Growing a Rule of Life Resources
Resources for Facilitators and Communicators
No matter the size of your group, we are thrilled for you to use these faith formation materials. Every resource you will find is free to use and each one is published under a Creative Commons attribution license which means you can use them as they are or modify them for your particular needs as long as you attribute the Brothers’ involvement in creating them.
Facilitator’s Guides, for adults and children (7-14), have been created in partnership with the Center for the Ministry of Teaching at the Virginia Theological Seminary. These guides are designed for first-time group leaders as well as those who are more experienced. The adult guide also contains alternate ideas and tips for using this offering with young adult groups.
Communicators materials contain sample sign-up form, bulletin inserts and images (with Photoshop or InDesign files for those for us that like to tinker!).
Videos, transcripts and compilations are available to download.
Before granting access to the Google Drive resource folder we simply ask:
- To know a little about you. This helps us understand who is using the resources and how we can focus on making our faith formation offerings even more engaging and holistic in future years. In order for the Brothers to better understand your needs, please just complete the form below. Once you complete the form you will receive access to a resources folder filled with videos, transcripts, sample materials and images.
- Please encourage your group participants to sign up to the email offering directly at Growing a Rule of Life and to engage in the comments section if they are moved to do so. This helps to support and grow a thriving and engaged online community.
- After using the resource(s) for a few weeks, we invite you to complete this short survey on how you found the materials, and any feedback that can help us improve the offering for others. (Don’t worry, we’ll send the survey again in a few weeks in case you forget)
If you have comments questions or issues with the resources, don’t hesitate to reach out at timelyresources@ssje.org and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Timely Resources: Growing a Rule of Life
[…] You can find the materials for this resource at https://www.ssje.org/growruleresources/. […]
Our group is enjoying the program, and we find the materials very helpful. However, as the leader I’ve found myself frustrated for two weeks in a row, as the facilitator’s guide suggests ending with readings that are vaguely referenced and not printed in the guide. This week, for example, we were instructed to close with a reading from John O’Donohue’s “Bless the Space Between Us.” but neither the reading itself nor even the specific poem are referenced. I don’t wish to read the whole book, as lovely as it is, and I do not know what y’all had in mind. Please help!
Apologies Jane, here are the correct links:
“The clearing rests in song and shade” written by Wendell Berry. The poem is included in A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems, 1979-1997; by Wendell Berry (Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1998), p.49.
Poem here: https://www.journeywithjesus.net/PoemsAndPrayers/Wendell_Berry_Sabbath_Poem_VII.shtml
For our closing reading, we will hear a poem by John O’Donohoe. This poem is taken from the book To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings.
For Equilibrium, a Blessing:
Poem here: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/68613-for-equilibrium-a-blessing-like-the-joy-of-the-sea
I’m just wondering if your videos will be available to watch after Lent has ended? Thanks for a great resource.
You’re welcome. Yes, the videos will continue to be available after Lent ends.
I am working on trying to put the sign-up sheet on our parish’s website. Unfortunately, I see some characters in some of the sign up boxes. Is there a problem with the code? I copied directly from this website (above) and attempted this twice just to make sure I did’t boo-boo. Let me know if there is a better code that I can use.
Fr. Dewayne
Greetings Fr. Dewayne,
This site may be a helpful reference: https://help.formassembly.com/help/article/link/340358-embed-your-forms-html
If problems persist, people may also sign up via this link to receive the series: https://ssje.org/ssje/growrule/
[…] Click on this link for resources for small-group leaders – https://ssje.org/ssje/growruleresources/ […]
Thank you for this facilitator’s guide! Can you let us know which John O’Donohue poem is recommended for the closing reading for phase 2?
Hi Allison, the poem is “For Equilibrium, a Blessing”. I don’t have the book in front of me so cant give exact page reference for this -sorry. Conor