Unitarian Universalist
...a welcoming spiritual community
190 Academy Rd, North Andover, Massachusetts,
01845-4022 978-687-7948 office@northparish.org
Small Group Ministry and Spiritual Companioning
Small Group Ministry
For more information about Small Group Ministry circles, please call or email Rev. Bluemel or speak to Denise Vanvooren, Nancy Adrian, Cindy Cook or Linda Villalobos.
Related pages
About Small Group Ministry
Small Group Ministry is a good option for or those willing and eager to make a commitment to get to know and care for a small group of other members over a period of time, while working on their own spiritual development. Small Group Ministry circles generally meet twice a month, during the day or evening, for two hours.
What do people talk about in Small Group Ministry?
Our lives: Every meeting includes a chalice lighting and a check in about how our lives are going.
Issues of spiritual importance: Every meeting is focused around a session topic that includes a reflective reading and questions to provoke thought and discussion. Topics include follow up to sermons, as well as: Stages of Faith, Presuming Innocence, A Sacred Place, Community, Forgiveness, Friendship, Gratitude as a Spiritual Practice, Heaven and Hell, Learning from Failure, Living and Dying, Living Through Loss, Mentors, Mothers, On Lying, Our Place in Nature, Parenting and Mentoring, Poetry, Prayer, Repentance, Responding to Terror and War, Solitude, Summer Journeys, The Question of God and What We Love.
Group Spiritual Companioning
Contact: Susan Van Drie
This group follows the spiritual companioning model long used by certain Christian churches but with the UU emphasis on drawing from a variety of spiritual traditions as well as each individual’s own experience.
Whereas small group meetings center on a chosen topic for discussion, group spiritual companioning (GSC) focuses on the personal spiritual journey of each participant.
Meetings begin with a centering meditation and reading, followed by structured periods of silence, speaking, and listening as each participant gives voice to his/her experience and takes in that of others. Meetings are held at the Andover home of the facilitator.
Welcoming Congregation
North Parish is a Welcoming Congregation, consistent with the guidelines of the Unitarian Universalist Association. We actively welcome lesbian, gay. bisexual, transgender, and intersex people as full participants in the life of the church. For more information, see our Welcoming Congregation page, or contact our Interweave chapter.