A GOSPEL OF THE SAYINGS OF OUR LORD
WITH REFLECTIONS BY PHYLLIS TICKLE
by Elizabeth Wirls and Linda Marks
View the Entire Leader’s Guide
Dear Group Leader,
“Let anyone having ears to hear, listen! ” (Book II, Saying 18) Jesus often repeats this command, and as we move through His words we find ourselves constantly seeking the best way to listen — to the Words, to each other, and to the Spirit. While it is not possible, or even desirable, to lay down instructions that will tell you how to do this, we would like to offer some things we have discovered, noting emphatically that we continue to learn with each new group we enter.
The very fact that we have addressed a letter to you acknowledges an important reality. There must be someone who initiates the group’s organization and keeps it going. Someone must decide how often the group meets and where, what is read and the pace and sequence of the reading. Some of these things may ultimately be settled by consensus, but the framework must still be chosen by a leader. You will inevitably face and feel tensions as you exercise such leadership, particularly since this work depends upon the recognition that we are all students in this together. (There is only one teacher, only one true authority, and that is Jesus.) Much of the reader’s guide offers practical suggestions for group reading. This letter addresses something else, and that is, the psychological and spiritual tensions you are likely to encounter as a Words of Jesus group leader.
