Download Group Leaders` information

Your SHAPE for God’s Service
Group Leaders’ Information
LEADING THE GROUP: PRACTICALITIES
1. Two Leaders?
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It is best if each group can have two leaders, especially if there are more than about 6
members. Your SHAPE for God’s Service can raise a number of deep personal issues, and
the leader(s) need to be able to provide pastoral attention. With two leaders, each session
can be divided up to give variety of voice and style. One leader can pray while the other is
leading, and also keep an eye on the group dynamics. The leaders can give each other
support and feedback.
At least the first time you run the course, it is good to have the Vicar/Minister as one of the
group leaders. This makes it easier and more effective when doing the Individual Reviews at
the end of the course (see final paragraph below).
It makes the course feel more of a ‘shared experience’ if the leaders join in the exercises.
This is easier with two leaders taking turns.
It is a good way to grow experienced group leaders, to have one as an assistant/apprentice.
2. The Leader’s Role
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The (main) leader needs to be experienced at leading small groups, an encourager and
pastor, mature in faith, discerning, able to create a relaxed atmosphere and set an example
of openness and honesty. It is not necessary to be good at didactic teaching/preaching or
to know much about the theology of gifts, calling, etc. (The Leaders’ Notes provide this).
The role is one of gentle facilitation – making people feel safe; chairing the discussions;
drawing people out so that everyone participates; keeping to time.
Do try to pray regularly for your group members throughout.
For further guidelines and helpful advice on leading groups, see recommended books and
websites in Document H: “Resources and Reading”.
3. Using the Leaders’ Notes.
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For each of the six sessions, there are detailed Leaders’ Notes. They provide a full script for
all the input sections to save you preparation time. Obviously it would be very stilted if you
read this out word-for-word! It simply gives an indication of what needs to be covered. The
key points are underlined, so you could just use these, and expand on them in your own
words.
A recent course member wrote to me: “The material has great depth and breadth, so the
role of suitably trained and experienced leaders is crucial, especially in tailoring and
delivering the content so that it is accessible for the ‘level’ of that particular group - as well
as being both challenging and encouraging”.
The Leaders’ Notes also give detailed instructions for all the group activities and exercises,
and everything that needs to be done by you. These instructions are all in italics (to
distinguish them from the script/spoken content).
Each session is divided into about 10 short sections, to give plenty of variety. A number of
minutes is allocated to each section. This is not intended to tie you down, but is shown so
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Your SHAPE for God’s Service
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Group Leaders’ Information
that if you decide to change the content to spend more time on one section, you will know
how much you’ll need to shorten another!
It is envisaged that the sessions will last 2 hours. Each session has 1 hour and 45 minutes of
material, thus allowing 15 minutes for refreshments at the start or a break in the middle.
4. The Personal Reflection exercises (between sessions)
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Between each of the sessions there is a practical exercise to be done by all the members.
Most of these should take about half an hour or so to complete, except the work on
Spiritual Gifts between Sessions 4 & 5, which will take longer. It is essential for everyone to
do them (including you as Group Leader). They consist of questionnaires etc. which help
people to find out more about their own SHAPE, and to reflect on it. The results of these
Personal Reflections are then brought to the next session, and people are encouraged to
share and discuss some of their insights.
5. The Structure and Dynamics of Sessions
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The Leaders’ Notes for each session start with a statement of the aims. There is a brief
relaxation/warm-up activity at the beginning. This is generally followed by some feedback
and discussion on the Personal Reflection exercises which people have done since the last
session. Each session includes some short bits of input, plenty of discussion, group
exercises, some theological/Biblical study, and prayer. (Make sure you don’t overrun and
squeeze out the prayer!)
Confidentiality is vital!! Members need to be encouraged to risk being fairly open and
honest with each other (having agreed in Session 1 to maintain confidentiality). The best
way to encourage this is to set an example by being open and honest about yourself. If the
group is an already existing one, then the trust and openness will be much easier to
achieve. The materials are written so that they can be used either by an established group
or a new and specially created one. At the beginning, wherever a suggested activity
requires people to be vulnerable, a less threatening alternative is provided.
As Group Leader, do join in with the Personal Reflection work and the practical exercises as
far as possible. Build a sense of “We’re doing this together.” Use “we” rather than “you.”
6. The Course Materials
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On the first page of each of the Leaders’ Notes, there is a list of the handouts and other
items you will need for that session. Look at the document titled “List of Materials”, for an
overview of what you need for the whole course.
The handouts are identified by their session number, plus a capital letter (A/B/C etc): e.g.
“Handout 3B” is the second handout in Session 3. Every member will need a copy of each
handout.
Members’ Notes are also provided for each session, but are optional (see separate folder
called “O - Optional Materials”). These are a summary and reminder of the session’s input,
activities and discussion questions. If used they should not be given out until the end of
each session. Some people find them helpful for future reference. However, if your group
members tend to be put off by the written word, then it’s better not to use the Members’
Notes at all.
If anyone misses a session, send them a copy of the Members’ Notes, plus the Personal
Reflection Handout so that they can prepare for the next session and not feel left out.
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Group Leaders’ Information
Encourage people to keep all their handouts and notes in a folder or file, and bring them to
each session. There are several occasions when they will need to refer back to what they
wrote on earlier Personal Reflection handouts.
You will need a Bible. Sometimes they or you will need to bring Bibles for the members.
Occasionally a flip-chart (or at least some pages of flip-chart sized paper) and felt tip pens
are needed. That’s about all…SHAPE is intentionally simple, cheap, flexible and userfriendly. You do not need a DVD or CD player, or PowerPoint, unless you choose to add
some music, visuals etc. The intention is to involve people face-to-face, not to present stuff
at them.
7. Individual Reviews (at the end)
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After the sixth session, it is essential for each group member to have an individual one-toone meeting with a Church Leader who knows them well and can help them work out
how/where to use their SHAPE in God’s service.
The reviews should ideally be conducted by the Vicar/Parish Priest/Minister/, especially if
he/she has been leading the group - though it might be appropriate for other group
leaders to be involved. This should be discussed and decided before the course starts.
Doing the reviews is a brilliant way for the Church Leader(s) to get to know the
congregation in a deeper way.
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