Small Group Ministry
Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship’s Small Group Ministry (SGM) program provides an opportunity for small groups of members and friends to gather regularly and explore selected topics for the purpose of fostering intimacy, providing mutual support, and encouraging spiritual growth.
New groups are formed periodically. To contact the Small Group Ministry program, please get in touch with Maryann Balassa, Susan Lemp, Mary Leonard or our Minister, Rev. Lydia Ferrante-Roseberry (303-665-4282).
We hope that each of you in the Fellowship will consider being in a small group—if not now, then at a later date. We intend the program to be an ongoing ministry within the Fellowship. Leadership for each Small Group Ministry group is provided by a trained volunteer Facilitator. Guidance for the entire Small Group Ministry program is provided by all Facilitators who meet monthly as a small group.
We thank the First Unitarian Church of San Jose, California for generously sharing its successful Small Group Ministry program ideas and documentation, which were used as the basis for our program and for these web pages. Its documentation can be accessed at San Jose Small Group Ministry.
The following links provide general information about UU small group ministry:
The UU Small Group Ministry Network
SGM Quarterly Online
Small Group Ministry History
A Small Group Ministry Planning Group began meeting in November 2004, following Catharine Harris’ October 3, 2004 sermon, “Intimacy and Ultimacy” that described the possibilities of small group ministry. At that time people were invited to volunteer to either help plan the program or become a small group Facilitator. Catharine called together a volunteer planning group (Ann Brumfield, Llyn and Larry Lankford, Thomas Christopher) plus Jill Nichols, Jane White, and Mary Leonard, who had attended a workshop in Colorado Springs led by Rev. Bob Hill who wrote the UU manual for Small Group Ministry.
In time, the Planning Group invited several UUF members to begin training with Catharine so they could be Facilitators in the fall of 2005 when our first small groups began meeting. Linda Tharp Arnn, Maryann Balassa, Marc Esenwein, Susan Lemp, Ani Liggett, Doris Olsen, and Lea White completed the training. They had attended a series of monthly SGM sessions with Catharine as Facilitator plus a full day of training in June 2005.
On September 18, 2005, the Sunday service was, “What’s Small Group Ministry?” That same day UUF members and friends signed up for the seven groups which met beginning in October 2005 (1 Facilitator plus 8 participants in each group).
Training for Facilitators in September 2006 was a much shorter process; those trained had all been small group participants so had experienced SGM before the training. Small Group Ministry Facilitators for the 2006-7 year have been Nancy Allen, Linda Tharp Arnn, Maryann Balassa, Pam Bennett, Marc Esenwein, Susan Lemp, Kathleen Norris, and Lea White. We’re grateful to all volunteer Facilitators for sharing their time and talents!
Our SGM groups, in addition to regular meetings, have taken on service projects — within the Fellowship and in our larger community. Two groups have volunteered time and efforts to Community Food Share (food bank for Boulder County). One group arranged a piano concert by Arthur Olsen — beautiful music as well as fund-raising for the Fellowship. Others have signed on as a group to take care of one Sunday’s morning duties or kitchen cleaning.