Small Groups

The June 2022 Visioning Retreat confirmed that the New Roots community is called to live into Jubilee through a deepening of relationships, collective action, and spiritual practice. Small Groups are an opportunity for the New Roots community to experiment in aspects of Jubilee within smaller groups, committed to journeying alongside one another through the 9 month cycle.

If you are interested in joining a Small Group, please contact Jamie Mangiameli at jamie@newroots.church!

• Structure and Logistics 
  • Groups meet twice a month
  • Each group will have 1-2 volunteer facilitators 
  • Each group will explore a question/topic/practice within their guiding theme/core practice.
  • Each group will commit to showing up physically/virtually, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
  • Each group will take what they are exploring and offer it back to the New Roots community or the broader community (ex. Sabbath group coordination of Sabbath Sunday or Resource Sharing Group coordinate a bi-annual resource distribution in Dorchester)

Guiding Themes/Core Practices:
 Sabbath: Rest as Resistance | Saturdays @ 11am ET

• Do you feel called to discuss, integrate, and experiment in moments of radical rest?

This small group will offer encouragement, accountability, and support for anyone who feels called to a more consistent individual and communal practice of the Sabbath. This group will offer experiments in radical rest, where we can share learnings and challenges about our own rest practice and the barriers and tensions that prevent us from resting. This group may even host Sabbath Sundays or Rest Experiences for the New Roots community in the future! 

Relational Healing: Transforming Connections | Thursdays @ 5pm ET

• Do you feel called to deepen relationships within the New Roots community? Do you feel called to dive into the work of relational restoration and healing on the individual and collective levels?

This group will take seriously the notion that relationship and connection are foundational to Jubilee. This group will be centered around intentionally deepening relationships within the small group. Along the way, there will be prompts and exercises that create space and encouragement for deepening the relationship and transforming our connections with each other. This group may offer practices, prompts, or events for relational healing to the New Roots community. 

Earth Connection: Undrowned | Mondays @ 5:30pm ET

• Do you feel called to a deeper connection with the Earth? Do you feel called to learn more about and respond to the climate crisis? 

This small group will follow the lead of New Roots in Nature by turning to the natural world to listen for God’s whispers and shouts. This group will lean into learning more about the jubilee rhythms and ways of the natural world - guided by the work of Alexis Pauline Gumbs in Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals. Additionally, this group may explore ways to respond to the climate crisis locally and engage the whole New Roots community.

Walking in Your Calling When Your Job Ain’t Workin’ | Mondays @ 6:30pm

• Is your workplace unfulfilling or a source of stress in your life?

As members of a capitalist society, our worth is often associated with our paid work. Living in a culture where there is so much pressure to work all the time - what do we do when our workplace is not fulfilling or even a source of stress? How do we deepen our spiritual life when work threatens our peace. This group is for folks who want to consider these questions and explore whether they are called to exit a toxic workplace, to learn to grow spiritually in the midst of turmoil or to be a source of Holy Spirit transformation on their job.