Opening Words: “If you want to identify me ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, and ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the things I want to live for. Between those two answers you can determine the identity of any person.” from “The Man in the Sycamore Tree” - Thomas Merton
Check-In: You are invited to share something that you put aside in order to be fully present here, and, if you are comfortable, a significant joy or sorrow, a new beginning or ending in your life.
Introduction to Topic: Covenant Groups create circles of people who know about each other’s lives and spiritual perspectives within the larger congregation of SouthChurch. When groups are reconstituted in successive years, and individuals enter and leave, larger circles are created like ripples in a pond. After several years of covenant group participation, many of us have deeper connections in the larger South Church community and delight in running into current and former group members in other settings such as at church or during the coffee hour. These overlapping circles connect us more deeply with each other and with the church.
Deep Sharing and Listening: Take time to think about these questions. (Feel free to write notes.) Group members will have a chance to share their thoughts in turn.
- Reintroduce yourself to returning members of the group and/or introduce yourself to new members by sharing some part or parts of your life journey.
- What experiences have you had with covenant groups or groups with similar purpose?
- What is your purpose in being part of this group and what do you offer the group?
- What spiritual or emotional questions are you facing in your life?
Discussion (Round #2): Respond to what others in the group have shared and its impact on you.
Housekeeping: Discuss meeting times/dates. Look to the future to plan meeting times around holidays.
Likes and Wishes: Was there anything you particularly liked, or would wish for, concerning the session or covenant group in general.
Closing Words:
"We clasp the hands of those that go before us,
And the hands of those who come after us.
We enter the little circle of each other’s arms
And the larger circle of lovers,
whose hands are joined in a dance.
And the larger circle of all creatures,
Passing in and out of life,
who move also in a dance,
To a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it
Except in fragments."
Wendell Berry -- Singing the Living Tradition #646