Unless another arrangement has been made with the Director you will be expected to be a member of a local group which will meet regularly throughout your studies.
These meetings are not occasions for formal lectures, but opportunities for fellowship and for discussing and clarifying any issues in your studies which you think deserve further treatment or attention.
The dates and times of meetings will be set by the group and the local group leader together.
Local Group Leaders
Local group meetings will be facilitated in most cases by priests in your local area.
The local group leader’s role is to facilitate discussion, not to act as an instructor. So rather than being expected to answer every question, the role of the leader is to help to point you to sources and to make suggestions about where answers may be found.
A Place for Support and Shared Learning
Because you will mainly be studying alone at home, members of the local group act as a supportive environment for the learning of each other.
While it will be tempting to discuss a wide variety of matters it is important that the meeting’s focus stays on the material which has been studied since the last meeting, and members will need to help each other to stay focussed.
Course Requirement
Unless another arrangement has been made with the Director, it is a requirement that participants attend local group meetings as these constitute part of the assessment of the programme.
Shape of local group meetings
The meetings will normally commence with a short time of worship and then construct an agenda of matters to be addressed.
The elements that a typical local group meeting might cover are:
- Discussion facilitated by the local group leader of any particular difficulties experienced with the material which has been studied since the last meeting and any issues arising from it;
- Discussion about what has been discovered in the situation analysis tasks and the comparing of that information with one another;
- Some practice of theological reflection. This could be theological reflection on an issue discussed in the readings, or based upon an incident that has occurred in somebody’s ministry.
Problems
If you experience any problems in your studies in this programme, first see if the problem can be resolved by discussion with other participants at your local group meeting. If the problem can’t be resolved there, then contact the Director.
Personal Tutors
Where it is not possible for you to be linked into a local group because of distance you will be assigned a personal tutor to assist you in your studies.
