Follow these foundational steps to get your groups off to a great start.
by Randy Christian
I watched the TV screen scroll through the public-service announcements, finally seeing the one I'd been looking for: "Divorce Recovery Group," it read, with information and the name of our church below. In the past year I have received dozens of phone calls regarding this group, and more about others we sponsor. It's one way our church is responding to the needs around us.
More and more churches are offering divorce-recovery, addiction-recovery, grief, cancer, pregnancy, parenting, and retirement groups, among others. These support groups give a forum whereby people can stand by one another, support and encourage one another, and receive, in the process, the very comfort of God (2 Cor. 1:3-7).
Many churches, however, hesitate to start a support group because they simply feel unqualified. Yet the process isn't as intimidating as it sounds. Here, for example, are the steps our church takes in forming support groups.
(Read the full article here)
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If you want to start a local self-help support group as part of a national mutual help organization, one option for "not re-inventing the wheel" is to check the keyword-searchable database at:
http://mentalhelp.net/selfhelp/ or www.selfhelpgroups.org
which provides:
- a keyword-searchable database of over 1,100 national, international, and model self-help support groups for most any specific illness, disability, addiction, bereavement situation, parenting, caregiver concern, abuse, or other stressful life situation;
- listing of local non-profit self-help group clearinghouses worldwide
http://www.mentalhelp.net/selfhelp/selfhelp.php?id=859
- suggestions on starting both community and online mutual help groups;
- information on research of self-help groups - to see a summary of the more rigorous outcome studies, you can see a copy of the chapter from the last edition of our Self-Help Group Sourcebook at: http://www.chce.research.med.va.gov/chce/pdfs/Kyrouz%20Humphreys%20Loomis%202002.pdf
- and a registry for those trying to start new national or international support networks that don't yet exist in the world.
"There is a great potential for expanded development and promotion of self-help groups by clergy, congregational leaders, and religious organizations... which represents a special form of ministry that can help reduce human suffering, improve community mental health, transform persons with problems into help providers, and address the currently unmet needs of congregants, clients, and the community." - "Clergy and Self-Help Groups: Practical & Promising Relationships" by E. Madara & B. Peterson, Journal of Pastoral Care, XLI, 3, pp. 213-220, 1987.
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