However groups are developed with youth, the groups must belong to the youth with the adults who are present being resources. While facilitation may be shared or rotated, a representative from the group can be included in meetings of facilitators with the 'coach.' This gives legitimacy to the youth small group and increases leadership opportunities for the youth.

The purpose of the sessions is to minister to each other as well as to provide opportunity for spiritual growth by

• paying attention/listening to each other's needs and wants,
• acknowledging that all "teachers" and all are "learners."
• Encouraging each other and sharing on our spiritual journeys.

The concept of Small Group Ministry is quite applicable to youth programming. A specific time when the youth meet could be designated as Small Group Ministry, including using the format that is suggested for adult groups. This would have to be planned related to commitment to the group, and having session of 1-2 hours. This can be used every session, or periodically, like once or twice a month around other curriculum or activities.

The Small Group Ministry occurs within the broader church community.

• Participate in worship and in other youth programming
• Learning related to spiritual journey
• Service to the community

A major consideration is the size of the group. Small groups ministry acknowledges that we connect on a personal level better with small groups. The suggested maximum size in literature and experience in the Northeast District is 8, including the facilitators. When the number of participants exceed this size, a new group needs to be started in order to preserve the relational aspect. Consideration should be given to maintaining consistent groups as much as possible.

The format of the sessions with youth is similar to the sessions for adults:

An informal way to implement the program with youth is to have

• The group participants can select openings and closings from Singing Our Living Tradition and other collections of meditations and readings that are available. The numbers of their selections from Singing Our Living Tradition or location of readings are put onto pieces of paper and into envelopes, one for openings and one for closings. (The readings can also be copied onto cards, if someone wants to do this.) Participants are encouraged to also write their own openings and closings.

• Topics developed by having participants give a religious questions that they would like to have answered or that would help on them on their spiritual journeys.

• Each session a person is assigned to do an opening, the closing and to facilitate the session. People can bring in their own items, such as readings, or select at random from the envelopes.

Approaches may vary in the amount of planning or structure involved, from the informal to the more planned.

1. Parts may be read by the facilitator or shared, with different participants taking the opening, facilitating the dialogue around the topic or questions, closing, and likes and wishes. Decide ahead of time who is doing what part. Basic parts are readers for opening and closing and the facilitator.

2. Participants may bring their own readings for openings and closings or select at random at the session. The theme of openings, closings, and topics may or may not match.

3. Facilitator may be a designated person for a period of time or may be decided meeting by meeting. The role of the facilitator is to:

• Ensure that the group begins and ends on time.
• Guides the group through the session outline.
• Makes sure that everyone has an opportunity to participate
• Makes sure that the tone and feeling of the session is comfortable, inclusive
• Meets regularly with the minister and/or other facilitators of small groups within the congregation. (If rotating, have a youth represent the group at a facilitators' meeting.)

A more structured approach is to use session plans that have been developed for the adult small group ministry sessions. These would have the openings, closings, and topics included.

At Northeast District youth conferences, we are working on having our "touch groups" (small groups that meet throughout the conference) be more intentional, using some of the concepts from small group ministry (group size and check-in, for example). These groups are also facilitated by youth themselves, which is leadership development. The youth have requested that the touch groups be a maximum of 8 total, including facilitators, youth, and adult advisors. This has made a difference in the conference feeling of inclusivity.

Jen Harrison (now Jen Devine) describes Small Group Ministry concepts as applied to youth groups, with a focus on implementing the Unitarian Universalist principles, in "Youth Groups as a Model for Transformative Ministry," Essex Conversations (Boston: Skinner House Books, 2001, page 107-121).

In addition, the Youth Office has published Five Steps to Building Community, and this is used at conferences and other places. This is an excellent tool that for understanding interaction that can occur within small groups. The balance is in Building Community, which relies on consistency within a group, while being welcoming.

These steps can help in understanding the status of groups. Groups will work through the stages at various rate of speed. When a new member joins a group, there is a need to start again with Bonding, but the group may move more quickly through the steps as they orient a new member. These are guidelines only.

Step One: Bonding: Begin to identify as part of the team

<>Participants leave with warm and fuzzy feeling

Step Four: Stretching: Realize their importance to entire group

Not all sharing is appropriate for the group, especially if it makes others uncomfortable