grow congregations of a hundred people into mega-churches of ten thousand or more. And it is the reason that members of those congregations report that the megachurches provides the most intimate experience of their lives.

People in our culture yearn for intimacy and ultimacy, they are hungry for a place where they can be known and accepted, and where they can engage with serious questions of depth and meaning. I believe that Small Group Ministry offers us the opportunity to meet those needs and to welcome more people into the circle of our liberal faith. I believe that Small Group Ministry is a tool to help us become the churches that we dream of being, and help us to fulfill our mission within and beyond our congregational walls.

And the beauty of this is that it is so simple. People meet in groups to share and to explore religious questions. They can do it at the church, or they can do it in their homes or they can meet some where else! It is so simple! But, in fact, a successful program requires a bit more. It requires preparation, thoughtfulness, support, training, promotion, good will, nurture, resources and intention. And most of all, it requires a continuing, shared vision of the promises and possibilities as well as the dynamics of making small groups work in a congregation.

That's where the U.U. Small Group Ministry Network comes in! Those of us who have helped to spread the gospel of small groups and to share what we know about starting, promoting and sustaining a program have felt for a while that we need a congregational-based network. Thus we forming the Unitarian Universalist Small Group Ministry Network (UUSGMN). The purpose of the Network is to promote the vision of Small Group Ministry, to share information, to connect people who are doing this work for mutual support and encouragement, to develop training resources and opportunities, and to make our congregations stronger and more vital through this simple program.

So, we invite individuals and congregations to join in the U.U. Small Group Ministry Network. We are seeking to become a UUA Independent Affiliate Organization. This is the first issue of our Quarterly Newsletter that will offer information, explore issues and share resources. We will have a presence for conversations, questions, tips and resources. We will help to connect trainers with congregations in need of help; develop new training materials, as well. We will help convene workshops and conferences to encourage connections, develop models, deepen skills and expand our collective vision.

We invite your participation, we invite you to bring your experience with covenant groups or come and learn how to do it. We invite you to join, at the regular or at a sustaining level, and us to strengthen the life of local congregations by creating a network of mutual encouragement and support.

Welcome to the Small Group Ministry Network!

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WEB SITE 2001

In 2001 Peter Freedman Bowden, Co-Founder, UU Small Group Ministry Network, launched this website to help Unitarian Universalist discover and explore small group ministry. From 2001-2004 this site was run as a personal site. In 2004 Peter recruited the Rev. Calvin Dame to work with him on forming a UU organization to support small group ministry and covenant groups within the UUA. After meeting M'ellen Kennedy at the April 2004 Center for Community Values (CCV) small group ministry conference the three moved forward. The network was launched at the 2004 General Assembly, including the launch of a membership program and the SGM Quarterly journal.