Discussion & Covenant Groups

Neighborhood Church members have a long history of active intellectual engagement. Our various discussion groups provide an opportunity to explore and debate current events from a UU perspective while our covenant groups, such as Chalice Circles, create deeper connections within our large congregation.

Chalice Circles - Small Group Ministry
Neighborhood Church's small group ministry program, Chalice Circles, bring groups of 8-12 church members and friends together in a regular spiritual practice. Trained facilitators encourage participants to share their life stories in response to thought-provoking, UU-oriented themes and to draw insights from them. Circles invite intimacy, allow for serious engagement with religious and spiritual topics, and lead toward expression of our principles and values in action.

We feel that being involved in a Chalice Circle fosters a small-church feel for the congregants of our large church and draws us into mutual ministry. Each Circle gathers for the duration of the church year, meeting either once or twice a month. While we occasionally have openings during the year, sign ups for new groups begin each September. We welcome and encourage you to sign up and become part of this special ministry at Neighborhood Church. Registration for the Chalice Circles will be Sunday, September 12 and 19 after both services. If you have any questions, please contact our Co-Chairs for more information or click here for more details.

GLOBE Forum
Using weekly newspaper, The Economist, as it's primary source, this group meets between services the first Sunday of each month in Ross Chapel to debate and discuss current issues and events.

Neighborhood Book Group
Gathering to discuss a variety of current event titles, this weekly group gathers each Monday evening from 7:00-8:30 p.m. off campus. Recent books have included The Return of Depression Economics, and The Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman (winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics) and This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust (an eminent historian and newly-elected President of Harvard University).For further information, please email John Hunnewell, or call (626) 359-5825.

Writing as a Spiritual Activity
This group gathers each Sunday between services at 10:45 a.m. to encourage written self-expression in a supportive environment. During the Summer, the group meets after the single service (at 11:00 a.m.)