Forming Small Home Groups
Barbara Mason gives some tips for forming small
home groups
- Target your group members (young at-home mothers; working people;
couples, churched/unchurched etc)
- Discern the need and choose your topic. (Basic Catholic Teaching;
Scripture, Marriage and Family etc)
- Choose a day/evening convenient to the group as a whole
- Send out invitations to the people you think might be interested,
but ask for a reply by a specific date if they will be coming. Posters
are also useful.
- The meeting - including refreshments (coffee and cake, or wine and
pasta, etc) would probably be TWO HOURS. Begin and end promptly. (Suggested
format: 45 minutes for chat and refreshments; 40 minutes for teaching,
30-35 minutes for group discussion.
- If there are more than 8 people, it is advisable to break up into
two discussion groups, with a facilitator for each group, preferably
someone mature in their faith ( but who doesn't do all the talking!)
- Suggest a limited time frame for the initial home group (such as
4-6 weeks) so people don't feel as if they are signing a lifetime
commitment. An INTRODUCTORY ("come and see") evening is
a possibility so people can get the flavour of it before committing
themselves to six weeks.
- PRAYER. Begin the teaching session (and end the evening) with prayer.
This may be the first time some have prayed aloud, so ask someone
to begin the prayer who is comfortable with that beforehand so as
not to embarrass anyone or put them "on the spot"! A combination
of familiar prayer (eg the Our Father) and a short spontaneous prayer
is useful.
- IF YOUR HOME IS TOO SMALL, perhaps you can begin a small group
in an old people's home or hospice etc.
- RESOURCES:
- Catholic Evangelisation Services (teaching videos): tel 01721 823803
- Way of the Spirit Course tel 020 7387 2664
- Maryvale Institute (courses on the Catechism, encyclicals, etc.
tel 0121 360 8118
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