Groups began meeting in October 2007

Our new small discussion groups are open to church members and friends of TUC, so please invite your friends, relatives, neighbors. For more info about signing up call Estelle at 708-386-7197. Download Signup form.

TUC’s new Covenant Circles began meeting in October, 2007. Most groups meet once a month from October to June, 2007. Groups will accept new members through December. In fall 2008 group members can switch to a new group if they wish. So far about 30 TUC members and friends joined 4 groups and there is room for more people to join.

Simple conversations to restore hope to the future

Editor's note: Margaret Wheatley has graciously allowed us to present the first chapter of her extraordinary new book (Turning to one another). Normally, a selection of this length would be split over two editions but in this case we make an exception because of the importance of the work and because we do not want any of our readers to miss the opportunity to read it in one issue.

 Why do we come together?

Here is the sermon given at TUC on April 30, 2006 by Ms. Dori Davenport, Religious Education and Congregational Growth Consultant of the UUA’s Central Midwest District.

Recall our opening words… “at times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another.” For me, those words speak to the very heart – the deepest place - of religious community.

Why do we come together? Why are there millions of people across our country who are gathered together right now in churches, synagogues, temples…? They are there to be in community…

An article by Peter Bowden

We know that Small Group Ministry and Covenant Group Ministry are transforming the lives of the people and the congregations that make up our association. Before 1997 there were very few formal Small Group Ministry programs in our congregations. Since then this form of ministry has spread to the majority of our member congregations. It is clear that Small Group Ministries are meeting a number of needs in our congregations. To fully understand the impact to our congregations we must unravel the knot of our Small Group Ministry and Covenant Group Ministry movement.

Report from the UU Commission on Appraisal

(Excerpt from the concluding chapter of their book)

A deeper and broader understanding of the meaning of membership is vital to our growth.

In 1997, the Commission decided to study membership because the topic was important to our movement. Now, at the completion of our study, we are even more convinced of the significance this issue has for our liberal religious movement. We believe that a deeper and broader understanding of the meaning of membership is vital to our growth. The individual personal spiritual growth of each person who identifies with Unitarian Universalism and the growth of our congregations depend on deepening the theological understandings of membership and expanding the perspectives that are represented in our congregations.

Experiences of a church in Maine

(This is a shortened version of the main essay in the book "A Small Group Ministry Resource Book" by Rev. Calvin O. Dame, Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Augusta, Maine)

In April of 1999, our congregation launched a Small Group Ministry Program which has changed in significant ways the life of our congregation. More than half of our adult members are now in small groups. Many have been meeting for a year and a half, and most meet through the summer. Our Small Group Ministry brochure carries these comments from group members:

•  “Small Group Ministry is the spiritual development group that I've been hoping to find for a long time”
• “SGM has re-connected me to the church community."
•  “SGM has helped me to be excited about Sunday and going to church."
•  "SGM helps me build personal relationships."
• SGM builds a connection to the minister without him having to be actually present - he's reaching out to the congregation;
• Through SGM, we can get to know people whom we otherwise may not have”
• “SGM goes beyond the coffee hour.”
•  “It's fun!”

Excerpts from the book by UU Minister Robert Hill

(Excerpts from "The Complete Guide to Small Group Ministry: Saving the World Ten at a Time" by Robert L. Hill)

Elements of Small Group Ministry:

Size. The ideal covenant group size is eight to ten people. The group should have at least three or four people plus the facilitator and never more than twelve, including the facilitator.

Frequency of meetings. The group should meet at least once a month and may meet twice a month or even weekly in someone's home or at church (if a quiet, private, living room- like setting is regularly available).

Marshall Rosenberg's nonviolent communication method

At an early age, most of us were taught to speak and think Jackal. This language is from the head. It is a way of mentally classifying people into varying shades of good and bad, right and wrong. Ultimately it provokes defensiveness, resistance and counterattack. Giraffe bids us to speak from the heart, to talk about what is going on for us - without judging others. In this idiom, you give people an opportunity to say yes, although you respect no for an answer. Giraffe is a language of requests; Jackal is a language of demands.