CONTEMPLATIVE OUTREACH (CO) PITTSBURGH FACILITATOR WORKSHOP
CO Pittsburgh planned an in-person Facilitator Workshop in 2019 to introduce the newly-developed online video formation materials for Facilitator Training. A link to the videos was shared with all workshop participants. The videos provided the content information about “how to facilitate” and CO Pittsburgh arranged a day to discuss the content of the videos in person in both large and small groups.
Everyone on the CO Pittsburgh mailing list was invited. The program was for current facilitators, potential facilitators, and all others who wanted to learn more about prayer groups. Participants were asked to view all of the CO videos prior to the workshop. The 5-hour event was very well attended (about 30 people).
The schedule for the day included:
- Two periods of Centering Prayer
- Viewing two of the ten videos from the Facilitator Formation package. Video 3 and Video 5 were selected.
- The large group was broken into small groups for sharing.
- After viewing Video 3, “Facilitator Attributes, Spirituality, & Skills, Part 3,” the small groups were invited to share experiences from their CP groups. Suggested topics were:
- Difficult/uncomfortable dynamic experienced in prayer group
- How to introduce Centering Prayer in 5-minutes before your prayer group session begins.
- What works really well for your prayer group?
- After viewing Video 5, “What a Beginning Facilitator Needs to Know Part 1,” participants in the small group had the opportunity to role play how to come to a consensus. The suggested issues requiring a consensus were:
- Determine/get consensus on the groups statement of purpose.
- Determine/get consensus on the prayer group guidelines for sharing.
- Resources from the CO website were reviewed.
- Q & A
- Lunch
Additional resources were provided to the attendees that included:
- Link to the updated Facilitator Handbook
- Link to the Online Facilitator Formation Videos. 10 videos total (7-22 minutes each)
- Link to CO Pittsburgh CD/DVD lending library list.
- Link to CO resource guide (resources available in the CO online bookstore)
- Hard copies of the Facilitator Handbook copied and mailed to each participant via U.S. Mail
Submitted by Ruth Hofmann and Kristen Brennan
March 30, 2022
