Newsletters
Please select an issue from the list on the right, to view the articles which have been uploaded to the website.
Issue 30
Why not start a prayer group
Many people contact the Fellowship looking for a local prayer group with which to make contact. Sadly, all too often the nearest one is some distance away and getting to even a monthly meeting is impractical.
If this is the case where you are – why not consider starting your own? Two or three interested people make a group!
Recently I had an email correspondence with someone in just this position and after some exchanges, various ideas emerged as being worth considering. Here are some of them – you will be able to add others, I’m sure….
- Once you discovered a couple of people who are interested – maybe after meeting together a few times – consider getting in touch with your church priest or minister and getting their support. Being part of church life keeps the group grounded in worship; actually meeting in church, ‘advertising’ it in the weekly notices, can help to make the group available to all and gives people confidence in it.
- Many people are relieved to know that the FCP uses a Biblically based method and that the focus for a prayer group is a Biblical, Dominical, Saying. So it is worth having the monthly Sayings for Stillness and Sayings for Special Times to hand when introducing it, to stress this point.
- It is good to emphasise the intercession aspect, especially in a parish prayer group situation - it's not just a holy huddle for the benefit of the few but involves active prayer for others. Also the nature of the Fellowship method means that it just uses a name or names – there is not a great public airing of people's problems but a respect for the individual's privacy.
- The group needs to be led by a Witness - this is often the sticking point as people don't feel well-informed or confident enough to do this. To help, there are various resources: the yellow leaflet Sayings for Stillness give a good starting point to get one thinking and there is a lot of information available about the pattern a group exercise takes. On the FCP website we have just begun to put a full contemplative exercise which can be printed off and used as it stands by anyone who has to lead a group - amended of course, if one wishes, for a particular group or if you feel like adding to or subtracting from it. But they are all exercises written by experienced Witnesses, and are in a variety of 'styles', so they might be helpful. It is found under ‘Prayer Groups’ in the home page menu, headed 'this month's contemplative exercise'.
- The introductory CD has some examples of exercises - this can be for guidance or can actually be used with a CD player in a group situation, although it needs a bit of practice to get it to go smoothly! There are also various CD packs, actually produced to enable people to run a whole Quiet Day, but which can be used in any way one wishes.
- If starting up a group, or if leading it is a stumbling block, it might be easiest to begin with a simplified form of the exercise - perhaps just a saying and a brief introduction (like the commentary in Sayings for Stillness) and a single time of silence. After that one could use the Saying for a short time of intercession for a few concerns or individuals known to the group. Then maybe a short time of coffee and chat to see how people felt, and what they found easy or difficult. A full exercise could follow after a few times of meeting, as people felt ready.
There is a lot of material available for support and reference – just contact me and I will be happy to post you a pack.
FCP Administrator
For contact details, see the list on the Contacts page of the website
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