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SmallGroupMinistrySmall group ministry onlineEmail-based small groups onlineChurch of the Larger FellowshipChurch of the Larger Fellowship, or CLF, is a congregation serving isolated religious liberals through the internet and postal mail. Calling their small groups "covenant groups," they have an established three-week format of email contact, facilitated by trained facilitators. Facilitators are trained via online courses. They describe their online small groups as follows: Each three-week Covenant Group cycle usually consists of e-mail shared between all parties including:
1. Opening reading and introduction/naming of the topic (1 day)
2. Check-in (4 days)
3. Sharing in response to questions (6 days)
4. Discussion in response to sharing (6 days)
5. Likes and wishes (3 days)
6. Closing reading (1 day)
See http://www.uua.org/clf/lists_cgs.html for more information. CLF has been refining this kind of online group for more than two years. These groups are in part an evolution of more traditional, unstructured email lists -- by at least 2003, participants in traditional email lists were engaging in "sharing joys and concerns" on the lists, and organizing off-list email covenant groups. CLF small groups are overseen by a part-time cyberminister. BBS- or forum-based small groups onlineNone known. Social networking sitesAt this time, no formal small groups are known to use social networking technology. However, some networks of LiveJournal users seem to function in ways similar to more structured small group ministries. [Need references and/or actual participants to add details.] |