Letters from the International School
The Christian Meditation group leader

The qualities of a group leader:

· A personal commitment to meditation as taught in the Christian Meditation Community

· The wish to share this gift with others.

· A sense of belonging to the World Community for Christian Meditation which this teaching has created around the world.

The responsibilities of a group leader:

· To be a stable center for the group's weekly meeting. To be there or arrange for the group to be led by another. To arrange the practical aspects of time and space for the meeting. To have the tape or talk prepared and to time the meditation.

· To welcome newcomers and introduce them to the teaching and to the other members of the group in a friendly way. To show an interest in the newcomer's questions and progress.

· To encourage the daily practice of the twice-daily commitment to meditation but also recognize that it takes people time to build up this discipline.

· To be the contact person to the wider community of meditators, locally and globally.

Challenges of leading a group:

· To see that the meaning and strength of the group is found in its faith not its numbers. A group of 2 or 3 is as good as a group of 20 or 30.

· To see that people may come to the group for a while and then move on. You cannot tell what the Spirit may have done in that person through their short stay in the group.

· To deepen your own personal practice of meditation in order to be better present for others.

· To see that your experience of God is deepened by being part of the way that others come to know God.

Summary of talk by Laurence Freeman OSB in Singapore