Hi friends! This month's UU Growth Lab live session is on Small Group Ministry for Health, Growth, and Impact. In other words, small group ministries that work, not stagnate, not get derailed, not fight with your other objectives. Registration is open in our usual two-stage process.
Members Registration - OPEN
Registration is open for UU Growth Lab members via the link below and in our lab member area.
Guest Registration - OPEN
The remaining open seats are available to all Unitarian Universalist clergy, staff, and volunteers in my network as guests of the UU Growth Lab. RSVP below or via the email invitation sent to my email list for UU Leaders.
Session Details
Topic: Small Group Ministry for Health, Growth, and Impact!
Trainer: Peter Bowden
Date: September 9, 2025
Time: 1:00 PM Eastern
Duration: 2 Hours
Format: This will be a one-hour training with Q&A followed by a second optional hour for additional strategy discussion.
The focus of this Small Group Ministry training is on designing, implementing, and launching (or relaunching) congregation-wide small group ministry programs.
Not just any kind of program! We're focusing on small group ministries that are healthy, growth-oriented, and actively support your congregation's mission and vision.
This training will draw on my decades of work helping our congregations launch, troubleshoot, and grow their small group ministries. It is the first installment in what I intend to be a growing section of our member area dedicated to small group ministry.
We'll cover foundational concepts, group and group system structure, and other elements of your program design with a focus on how they support health, growth, and impact.
Health
We want to make sure your congregation and its group are healthy. There are specific group ministry practices and design principles that can support this. For example, how your group leaders and ministry team partner together (or not) impacts how group members relate to the larger congregation.
Growth
How we design, promote, and lead small groups determines whether or not they grow or stagnate. We want your small group program to foster relationships, cultivate meaning, and drive membership growth! Groups can be treated as an add-on to your primary ministry, or they can be integrated, celebrated, promoted, and utilized as a vital component of congregational life.
Impact
When integrated into your ministry with intention and care, small group ministry can significantly advance your mission. We want your small group ministry not to be an add-on but an engine for accomplishing your mission, vision, and amplifying your impact!
My Small Group Background
I launched the original UU Small Group Ministry Network website in 2001, then co-founded the network formally in 2004 as a UUA affiliate organization, back when we had those. We worked for years to promote and popularize the group ministry models used in Unitarian Universalist congregations across the United States, and in U/U congregations internationally. The organization continues hosting a very popular small group session library.
Session Registration
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