Danny Abramowicz, our main speaker at the 2012 Diocesan’s Men’s Day of
Renewal at St. John’s in Bellaire (see Blog #19 for a summary), has been
promoting Men’s Spirituality and Men’s Sharing Groups for years. Prior to that Coach Abranowicz was an All-Pro
wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints.
Later he was Mike Ditka’s assistant coach for the Chicago Bears and
later his Offensive Coordinator of the New Orleans Saints (see Blog #8 for an
interview regarding his football background). For some excellent
video clips of his playing and his talks, click on https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Danny+Abramowicz.
He promotes men’s spirituality on his website, www.crossingthegoal.com and on his weekly television program on EWTN cable/satellite and
internet www.ewtn.com/tv every Thursday 10:30 pm (Eastern), Sunday 6:30 pm, and Monday 6:30 am. His publications can
be ordered on the website.
Another article by Danny Abramowicz may be found on our January 2013 Blog
#30, “Why Men’s Small Groups”. This
blog is taken from his website, www.crossingthegoal.com and examines men’s support groups in greater detail as shown below.
Spiritual
Workouts: A Game Plan for Spiritual Fitness
Introduction to Men’s Spiritual Workout Groups
What
are Spiritual Fitness Workouts?
Spiritual
Fitness Workout Groups are groups of 10-15 men that meet bi-week/or weekly, for
90 minutes. They reflect on an episode from the Crossing the Goal series,
usually watching from a DVD set, along with corresponding questions that serve
as a discussion guide.
Mission
Spiritual
Fitness Workout Groups are Crossing the Goal's official Catholic Men's Ministry
program that serve to train and strengthen men inwardly through these workouts
so that they become Godly men who will make a positive difference in their
homes, parishes, workplaces, and communities.
Purpose
- To gather men together in order to honor God in prayer
and worship.
- To invite the Holy Spirit to penetrate our hearts to
change us interiorly.
- To educate ourselves through the teachings of the
Catholic Church utilizing the Scriptures and the Catechism.
- To share with one another how God is working in each of
our lives on a daily basis.
- To recruit and encourage other men to join us in
spiritual training and workouts.
The
main goal of Spiritual Fitness Workout Groups is to increase the number of
strong, vibrant, and active Catholic men in our parishes.
Crossing
the Goal Resources
- DVD'S
- Each disc contains a number of shows that make up a
series (8-12 episodes) (ex: Godly Man, Becoming Disciples, etc.)
- Each show contains four parts--Kick Off, Game Plan,
Red Zone, End Zone.
- Total time of content on each episode is approximately 25 minutes.
- Questions
- A set of (warm up and workout) questions has been
designed by the CTG team that correspond to each episode of a particular
series.
- These questions can be downloaded from the CTG website
(www.crossingthegoal.com)
for free.
- The men utilize the episode questions by answering
them prior to attending the meeting so that they will be better prepared
for discussions in the breakout segments.
Structure of a Men’s Spiritual Workout Group
Schedule and Format
-Schedule: Workouts are usually held
bi-weekly/or weekly (90 minutes).
-Examples - Thursdays, 7:30-9:00
PM--1st and 3rd Thursdays
-Saturdays, 7:00 – 8:30 AM --2nd and
4th Saturdays
-Tuesdays after 6:30 AM Mass
-Crossing the Goal (CTG) Workout
Format
Segment-I:
Warm-up-(large group)
-Welcome--any new member
-Prayer--song (optional)
-Accountability: Leader have the men review previous week's action item
.
Total time: 15 min.
Segment-II:
Workout-(large group)
-Workout leader starts the workout by showing the large group the
DVD-kickoff, game plan, and red zone.
Total time: 20 min. (approximately)
Segment-III:
Sharing-(small groups)
-Large group breaks into small groups of 5-7 men
-Leader appoints Facilitators for each small group
-Facilitator leads the men in discussion of episode by utilizing the
questions downloaded from the website.
-Questions are divided into two categories: 1) Warm-up questions; 2)
Workout questions
-Total time: 45-50 minutes
Segment-IV:
Action item-(large group)
-Workout leader shows large group the end zone.
-Each man takes a couple minutes to write down one action item he would
like to accomplish before the next workout.
Total time: 5 min.
Coaching Points for a Great Workout
-"Starting team" no more than 10-15 members.
-Each team member should purchase his own DVD (website group pricing) or
watch episodes streaming on www.crossingthegoal.com.
-Questions can be downloaded
from the Crossing the Goal site (www.crossingthegoal.com)
on the link marked 'Workout Questions'. FOR FREE
-Make a hard copy of the questions.
-Each team member should view the episode for the week prior to
attending the workout.
-The questions should be completed prior to the workout.
-Bring the questions to the workout, so that you can refer to your notes
during the sharing/discussion portion of the workout.
-Make a concerted effort to accomplish your action item for the week.
Note: If possible, review and
reflect on prior week's content to help make it stick.
Workout Group Leader Responsibilities
-The initial "Starting Team" should be no more than 10 members
including group leader. Build from that base until you reach a cap of 15 men.
Once you reach 15, a couple of the men should break off and form a new "Starting
Team" of no more than 10 new men.
-Prepare for each meeting. (example: watch the episode and review the
questions.)
-Make sure the room is properly set up.
-Double-check all of the equipment. Make sure the TV and DVD are
properly connected.
-Have a CD player on hand for the music--if necessary.
-Have designated facilitators planned for each meeting who can lead the
small group discussions.
-Find several guys who can take turns opening and closing meeting rooms.
-Refreshments – Purchase soft drinks, coffee, cookies, etc.--makes for a
nice touch. (optional)
-EVERYONE makes sure room is put back in order.
Tips for Facilitators
-Create a “safe place.” Everything said in the group stays in the group
and is held in STRICT CONFIDENCE.
-Keep everything moving. If the discussion lags, move on to the next
question. Keep an eye on the clock.
-Stay on the subject at hand: don’t get off-base.
-Don’t allow one person to dominate the sharing. You must kindly
interrupt so that you can move on.
-You don’t need to comment on the men’s answers to the discussion
questions.
-All members, and their sharing, are of equal value; no gurus.
-Discussion of public figures and issues should be discouraged – not a
debating session.
-Discussion of church figures and issues should be discouraged.
-Personal counseling during the meetings should be avoided.
-Personal experiences can be shared but any major issues should be
handled outside of the meeting.
-Sensitive and difficult disclosures and sharing can be followed by
taking time out to pray.
-Be sensitive to the movement of the Holy Spirit and flexible to follow
that movement.
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