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S1E3: Small Groups · Mentoring In Ministry

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  Welcome to the Mentoring in Ministry podcast. In each
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  episode, we approach various catechetical
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  topics from different perspectives.
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  Today, Scott, we want to talk about small groups, a great
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  tool in the work of catechesis,
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  but sometimes the worst possible human experiences can be
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  found in small groups. So how do you
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  go about setting up small group discussions so that they
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  can be successful and not overrun
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  by one person or everybody who
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  sits and stares at each other?
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  Yeah. Let me just start by noting the importance of small
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  group discussions where it's really
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  essential for people young and old to have a chance to
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  actually sit and think and to
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  articulate a response to what they've actually heard. That
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  catechesis can't just be kind
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  of sage on the stage and you're going to
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  give a lecture and then everybody's going
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  to be like, " That was great. Let's go home. " Rather, they
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  need a chance to actually respond.
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  What did this mean for me? What did I get
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  out of this? How can I see this applying to
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  my life? To do that, typically people would
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  prefer to be in groups of three or four as
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  opposed to a group of say 25 or 28 or 30.
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  Nonetheless, as you're suggesting, I don't
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  know, at least even speaking for myself, at first getting
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  into a small group is a little
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  nerve-wracking and it can feel a little awkward. I guess my
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  basic sense is this, what's the
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  old phrase, " A stitch in time saves nine. " That
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  preparation, good preparation will be
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  key for allowing the small group to be
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  done well. One of the parts of the preparation
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  is just to say, " We're going to break into
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  small groups. " I know to acknowledge that
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  this can be a little bit difficult and I'm inviting you to
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  go ahead and get to know your
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  neighbor or the person you're small grouping with to be
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  open to receive and to talk and
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  that kind of a thing. To acknowledge the fact that this can
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  be a little bit awkward maybe
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  at first, however, I'm sure your experience is more or less
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  the same. I know we both worked
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  in RCIA a lot where at the beginning of the perhaps in the
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  pre-catechumenate or catechumenate,
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  they have a hard time wanting to small group. But after
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  like six, eight, ten weeks, you
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  can't get them out of the small groups. They want to stay
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  there. You keep, " Come on back
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  to the main group. You got to end your conversation. " So it
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  works. It just takes a little bit of
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  time. But one of the keys for setting it up and preparing
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  the situation well is to have
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  a well-trained facilitator that I wouldn't put people in
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  small groups unless I knew there
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  was an actual facilitator who was there who was going to be
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  in charge of keeping the conversation
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  moving, who would help people to in some
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  cases to have big ears and a small mouth,
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  which is to say that you're a good listener
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  and you speak a little bit. And I would also
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  say that if you give them questions, just a couple of
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  questions, at least to get them
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  started, well thought out question, a well-crafted question
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  is really wonderful and important
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  in catechesis. You've heard this bit on say, the Blessed
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  Mother. Here's a couple of questions
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  for consideration and you don't want just questions for
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  comprehension like, " What does
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  it mean when we say Mary's assumed, body and soul or that kind
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  of a thing? " And you don't want
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  a leading question like, " Did this help
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  you to love Mary more or not? " Because that's
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  the way, " Well, yes, no, yes, no, we're all done, but
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  really what can we learn about Mary's
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  assumption and her relationship with God in
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  your own life? " However you want to phrase
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  these questions, a couple well-phrased questions given to
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  the facilitator and the group that
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  they can take with them, that will alleviate their
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  possibility of getting into small talk
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  because it's awkward, so I'm going to talk
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  about my laundry or the sports or what have
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  you. And then I usually give them, obviously with the
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  parameters of some, possibly some
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  confidentiality, some kind of time parameter. We're going
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  to be here 15, 18, 20 minutes
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  or something like that. So they have a sense. We've got
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  three questions. We've got 15 minutes.
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  We can each take about five minutes to get
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  through each of these questions. But yeah,
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  setting up the facilitator, some well thought out questions
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  and giving them the chance to
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  actually respond in faith to that which they have heard. If
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  you can pull that off and give
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  the opportunity to do that several weeks in a row, I think
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  pretty soon they get used to it. And
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  pretty soon it becomes integral to their Christian growth
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  where they're getting to know this
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  particular concrete, even if it's a small community.
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  Yeah. Do you find that the purpose of the questions are
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  more to answer those questions
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  or really to get conversation going as long as it's on
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  topic and they're reflecting on the topic,
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  is how do you see that? Is it, " No, we really want these
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  questions addressed or if it's bringing
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  up questions around other things
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  that that's okay, just let it run. "
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  That's a great point. So I would give them a couple of
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  starting questions, but that's really
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  to get the ball rolling. And of course, the heart of it is
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  it's supposed to be a real conversation.
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  And so if people begin to actually say and they're speaking
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  their hearts and it's on the topic,
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  my gosh, I mean, that's unbelievably wonderful. You can't
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  trade that for anything. I would never
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  have the facilities to, " Bup, bup, bup, bup, bup. " Stop
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  sharing about this or that difficult moment
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  in your life as it relates to Mary's assumption. " We're
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  here to talk about the question that Sollom
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  gave us. " Yeah, maybe that's even the part of the point is
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  to get them talking, to get them
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  perhaps applying and then let that grow organically into an
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  actual conversation where they're sharing.
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  And as I mentioned, that tends to happen after a few weeks
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  to now they're good friends and they'll
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  just keep talking and listening and talking. It works out
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  wonderfully. Amen. Yeah, small groups
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  are such a useful tool when done well and I hope our
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  catechism field will make more use of it.
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  Thank you for listening to this episode of Mentoring in
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  Ministry. You can also find us on
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  Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube @ the Catechetical
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  Institute or join our online community of
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  catechists at franciscanathome.com/guild.
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  Link to all of those in the show notes.
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  This podcast is an outreach of Franciscan University of
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  Steubenville's Catechetical Institute.