The integration of spiritual formation practices into small group curriculum is one of the most important current grouplife trends.  This is easily spotted in many mainstream studies like Lifetogether’s Doing Life Together series or Zondervan’s Pursuing Spiritual Transformation.

There is a related trend in the increased publication of materials that are specifically designed to be used in spiritual formation (whether individually or as a group experience).

Simplicity by Mindy Caliguire is a good example of this kind of resource.  Divided into four experiences (Seeking Simplicity, Dealing with Duplicity, Moving toward Simplicity, and Simplicity as a Way of Life), each of the experiences is made up of five distinct parts, the first four of which can be used as preparation for a discussion with a group or another individual.

I found the integration of scripture and personal questions in each of the segments a genuinely thought-provoking experience .  Not the stuff of entry level, this will provide the kind of reflection that can serve to draw group members into a more meaningful commitment to each other and to the life of a fully devoted Christ follower.

It’s important to point out that Simplicity (like the other books in this series) are very simply designed.  This study can be done by an individual, along with an accountability partner, or with a group.  No leader is necessary.  It’s very practically laid out and would be easy for a group to take turns facilitating.

In addition to Simplicity, other available titles include Discovering Soul Care, Spiritual Friendship, and Soul Searching.  If you’re looking for resources to add to your recommended list for spiritual formation, these are four good additions.

One of the most current grouplife trends is the integration of spiritual formation practices into small group curriculum.  In yesterday’s post we began a conversation with Mindy Caliguire, a leading spiritual formation voice.  Here is part two of our conversation:

Mindy: I like Eugene Peterson’s writing… (especially the shorter ones!) and Larry Crabb’s stuff that relates to transformation in community.  Jan Johnson is also strong, and of course Ruth Haley Barton.  Scot McKnight has a fantastic book on fasting… and many other topics besides… Some of those dead guys, like Thomas Kelly, have had a huge impact on my life.  I haven’t actually read Keith Meyer or Todd Hunter’s new books, but they’re good friends and have many good things to say, so I suspect their writing is strong as well.

There’s a great magazine your readers would really like, Conversations Journal (www.conversationsjournal.com).  I’m a section editor for them… really strong stuff!

Mark: What do you think are some practical ways that small group ministries can encourage formation practices in the lives of group members?

Mindy: What a ministry does when its leaders gather will definitely impact whatever formation practices might happen in a group and, then, what members of a group might do on their own time.  If they are choosing curriculum for the ministry, they could choose ones that include meaningful assignments for folks to do between meeting times… as you said, there are more and more options like this being developed.

I find that since folks are sooo inexperienced with many forms of spiritual practices that it’s vital to create occasional environments when they can learn about and then DO a spiritual practice together.  A practicum of sorts.  The likelihood of them actually incorporating spiritual practices in their lives increases once they’ve experienced a few.

Mark: I know you’ve published several books, what are you working on now?

Mindy: I’ve actually got a few projects in the works… one explores the many connections between our physical bodies and the spiritual life… might be called, “Body of Faith”.  Another develops the concept of Hebrews 12, running the race marked out for us, but focuses on the essential role of community in the process of transformation—how we run that race together.

I recently wrote a really brief piece for Leadership Journal on the idea of transformation in the church… I enjoyed writing it, since I was playing off the “Elgin-O’Hare” expressway, which I’ve learned goes neither to Elgin nor to O’Hare.  Seems oddly like many mission statements I’ve developed and/or used over the years… It’s called, “Thruway or Partway?”  That’s it for my writing now, though… I always have more ideas than time to write.

Mark: This is great, Mindy!  Thanks for taking the time to share with all of us!

If you’re following what’s happening in small group ministry, you know that one of the current grouplife trends is the integration of spiritual formation practices into small group curriculum.  I’m seeing it as such a big influence that I asked Mindy Caliguire, a leading expert in spiritual formation, to give us some of her insight on this trend.  Here’s how the conversation went:

Mark: Mindy, you launched SoulCare almost 13 years ago, so you’re really a spiritual formation veteran.   What prompted you to invest your time and energies into this ministry?

Mindy Caliguire: At first, I simply wanted to create intelligent, compelling, and beautiful resources that would help people care for their souls… something I so desperately needed, but never discovered until my lack of soul health brought a devastating implosion in my own life and ministry.  Eventually, I began to experience increased health and life… and I wanted to create resources that would inspire others towards forging or deepening an authentic connection with God.  Over the years, though, I have been more and more interested in serving churches that are orienting themselves more explicitly around the priority of transformation and discipleship.  Spiritual practices are an important part of that, but not the only factor… there is a bigger picture.

Mark: What are you seeing now in your work with churches that might be different than it was when you first began?

Mindy: Oh! Great question… at first, Spiritual Formation was a foreign concept, occasionally held in deep suspect.  This always bewildered me, to be honest.  But that was true… and thankfully seems rarely to be an issue any longer.  More and more in evangelical settings we are admitting that our effectiveness in creating disciples hasn’t been as strong as it could and should be—and formation speaks to the developing interior life of a disciple.  As a result of this widened interest and urgency around transformation, two primary areas have shifted for me in my work:

1. While I care about the “soul health” and spiritual formation for everyone, more often these days I am particularly focused on the soul health of leaders.  Some of the deepest change needed in the church in our day centers around the spiritual vitality of our leaders.  This, of course, impacts small group structures and leadership communities as well.
2. More and more communities are focused on helping the people in their congregation grasp the concept of a spiritual journey (beyond “cross the line” salvation) and learn ways to take next steps on that journey.  I am encouraged by these conversations, and am optimistic about what can happen in the Body of Christ as more focus is given to this important concept.

Mark: I’m finding the integration of spiritual formation practices into small group curriculum, along with the inclusion of small group discussion into books on formation topics (i.e., The Good and Beautiful God, etc.) to be one of the most important trends in small group ministry.  Are you seeing this?  Why do you think this is happening?

Mindy: Yes, I do see this trend.  Why is it there?!?  Well, as you know, transformation won’t happen from simply reading a book or listening to a sermon—as important as those two kinds of inputs may be!  The self-disclosure and connecting that happen in small groups are also key components of transformation.  Also, “discipleship” was often delegated to a small group ministry/vision, so it’s logical that transformation-related topics would appear in curriculum designed for that environment.  As a related topic, it seems there are many strong Christians for whom the next groups-based-Bible-study is a version of “laying again the foundation” referred to in Hebrews.  It is entirely possible to keep acquiring more and more information about the Bible but be less and less transformed by that knowledge.  We need to move on to maturity.  We need a new kind of challenge—one that builds on a strong biblical foundation, but takes us to the deeper places of interior brokenness and longing for God.  These new kinds of curriculum really help us bring THAT journey, not just our knowledge, into community.  I celebrate any books that do this!!!

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You can read part two of my conversation with Mindy Caliguire right here.  Don’t want to miss what’s next?  You can sign up for my update right here.

If you’ve not found Margaret Feinberg yet…you might want to pick up Scouting the Divine (comes out in paperback on March 1, 2011).  Having only read The Organic God, I wasn’t sure what I’d find.  I was amazed to find myself 35 pages in before I knew it.  Better, I was enchanted by an captivating retelling of an encounter with a shepherdess and her sheep.  Part of the bargain?  A great collection of new insights into the world of the Great Shepherd.

The subtitle of Scouting the Divine offers a hint: “My Search for God in Wine, Wool, and Wild Honey.”  Can you tell where Feinberg is going?  I found myself pulled into the work by this quote from her introduction:

What does it mean to know Jesus is the Good Shepherd and the Lamb of God when the only places I’ve encountered sheep are petting zoos and Greek restaurants?  How do we learn to wait for the harvest when we live in a culture of easy access?  How can I understand the promise of a land overflowing with milk and honey when the only honey I buy comes in a bear-shaped bottle at my local grocery store?  Can I grasp the urgency of Jesus’ invitation to abide in the vine when I shop for grapes at Costco?

Scouting the Divine is artfully divided into four parts; engaging firsthand encounters with a shepherd, a farmer, a beekeeper, and a vintner.  Much like W. Phillip Keller’s, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Feinberg has given us two things: a devotional experience that will awaken a more personal read of Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels and a resource that will bring a fresh approach for teachers and communicators.

Like The Organic God, I think this will also be a resource for groups looking for a book to read together.  Although it doesn’t come equipped with a fully functional set of discussion questions, skillful leaders will have an easy time guiding their members through the journey by incorporating a journal and companion readings in the Gospels and Psalms.  Scouting the Divine will be a good addition to your recommended list for devotional reading.

Two of the most common names that can come up in any spiritual formation conversation are Dallas Willard and John Ortberg.

Willard has contributed several of the very important books in the emphasis (The Spirit of the Disciplines, The Divine Conspiracy, and The Renovation of the Heart).  Ortberg has made many of Willard’s ideas accessible in writings like The Life You’ve Always Wanted and The Me I Want to Be.

If you haven’t watched these two short clips from Catalyst 2010, this is a really good example of the kind of thinking for which Dallas Willard is best known.

Catalyst West 2010: Dallas Willard Part 1 from Catalyst on Vimeo.

Catalyst West 2010: Dallas Willard Part 2 from Catalyst on Vimeo.

Spent some quality time with Margaret Feinberg’s The Organic God over the weekend.  If you’re unfamiliar with Feinberg, let’s just say…this is a writer you need to get to know.

I’ve been curious about her appeal for a couple years, after first hearing about her writing from Heather Zempel.  Since then, I’ve had a number of enthused fans tell me I was missing out.  Three chapters into The Organic God…I can tell you they were right.  There is some very thought-provoking stuff here.

The basic concept in The Organic God is that in the same way the person in the “middle of the city looking up at the sky doesn’t realize just how much their view and perceptions are altered by the smog (p. 19),” we’re probably unaware of the extent to which our understanding and perception of God is just as clouded.

What attracted me to this book initially was a picture on Feinberg’s website of what looks like a small group holding up their individual copies of the book.  Although not being marketed as small group curriculum, it fits the current grouplife trend of small group questions and experiences being integrated into books with spiritual formation themes.

I really do like the layout of The Organic God.  After introducing the idea of our clouded understanding and perception, Feinberg creatively works through a more natural, pure and and essential description of God as bighearted, breathtakingly beautiful, amazingly wise, surprisingly talkative, wildly infallible, outrageously generous, unbelievably stubborn, abundantly kind, and deeply mysterious.

Each of the chapters is supported with a set of questions and “dig deeper” scripture references.  Although not extensive, there is more than enough there to lay the groundwork for a group that is ready to explore God’s authentic character.

If you’re looking for a book that will capture the attention of your members while giving them an accurate picture of God’s character, you can’t go wrong with The Organic God.

One of the most important trends in small group ministry is the way spiritual formation practices are being integrated into small group curriculum.  I listed it as one of the top 5 trends right here.  It’s popping up in a variety of ways.

One of the most prominent ways that spiritual formation is showing up is the inclusion of small group oriented questions in books like those in James Bryan Smith’s The Apprentice Series (The Good and Beautiful Community, The Good and Beautiful God, and The Good and Beautiful Life) or Trevor Hudson’s Discovering Our Spiritual Identity.  Including a set of questions or experiential assignments in the book itself makes it much more likely that groups will choose to use the book as curriculum.

Another key ingredient to the trend is the availability of small group curriculum that develops a spiritual formation pathway.  Early examples of this idea can be found in Zondervan’s Pursuing Spiritual Transformation series, particularly Fully Devoted, providing hands-on experiential elements in preparation for the group time.  Lifeway’s Formation: Building a Reliable Foundation is a more recent addition to the resource library.

It should also be mentioned that John Ortberg’s The Me I Want To Be is now available as a church-wide campaign.  The combination of DVD-driven small group curriculum (developed in Ortberg’s “Dallas-Willard-for everyone” style), available weekend sermon outlines, and promotional materials (bulletin shells, postcards, posters, and powerpoint slides) makes it possible to take your whole church on a spiritual formation journey.

Finally, the combination of an online experience with a printed or downloadable study guide is becoming more common.  In addition to the robust Monvee (with it’s visual experience and available small group curriculum), Chazown (based on Craig Groeschel’s book by the same name)  provides a simpler, more defined formation experience based on the idea of becoming what God had in mind for you when you were created.

Whichever angle you choose for your small group ministry it is becoming much more common for spiritual formation to be introduced or encouraged through the delivery system of grouplife.  I think you’ll agree, it makes a lot of sense to integrate the two into one experience.

Are you aware of other books, curriculum, or online experiences that promote spiritual formation in the context of a group?  Use the comment section to join the conversation!  You can add your two cents right here!.

You may have been hearing about Monvee, probably the current leader in an emerging field of online assessment and build your own spiritual pathway concepts.

Although there’s a lot to talk about (when you poke around amidst the discovery assessment, the discovery summary, the roadmap creator, and the dashboard that allows you to track your progress), it’s the small group experience that I want to talk about here.

The small group experience is made possible by the Monvee Pak.  Available at $19.95, the Monvee Pak includes “a unique PAK ID code that gives you full, lifetime access to Monvee,” the Visual Experience DVD, sample chapters of John Ortberg’s The Me I Want to Be and Eric Parks’ Change.  As you can see, at $19.95 per person, this is an all-in kind of experience.  You wouldn’t be persuading half-interested, half-hearted participation.

The Visual Experience is designed to be the first step in your Monvee journey.  The DVD, with 45 minutes of content spread over 6 Acts, can be used as an individual experience providing personal reflection.  It can also be used as the centerpiece of a 6 session small group experience.

Each of the 6 Acts features a fascinating personal story, presented in such an engaging way that you can’t help but be pulled in.  It is story-driven visual media at its best.  It is powerful and provocative…and will prepare your group for a discussion.

As is often the case when a story-driven approach is used, the DVD segments allow group members to immerse themselves in the story as it unfolds and then wrestle with interpretation.  So far, so good.  You’ll be captivated by the setting (Key West, Florida) and the memorable cast of characters you’ll meet.  Unlike some of the talking head teaching DVDs you’ll find, these segments will hold the attention of even the easily distracted members of your group.  8 to 10 minutes will fly by.  I’ve included the Monvee Visual Experience Trailer below.

If there is an obstacle to using the Visual Experience as a small group curriculum, it is that while the scant question set is provocative and should help your members engage, there aren’t enough questions to keep most groups in the game for 60 to 75 minutes.  Not to say that a skilled leader couldn’t pull it off.  They could.  But if you’re working with less experienced leaders, just know that you’ll need to provide additional material.  And without a leader’s guide, you’ll need to develop the additional material on your own.

In spite of the challenges (price per person, a less than robust set of discussion questions and the lack of a leader’s guide), I still think this will be a great experience for some groups.

Had a chance this week to take a look at The Good and Beautiful Community; the newest addition to James Bryan Smith’s Apprentice Series.  Published by InterVarsity Press, this series has been called by Dallas Willard, “The best practice I have seen in Christian spiritual formation.”

Like the two previous books in the series, The Good and Beautiful Community follows a familiar pattern.  Real-life stories illustrate the false ideas and personal narratives that may become a barrier to authentic Christlikeness.  A look at a biblical account from the Gospels (or elsewhere in the New Testament) provides a contrasting practice and points the reader/participant to replacing false with true narrative.

Along with this examination of a contrasting narrative, each chapter is followed by a soul training exercise; a kind of spiritual formation practice.  The appendix includes a Small Group Discussion Guide, which makes it very practical for this book to be used as a small group curriculum.

The focus of this final installment in the trilogy is “the second part of the Great Commandment: loving our neighbor as ourselves.”  What I’ve appreciated about the series is the built-in focus on the heart, based on the awareness that the human tendency is to put the emphasis on activity and not on the heart that motivates the activity.

Two Key Uses for the Book

I can see The Good and Beautiful Community being used a number of ways, two in particular that will have great application for many of us.  First, this book could be very helpful in developing the coaches in your system.  I’ve found it to be true that “whatever you want to happen at the member level in your groups has to happen first in the life of the leader.”  That said, once a coach experienced this journey, they’d have the frame of reference to help the leaders in their huddles.

The second use for this book will be to provide a curriculum for groups desiring to engage in their community.  In the effort to become involved in the lives of your neighbors, nothing will set the table better than learning to love them first.

If you’re looking for a study that will help your more seasoned groups take a healthy step in the direction of practicing Christlikeness, I encourage you to take a look at The Good and Beautiful Community.

Looked over a copy of Discovering Our Spiritual Identity: Practices for the Beloved by Trevor Hudson this week.  New from InterVarsity Press, this will be a good addition to your recommended list if you’re looking for ways to “live out…[your] spiritual identity as God’s beloved.”

There are a number of aspects to really love about Discovering Our Spiritual Identity.  First, as Dallas Willard puts it in the forward, “Trevor Hudson states with utter simplicity and clarity the profound truths of Jesus Christ, about how we can live well and beautifully, no matter what our circumstances.”  If you’re like me and you’re looking for “easy to wrap your mind around”…you’ll appreciate the simplicity here.

Second, the practical exercises included in each chapter are the kind of holy experiment that can be done alone and then discussed with a group of fellow travelers.  Alternatively, they can be used as a kind of journal entry that will allow healthy interaction with the content.  Discovering Our Spiritual Identity is much more than a reading assignment.  It really is a set of 16 very practical steps that can be taken in a spiritual journey.

Third, each chapter concludes with a set of questions appropriate for a group or interaction with a spiritual director or partner.  While this would be a challenging interaction for some small groups (there is no leaders guide and the subject matter will require a level of maturity not always found in every group), many groups will find it just the thing to help them take essential next steps in spiritual growth.

I can imagine that many, many of the participants in our congregations would greatly benefit from interacting with the ideas and practices in this book.  Beginning with drawing a new picture of God and continuing on through sections on spiritual friendship, solitude and silence, and offering encouraging words, this is a workbook experience that has the potential to powerfully impact and redirect spiritual status quo.

If there is a concern about the book it is simply that without a leader’s guide it’s application will be limited to individuals/groups that have the required level of maturity.  At the same time, there will be many will find in Discovering Our Spiritual Identity a trajectory altering experience.