Facilitator's Guide

Facilitators are responsible for overall coordination before, during, and after the meeting(s) and should be familiar with the basic information  and the Worcester GROUP Questionnaire.

Remote Preparation

• Before scheduling, consider that there are 23 questions in the group survey.  If 8 people (including the table facilitator and recorder) are seated separate tables, and each person at the table is allowed one minute to address each question, one would have to allow more than 3.5 hours to complete the survey.  While attending to each of the three areas in the survey, you may want to be selective about which questions are discussed by the group.

• Invite parishioners to participate using the bulletin inserts available under the Parish Resources Tab in the left menu.  They should RSVP to you or the parish office so that you can prepare the space and materials.  Once you know how many will participate, personally invite some parishioners who have had experience with group discussions to be table facilitators and recorders.  CLICK the button to print the entire survey.

Immediate Preparation

• Arrange for hospitality – water, coffee and . . .
• Check that someone will attend to heat, light etc.
• Have enough copies of the prayer and any portions of the survey you want participants to answer on their own (see above).
• Have pencils/pens, blank paper etc. on tables
• At least table facilitators and recorders should have copies of the whole survey.

The Meeting

• Start on time
• Introduce yourself and ask the table facilitators to introduce themselves to table participants.
• Ask the pastor/parochial vicar/deacon to lead the prayer. The LINK to the official Adsumus prayer may be found here:

• Using background information from the Diocesan website or other resources, e.g., Resources (synod.va), give a brief introduction describing synodality and the objectives of this exercise.
• Ask table facilitators to lead the process.  All who are leading the process might benefit from reviewing “Listening, Discernment, and Participation” and “Attitudes for Participating in the Synodal Process” which may be found at 2.2 and 2.4 of the Vademecum (SEE SYNOD HOME MENU) 
• The facilitator move from table to table during the meeting to make sure all is running smoothly.
• The various segments of the consultation should be timed and the facilitator should call for stretch breaks.
• End on time.  About 10 minutes before the end of the meeting, the facilitator calls for a wrap-up. After thanking all for their participation, the facilitator asks one of the clergy to lead a closing prayer and give a blessing.

Post-Meeting Responsibilities

• Collect any forms that the participants completed at the tables and submit the information online (the complete dsurvey from each table can be entered separately. You do not have to summarize them).  Make sure that the recorders complete the online group survey.  Collect any notes.

Questions?

Contact Elizabeth Marcil in the Office of Religious Education with any questions at emarcial @worcesterdiocese.org or 508-929-4306