Creating Paradise
Rev. Amy Bowden Freedman
Date:______________

Small Group Ministry 
Group Session Plan

Opening Words:	We are all wanderers, passing through,
			guests of the universe,
			and our job as a religious clan is to share earth’s bounty
			and to set a warm, inviting place for one another.
							-Carolyn and Tom Owen-Towle			
Check-in

Topic:  

In 1843, our Unitarian ancestor, A. Bronson Alcott moved his family from Boston to Harvard, MA to create a New Eden.  “Fruitlands” was an attempt to strengthen their spirituality through self-reliant simple living.

•	What principles and practices would be important for you if you began a utopian community?

•	When have you glimpsed paradise on earth?  Share a personal experience.
 
Sharing/ Deep Listening

Conversation:  How do we create paradise?

Closing Words: 	
Wherever you are is home
			And the earth is paradise
			Wherever you set your feet down is holy land
			You don’t live off it like a parasite.
			You live in it, and it in you,
			Or you don’t survive.
			And that is the only worship of God there is.
						
-Wilfred Pelletier and Ted Poole