January / February Facilitator Bulletin

Dear Facilitators:

I would like to start the first Facilitator Bulletin of this year by sharing a sheet called "The Centering Prayer Group Facilitator" (available here, in the blogpost below this one). It provides a basic overview about Centering Prayer groups and of the role of facilitators. It serves as a beginning and is, indeed, at the beginning of the Facilitator Handbook. 

In your responses to what you would like addressed in these Newsletters, more than a few of you mentioned losing motivation and wished that you had a co-facilitator to help you with the group. I would like to briefly address this issue. 

When I read this sheet, what resonated with me is the idea that our role as facilitator is a volunteer position. As a volunteer, it is only one part of our lives, and most of us have many other responsibilities. Although we may love facilitating, facilitating takes a lot of thought, study, and time. We can lessen this responsibility by:
     1) Finding someone who will act as co-facilitator for the group, and
     2) Having the group take on more responsibility.

If you are feeling a bit tired, I encourage you to try and then to keep trying to find someone who will co-facilitate with you. Once you find someone, you can work out the details about how you will work together. One way is by having them take on as little as possible in the beginning and then assuming more responsibility as time goes by. Not taking on much responsibility initially may seem more inviting for a new person and allow them to gradually gain confidence and move, then, into assuming more responsibility. 

Nichola Riggle co-facilitates with me, and I have been helped by her intuition, knowledge, and her facilitation. When she facilitates, I am able to relax a bit, step back, and enjoy being a group member.

Contemplative Outreach encourages facilitators to have group members assume more responsibility for the group. This can happen, for example, by asking for help in setting up materials for the group, rotating leading the prayer, and also putting away materials after the group meeting. Group members can also be involved in discerning future formation materials. Group members may not want to do this, but again, I continue to bring up these issues when needed. I keep asking because I think that the more involved people are in the group, the more likely they may have an increased feeling of connectedness to the group. This, in turn, can create a more cohesive and bonded group which can only increase the level of trust among group members in sharing faith journeys with each other. 

Thanks,
Kathy Agnew