The Unitarian Facilitators Network is one of many new initiatives recently looking to support our movement to survive and thrive, including ‘Sea and Sky’ for coastal congregations, ‘Heart of the City’ for urban congregations, the Administrators Network, District Connections, and many more. This gathering is described by the convenor, Dr Jane Blackall at Kensington Unitarians, as:

“A monthly gathering for all those who currently facilitate engagement groups within our movement and those who aspire to do so. We hope to encourage new facilitators, develop your facilitation skills, and help you plan and launch your own programmes. Our intention is that this will also be a space where more experienced facilitators will share their wisdom and reflect on best practice. Over the months we will develop a network for peer support and the collective workshopping of ideas to suit varied contexts.”

I attended in November; whilst I’m not myself looking to start an engagement group in the near future, it’s a skill l’d like to know more about to support future community work in Newcastle. We began with a chalice lighting and words, then discussed some of the basic characteristics of engagement groups such as behaviourial covenants, opening check-ins, learning and sharing, checking-out and closing. We discussed some potentially tricky issues, such as balancing the need to not respond to what people say in their check-ins (debate is not the point of them), with ensuring people feel heard, and how to handle unacceptable behaviour.

As a thought experiment, we were asked to imagine an engagement group that we might like to be a part of, for example:

• What would be ideal in terms of focus activity or subject matter, frequency, number and length of sessions?
• Would it be in-person or online?
• What sort of group would meet a need in you and realistically fit in with…
  • Your life?
  • The life of your congregation?
  • The life of the wider community?

Perhaps that’s an exercise we could all consider! Many thanks to Dr Jane Blackall and all involved for a fascinating session.