I'm hoping to have a more complete article on this topic next later this year. For now, here are my thoughts and an experience.

Involving an elderly person in your group might require finding someone to give them a ride, adapting your facilitation style to make sure they stay included, and choosing some topics that allow them to express their current life concerns and issues.

Starting a group for the elderly might require choosing an accessible location, meeting in the daytime, and finding topics for all of the sessions that focus on the issues most important to the elderly, as well as adapting your facilitation style and getting rides for some members,

And now, my story. There is an elderly person in the group I currently lead. Let's call her Harriet. A family member usually brings her to meetings and participates in the group as well. When the family member is not available, someone else gives her a ride. For the first six meetings, Harriet participated in check-in, but then tended to "doze off" during the discussion and it was getting progressively more obvious. My co-leader and I just let that happen. After the sixth meeting, I decided that I was going to keep her engaged in the discussion topic, whether I was leading the session or not. Simple enough. I was just going to ask her a question as she was falling asleep. For the last two meetings, she has not slept and has participated actively, but she did it herself. I haven't had to ask her a question yet. Serendipity, grace, mystery---they all happen in covenant group meetings.

At the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge we are fortunate to have a campus that is 100% accessible for anyone with mobility impairment. We are proud of the forward thinking of those working with the architects in the 1980's when these things were not mandated by law but by consideration of others. This asset, and our members who enjoy it, directed our thinking to offering them access to our Branches program as well.

We then thought about members who may be avoiding joining one of our other 23 groups because of the inconvenience of driving at night, usually because of visual deficits. We also have members who do not drive or have no transportation and are seen at church only when transported by others. In January we started a new group meeting at the church at 10 AM on the same day of the month as our other daytime group. That group had immediately filled with active retirees who all drove when it opened a year ago. We hope to exchange rosters for the purpose of ride sharing and for a quarterly social lunch event following the two meetings. It is not totally an affinity group, because it has drawn someone who works an evening shift and is available only for a daytime group. But we have brought into the Small Group Ministry program another nine people who were not being served before this group.

I enjoyed reading the most recent issue of the News. About a year ago, one elderly member of our covenant group moved into an assisted living center. She's much happier, and so is her husband!! Neither of them is driving very much at night anymore, so it was a "no-brainer" for our group to decide to have our meetings at the center. The facility has a nice, small meeting room and a very comfortable front lobby, so we can meet either place. Using the center means that Elaine can continue to participate and none of the rest of us has to clean our houses!

Another issue that you might explore sometime is that of attendance. My group has a core group of 6-7 who attend regularly, but there are a few others on the group's email list who attend rarely, if at all. But they still want to be counted as members. Do other groups have similar problems, and how do they deal with them?

Editor's Note: We discussed this very issue at our Leaders Meeting in Baton Rouge this week. Several leaders said it usually resolves itself and the member starts attending regularly or drops out. Another leader said that she has a member who comes only occasionally when she has a problem and seems like a stranger to the group. Yet another leader told a story about talking to the member about being taken off the email list, getting agreement, and then being accused later by a third party of removing someone from her group. There was general agreement that having such a member interferes with intimacy in the group. One of the issues is: When does the health and intimacy level of the group outweigh the value of being there for members who do not attend regularly, but need to continue to be part of the group? Send me your thoughts on handling group members who do not attend regularly. Diana_dorroh@hotmail.com

I am co-facilitator of the Parents Seeking Peace Chalice circle. We also support a LGBTQ chalice of which I am a member. We have a 50 plus group, a women's chalice a men's chalice and a "general" chalice group that meets at a person's home and serves two local churches.

I have been involved for about 3 years and I am always looking for good topic. We are always trying to "grow" our group. We have lots of parents. We are a growing congregation...I think we have just about moved away from a family church to the next level. Since I have been here we have gone from about 30 regulars to about 70 and moved from one service to two.

I am very invested in the spiritual health of the church and I believe small groups are what made me feel most a "part" of the community.

Advanced FacilitationWorkshop
For Small Group Ministry
Saturday, February 26, 2011
First Unitarian Society of Newton
1326 Washington Street, West Newton, MA 02465
Registration and Coffee at 8:30
Workshop 9 - 4:30

See Events for Details and Registration Information.

	SAVE THE DATE -- START PLANNING NOW.... The 2011 Small Group Ministry Summer Institute will be held Tuesday, August 30 to Friday, September 2, 2011 UU Camp, deBenneville Pines, Angelus Oaks, California
Learn about Small Group Ministry/Covenant Groups Share your experiences Make a difference Flier will be available in January, cost will be the same as 2010: Cost: Lodging and Program Fee: $350, with $25 discount for registration before June 1, and $25 discount for UU Small Group Ministry Network members (from a Member Congregation, and individual members)

In addition to basic information on Small Group Ministry, we are planning to have several sessions delegated to Small Group Ministry for specific groups, such as youth, elders and caretakers, and families. Additional information will be appearing throughout the year.

Send your suggestions and questions to office@smallgroupministry.net

NETWORK ONLINE      www.smallgroupministry.net
The source for session plans, networking opportunities, Small Group Ministry resources, news of events and workshops, membership renewal forms, and back issues of Covenant Group News and the SGM Quarterly.

For information on training opportunities see the Event Announcements

Order forms available from http://www.smallgroupministry.net

NEW! Spiritual Journeys: 101 Session Plans for Small Group Ministry Programs
This exciting new book offers a wide range of original, ready-to-use sessions covering Spiritual Journeying, Personal Beliefs and Values, Spiritual Challenges, Holidays, Just for Fun, Being Human, and Special Use subjects for events that affect our lives. Themes are drawn from art, literature, UU liturgy and hymnals, current events, and religious scriptures.

NEW! Small Group Ministry 2010: Celebrating Congregations
The 2010 compilation celebrates the work of over 100 congregations that have contributed to the UU Small Group Ministry movement since 2004. There are profiles of contributing congregations, including when and how their program started, how many groups and participants they have, and their unique challenges and success stories.

To order any of the above publications or to get a list of all our publications:
http://www.smallgroupministry.net/forsale.html.

The UU Small Group Ministry Network is a grassroots organization of Unitarian Universalist congregations, ministers, small group ministry/covenant group leaders and participants.

Our mission is to help create healthy Unitarian Universalist congregations and a vital Unitarian Universalist movement by promoting and supporting Small Group Ministry.

The purpose of the Network is "to support small group ministry and related shared ministry models in Unitarian Universalist congregations through developing new resources, networking, and training opportunities."

In addition to the SGM Quarterly journal for members and the free, online Covenant Group News, we publish new resources for program coordinators and facilitators, sponsor a consultation booth and SGM workshops at General Assembly, offer a week-long SGM Summer Institute, help local leaders plan regional SGM conferences, and give workshops in congregations and districts across the nation.

The UU SGM Network is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization supported solely by congregational and individual memberships, donations and publication sales revenue. Network Board members donate their time and personal resources to spread the good news of small group ministry.