Facilitators preparingtoserve-141211132932-conversion-gate02
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This document provides guidance for facilitating small faith groups. It discusses that facilitators should practice their own faith, be good listeners, and create a welcoming environment. It also outlines techniques for leading prayer, asking questions, and handling difficult group members. The overall message is that facilitators make faith discussions easy for others through their leadership, but that ultimately the Holy Spirit is the true facilitator.
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Facilitators preparingtoserve-141211132932-conversion-gate02
- 1. Preparing to Serve Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups By Joe Paprocki, DMin
- 2. To Teach as Jesus Did Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 3. The Early Church Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 4. Small Faith Groups Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 5. Facilitators Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 6. You’ve been invited. Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 7. You can do this! Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 8. To facilitate: “to make easy” Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 9. Serving Others Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 10. A Facilitator: Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups • is practicing his or her own faith • is a good listener • possesses common sense • is not overly sensitive • is a team player and a people person
- 11. A Facilitator: Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups • possesses empathy, warmth, and genuineness • tolerates differing opinions • is open to diversity • can make the time commitment
- 12. Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 13. Personal Preparation Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 14. Preparing the Environment Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 15. Comfortable Seating Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 16. Sacred Space Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 17. Hospitality Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 18. Signage Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 19. Welcoming Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 20. Setting the Tone Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 21. Leading Prayer Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 22. Leading Prayer Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups • Call people to prayer and invite a few moments of silence to welcome God’s presence. • Begin with the Sign of the Cross. • Welcome God’s presence and thank
- 23. Leading Prayer Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups • Invite group members to share prayers of thanksgiving. • Gather all the prayers in Jesus’ name. Pray Amen. • End with the Sign of the Cross.
- 24. Adult Learning Principles Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups • Adults are self-motivated; they resist ideas being imposed. • Adults bring life experience that must be respected. • Adults are goal-oriented; they learn in order to cope with life transitions and want to apply what they learn immediately.
- 25. Adult Learning Principles Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups • Adults demand relevance and practicality, and need to take ownership. • Adults’ time commitments must be respected. • Adults learn best in relational, interactive, conversational settings. • Adults like to laugh!
- 26. Leading Discussion Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups • Limit your own talking. • Find a balance between being authoritative and passive. • Affirm others’ comments. • Listen and be aware. • Invite quiet types to share their thoughts. • Politely interrupt dominators. • Gently bring the discussion back from tangents. • Ask for clarification if a point someone made was unclear.
- 27. Asking Questions Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups • Phrase your questions in a simple, straightforward way. • Keep your questions open-ended. • Ask a question and then repeat it. • As you await an answer, be comfortable with silence.
- 28. Asking Questions Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups • Ask a question of the whole group first. • Plan your questions ahead of time. • Give feedback to participants when they answer questions. • Don’t answer your own questions. Be patient.
- 29. Handling Difficult Participants Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups The Dominator • The Shy One • The Tangent Maker • The Antagonist
- 30. The Effective Facilitator Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups • Call members who were absent. • Send people home with additional resources when appropriate. • Summarize the gathering. • Promise to gather information about unanswered questions. • End with prayer.
- 31. Recognizing Christ in Our Midst Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
- 32. The Holy Spirit: Our True Facilitator Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups
Editor's Notes
- Welcome to “Preparing to Serve: Knowledge, Skills, and Techniques for Facilitating Small Faith Groups” by Joe Paprocki, DMin, and Loyola Press.
- If we are to teach as Jesus did, it is important to remember that most of Jesus’ teaching took place in small groups.
- Likewise, the early Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, met in small groups in people’s homes to pray together, to worship, and to study the teachings of the Apostles.
- Today, followers of Jesus continue to gather in small groups to pray, to share faith, and to learn the Good News of Jesus.
- In order for small groups to be successful, they need the leadership of a facilitator. That’s where you come in!
- You’ve been invited to step into the role of a facilitator of a small faith group. This is an important ministry being performed by countless people like you in Christian communities all over the world.
- Relax! To be a small group leader does not mean that you are a teacher, an expert, an advisor, a theologian, or a problem solver.
- To facilitate means “to make easy.” Like a can of oil is used to lubricate the joints and gears of a piece of machinery so that it runs more smoothly, a facilitator relies on certain skills and techniques to enable a small faith group to run smoothly.
- Most importantly, to facilitate means to place yourself in the service of others, just as Jesus taught us to serve.
- So just what are the qualities needed in a facilitator of a small faith group? A small group facilitator is someone who… • is practicing his or her faith. • is a good listener. • possesses common sense. • is not overly sensitive. • is a team player and a people person.
- A small group facilitator is someone who… • possesses empathy, warmth, and genuineness. • is tolerant of differing opinions. • is open to diversity. • can make the time commitment. No doubt, you were invited because the pastoral leadership in your parish recognizes these qualities in you!
- So let’s get started looking at the knowledge, skills, and techniques needed to serve successfully as a facilitator of a small faith group.
- Your role begins before anyone even arrives. The first responsibility you have as a facilitator is to prepare. Do your homework. This means looking over the plan as well as any resources that will be used for the gathering. The more familiar you are with the plan for the gathering, the more easily it will flow.
- Just as a wait staff prepares a dining room for a banquet, your first role as a facilitator is to prepare the environment in which the small group will gather.
- You’ll want to be sure that people will be comfortable sitting in one place for 90 minutes or so. Also, you’ll want the seating to be arranged so that people can see one another and engage in conversation. Avoid a lecture or classroom arrangement.
- Arrange a space that communicates the sacred within our midst: a table with a Bible, a candle, a crucifix, and any other sacred objects that are appropriate for the gathering.
- Be sure that refreshments are prepared. Many adults come to such gatherings straight from work. Arrange for appropriate beverages and snacks as well as cups, napkins, and utensils.
- Don’t underestimate the importance of signage, especially at the beginning, so that people can find their way to the gathering with ease.
- Be sure to welcome people as they arrive. Greet them personally and make them feel at home. Introduce them to others. Provide name tags, at least in the beginning. Invite group members to enjoy refreshments and to socialize.
- Once everyone has arrived and had a chance to socialize, your job is to get down to business. You want to set the tone in a pleasant and inviting manner and invite people to focus on the task at hand.
- In a small faith sharing group, one of the ways to set the tone is to lead the group in prayer. Like everything else you do as a facilitator, your job is not to pray FOR the group, but to help the group to pray. Here are some simple tips for leading informal prayer:
- Leading prayer • Call people to prayer and invite a few moments of silence to welcome God’s presence. • Begin with the Sign of the Cross. • Welcome God’s presence and thank God for this gathering.
- Leading Prayer • Invite group members to share prayers of thanksgiving. • Gather all the prayers in Jesus’ name. Pray Amen. • End with the Sign of the Cross.
- Next, it’s important to be aware of how adults learn. For adults to learn effectively, the following principles need to be respected: • Adults are self-motivated—they resist ideas being imposed upon them. • Adults bring life experience that must be respected. • Adults are goal-oriented—they learn in order to cope with life transitions and want to apply what they learn immediately.
- For adults to learn effectively, the following principles need to be respected: • Adults demand relevance and practicality, and need to take ownership. • Adults’ time commitments must be respected. • Adults learn best in relational, interactive, conversational settings. • Adults like to laugh!
- One of your primary tasks as a facilitator is to guide discussion. Here are some tips for leading discussion in a small group: • Limit your own talking. • Find a balance between being authoritative and passive. • Affirm others’ comments. • Listen and be aware. • Invite quiet types to share their thoughts. • Politely interrupt dominators. • Gently bring the discussion back to focus if a tangent occurs. • Ask for clarification if a point someone made was unclear.
- Another important technique for leading a small group is to ask questions effectively. Here are some tips for asking questions: • Phrase your questions in a simple, straightforward way. • Keep your questions open-ended. • Ask a question and then repeat it. • As you await an answer, be comfortable with silence.
- Here are some tips for asking questions: • Ask a question of the whole group first. • Plan your questions ahead of time. • Give feedback to participants when they respond to questions. • Don’t answer your own questions—be patient and someone will answer.
- Part of your job as a facilitator is to handle difficult participants. Here are some tips: • The Dominator (too long, too loud)—gently interrupt, thank him or her, and ask if anyone would like to add their thoughts. • The Shy One—gently invite him or her to contribute. • The Tangent Maker—gracefully interrupt and ask her or him to bring it back to the topic at hand. • The Antagonist (disagrees with every point)—acknowledge the point and move on. You may need to speak to a difficult participant individually before or after a session to ask him or her to correct his or her behavior.
- Finally, here are some other tips that can assist in your role as a facilitator: • Call members who were absent to check up on them. • Send people home with additional resources when appropriate. • Summarize the gathering. • Promise to gather information in response to a question no one could answer. • End with prayer—same as at the beginning except now invite people to offer petitions (their own needs) and intercessions (the needs of others).
- Being a small group facilitator is an opportunity to help others recognize and encounter Christ who is in our midst and who walks with us on our journey.
- Remember that the Holy Spirit is the true facilitator and guide; your role is to cooperate with the Spirit’s movements and to remove obstacles that prohibit small groups from truly encountering Christ.