Intentional Spirituality: Exploring My Growing Edge – Free Digital Download
FOSTERING SPIRITUAL DEPTH IN A BUSY WORLD
• Small group materials help your members embed greater meaning in their lives.
• Your participants quickly make deep connections with each other.
• Proven materials and techniques help you lead your small group through transformation.
Included in this guide:
• Detailed instructions for leading a six session group series giving 10-12 participants the opportunity to explore ways to deepen their experience of spirituality within a community which supports each one’s different path
• Introduction including an overview of materials, tips for leading this type of group, and background on Appreciative Inquiry
• Support materials on participatory listening, setting intention, Appreciative Inquiry, and storytelling
Testimonial:
“When I joined [an Exploring My Growing Edge group] at its inception in 2008, I did so with great trepidation. I have always felt that spirit stirred inside me but it never found a voice or an action in the traditional setting of Sunday service. As much as I enjoyed the weekly sermons, I was not able to make the daily connection to God through a church based faith worship.
Through intentional community, I was able to receive spirit in a new and profound way that awakened and nurtured my connection to God. Intentional community provided me with the practices and unconditional support to go on a quest to find the holy spirit within, and experience the joy of this connection to a small group. I cannot think of another experience that has moved me more in my adult life.”
– Isabelle T.
Contents
Introduction
Overview
The Basics of Appreciative Inquiry
The Role of the Facilitator
Session Overview
Not finishing a session
Session 1 – Introduction and Covenant
The Basics of Appreciative Inquiry
Sample Covenant
Session 2 – Explore a Growing Edge of Your Journey
Participatory Listening
The Place of Story
Session 3 – Story Births a Dream
Session 4 – Shape a Spiritual Practice
Setting an Intention
Session 5 – Reflect on Practices in Community
Session 6 – Celebrate and Create a Path Forward Session
At altSpirit, our mission is:
To guide individuals in the discovery of their own values, to lead them in more intentionally embedding these values in their lives, and to fos- ter communities to sustain this work.
We hope that through being a part of this work, as a leader or participant, you will find meaningful ways to build on your own interests and values to become more fully engaged in your community, and your world.
Many of us get caught in continuing to do what we have always done, whether it is at work, with our friends and family, or in our interactions with the world at large. We become focused on solving the problems that come up and feel like most of what we are doing is reacting. We would like to find more meaning in what we are doing or to try to do some new things entirely. How can we allow ourselves to explore different possibilities, ones that might allow us to begin living into a new dream of our future? In the materials that follow, we present a semistructured process to enable this reimagining.
These guiding materials have been honed over hours and hours of experience in a variety of settings. The way you will approach your goals is informed by the principles of Appre- ciative Inquiry. The various exercises are based on effective educational practices. And the content is rooted in the experience and research of experts in the field.
This multisession module provides time for you and your group members to reflect on your spiritual life in a way that creates a path forward. Utilizing the Four D’s of Apprecia- tive Inquiry (Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny), it establishes both the understanding and skill sets needed to engage in ongoing Intentional Community.
altSpirit was started in 2014 to help bring materials that we have successfully used in small groups to a larger population. Visit our website altSpirit.