Spiritual Life Groups
2/7/03

There continues to be confusion around what a Spiritual Life Group is so let me try to describe what I mean when I use the phrase as clearly as I can.
A Spiritual Life Group (SLG) is for the purpose of helping people grow toward spiritual maturity. This is its goal. It does this primarily by teaching people the classical spiritual disciplines, such as different forms of praying, journaling, silence, fasting, etc. A group can use resource material such as Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline, or my books, The Jesus Connection or Living Inside Out, or others, but the focus is not on discussing these disciplines. It is on experiencing them. A SLG should be experiential, not just cerebral. Members need to practice these disciplines in-between the meetings and then discuss their experiences at the meeting. Keep the focus on experience.
 
A second component is Spiritual Autobiographies. This is not an attempt to get people to pour out their souls before the group. It is an invitation to share the journey that has brought members to the point where they are in their spiritual life at the level with which they are comfortable. Spiritual Autobiographies are why different groups can be formed during the sabbatical year without duplication. Since the groups meet for a defined number of weeks and then disband, no two groups will ever have exactly the same people in them. Hearing the many varied stories of people's journeys will greatly enrich a congregation's corporate spiritual life.
 
The group should also begin with worship and end with a circle of prayer. Also, the size of the group should never be larger than eight to ten people. Five or six is ideal.
 
This, then, is the purpose and essential elements of a Spiritual Life Group. To summarize:    
 
           (1)  six to eight people (no more than ten)
           (2)  meet for six to eight weeks
           (3)  begin and end on time (groups at Spirit of Joy last a hour and a half)
           (4)  begin with worship
           (5)  share spiritual autobiographies
           (6)  discuss the practice of the spiritual discipline for the week, or the
                  exercise based on some other book or material being used.
 
One last thing. The structure toward which our process moves a congregation is what I call "Ministry Groups."  SLGs prepare people for this approach to ministry. A Ministry Group functions just like a SLG with the added dimension of a specific mission or ministry. But?do not try to turn a SLG into a ministry group. Ministry groups form independent of an existing SLG. But they function the same way except for the ministry around which they are gathered. We share such calls for ministry during our Sunday morning worship service. We do so over a period of weeks, even months, until others join the one sounding the call and the group is formed. The congregation is in prayer for the ministry group to be formed during the time of sounding the call.
 
I hope this helps. Please let us know if you have further questions.
 
Note:  We have received word that some Churches in Process are experiencing people who are very resistant to the process and are exercising the power of the Tyranny Of The Minority in whatever way they can. That this is not unexpected is something we have tried to share with all of you. But we will be addressing this subject in the coming reflections as a way to offer help. One key, though, is being very clear about what The Jesus Connection process involves, especially the sabbatical year. As pastor you need to be able to describe the process without hesitation or confusion. If you cannot, your people will never "get" it. We will try to state it ourselves in the coming weeks to help you in this regard.
 
We also want to provide tangible support to those of you who are facing this kind of thing. The "Second Touch" retreat May 6-8, Franciscan Prayer Center, Independence, MO, is a good opportunity to do this face to face. Are there other things we can do? Please send us your suggestions. Our focus continues to be on those of you in the process rather than trying to get new pastors on board. We welcome that, but we have no intention of losing touch with those of you who are already committed. Help us help you by letting us know what we might do that we are not currently doing. This is not an easy process, but it will and does work. Let's help each other!
 
Jan G. Linn, Spirit of Joy Christian Church, Lakeville, MN