Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Covenant Group Facilitators’ Guide

Facilitators' Responsibilities

• 1. Maintain the structure
  • establish format and ground rules
  • start and end meetings on time
  • lead opening and closing rituals
  • check on absent members (to see if they have concerns or need help)
• 2. Facilitate the process
  • model non-judgmental witnessing and acceptance of opinions
  • allocate and monitor time for checking in and addressing the topic
  • allow time for all to speak, prevent monopoly by any one member
  • delegate some functions thus promoting shared leadership
  • work with co-facilitator or apprentice so groups can split when appropriate, each new group with its own facilitator
• 3. Work with facilitator group, ministers and Covenant Group Steering Committee
  • attend training sessions, facilitator meetings
  • act as liaison, sharing ideas and problems with minister or appropriate others, or communicate with liaison if someone else assumes that role

The Facilitator's 'Cliff Notes'

The Purpose: Covenant groups are a way to help people think about their lives spiritually through the process of sharing with others their thoughts and experiences. The results are twofold: they will grow in their understanding of what is personally meaningful at the same time as they build a caring community.

Your Job:

• ensure that meetings starts and ends promptly
• calm initial anxieties
• make expectations clear
• help the group share time, gently remind the voluble to listen and the taciturn to speak
• teach the group about covenant groups

Helpful Hints:

• don't be afraid of silence
• don't try to make everything OK
• enjoy the process, enjoy yourself
• you can't do it for them

Important Points:

• remind group about confidentiality when new people join or as needed
• everybody needs a turn
• if someone seems troubled, suggest they seek out a minister
• your participation is a model for others
• you are a member as well as a facilitator

Because covenant groups are not therapy, support, or problem solving groups, the facilitator's role is unique. Our group focus is on listening to and witnessing each other's spiritual growth. Unlike the other facilitator roles, a covenant group facilitator is a member of his/her group (with all the member's benefits and responsibilities). The facilitator focuses on facilitating the shared leadership process in a group as much or more than facilitating the group discussion process.

Skills Used In Effective Facilitation

Many of the skills you need to be an effective facilitator, or even just a good participant, you already know and have been practicing for years in other contexts.

The following skills are key to traditional facilitation (e.g. consensus building, problem solving, task completion, etc.). Our hope for facilitators will not be so directive in managing what is said. Instead they will focus on ensuring that everyone has time to say what they wish. The facilitator will most probably need to intervene with these skills only occasionally when it is necessary to help someone out.

• REFLECTING — Feeding back the content and feeling of the message, e.g. "Let me see if I am hearing you correctly"
• CLARIFYING — Restating an idea or thought to make it easier to grasp, e.g. "What I believe you are saying is"
• SUMMARIZING — Stating concisely the central themes, e.g. "It sounds to me that we have been talking about a few recurring ideas"
• SHIFTING FOCUS — Moving gracefully from one speaker, or topic, to another, e.g. "Thank you, John; do you have something to add, Jane?" or "We’ve been talking about this issue for some time now; does anyone have strong feelings about other aspects of the situation?"
• USING SILENCE — Allowing time and space for online reflection, by pausing between comments, e.g. "..."
• USING NON-VERBAL & VERBAL SIGNAL — Combining body language and speech to communicate, e.g. using eye contact to influence behaviors in the group, and to be aware of cultural differences between participants.

Other Tips For Covenant Group Facilitators

A Good Facilitator

• Explains her, or his, role in the covenant group.
• Is self-aware; good facilitators know their own strengths, weaknesses, hot buttons, and biases.
• Appreciates all kinds of people.
• Is committed to democratic principles.
• Encourages meetings to start and end on time.
• Is neutral; the facilitator’s opinions are not used to promote or disparage other's ideas.
• Is helpful to the group in setting up their ground rules and the group covenant.
• Creates opportunities for everyone to participate.
• Focuses and helps clarify the dialogue when needed.
• Is able to stay in two roles at once (remembering that they are both a member and the facilitator of shared leadership in the group), both during and after the meeting.
• Is able to balance the interests of the group and her/his own interests.
• Intervenes to address behaviors, not personalities.
• Encourages and affirms each participant.
• Participates as a member in the covenant group, modeling group norms.

This document was adapted from the A Small Group Ministry Facilitator Information Guide of The First Unitarian Society in Newton, MA