The Simple Spirituality Approach

By Barb Henderson

The group was working on Practice 6: “I am blessed with this good news. I will practice being thankful and celebrating moments.” The clock was ticking, Nora began to share “I’m thankful for this group. I have never had the opportunity before to talk about my spiritual ideas for five uninterrupted minutes.” Later Frank would echo her feelings, “Most of the time people finish my sentences for me. I’m not used to being able to talk without having to be defensive.”

Simple Spirituality groups use a simple kitchen timer. Each person gets 5 uninterrupted minutes to talk about how they are practicing the practices. When the timer goes off, they finish. People may ask a clarifying question or simply say thank you and go to the next person.

Recently I heard Tom Friedman, the well-known New York Times Journalist say, “One thing I’ve discovered (researching the causes of terrorism) is that those who have power never think about it; those who don’t think about it all the time.” Small groups are a lot like that. A few people use them as “preaching platforms” while most of the others (appear) to listen.

There are more introverts than extroverts in our churches. How do we structure groups so that the introverts get a chance to talk? Why don’t the people in our churches know how to talk with each other about their spiritual lives and questions?

Simple Spirituality began in part to try and address those questions. We also wanted to know “What gets you through the day spiritually?” or “What do you know for sure about God?” We wanted to provide a group experience where non- Christians had spiritual equal opportunities afforded them.

It’s amazing what a simple kitchen timer can do to move people closer to God.