Leading Small Groups & Safe Spaces

Course Syllabus

Course Description

This course prepares you to lead Christ-centered recovery small groups where people can tell the truth and find grace. Building on The Restoration Path from RML 251, you will learn why recovery happens best in community, what kind of character and boundaries a group leader needs, and how to use this institute's original Safe Circle Guidelines: confidentiality and its limits, speaking in I statements, one voice at a time with no cross-talk, listening without fixing, and keeping sharing clean and general. You will practice opening, guiding, and closing a sharing time; creating a trauma-informed safe space; and handling difficult moments such as one person dominating, a crisis disclosure, an attendee who appears intoxicated, or conflict between members. You will also study how groups grow through stages, how to co-lead well, how to care for your own soul, and how groups inside a facility differ from groups in a church or community. You will finish with a six-week group plan and a 20-minute practice facilitation with a written self-evaluation. This is a lay ministry credential, not a clinical license. Every activity can be completed on paper.

Faith Integration

God comforts us that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble (2 Corinthians 1:4). A recovery group is one of the places where that comfort is passed on. Scripture says Two are better than one... For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow (Ecclesiastes 4:9–10), and it calls us to Bear ye one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2). A Christ-centered group leader is a servant, not a lord over the flock (1 Peter 5:3). She keeps the group safe, points to Christ, honors what people share, and knows when a need is bigger than the group. Grace, not shame, sets the tone. God also works through doctors, counselors, and treatment programs, so a wise leader refers out without hesitation.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

1. Explain the biblical purpose of Christ-centered recovery groups and how they connect to The Restoration Path (Ecclesiastes 4:9–10; Galatians 6:2).
2. Describe the character, motives, and personal boundaries of a healthy group leader, including the limits of a lay leader's role (1 Peter 5:2–3).
3. Explain and model the Safe Circle Guidelines, including confidentiality and its limits, mandatory reporting, speaking in I statements, no cross-talk or fixing, and gender-specific groups.
4. Open, guide, and close a sharing time using clear prompts, fair timekeeping, and attentive listening.
5. Create a trauma-informed safe space that offers safety, choice, and calm, and use gentle calming steps that never involve physical discomfort.
6. Respond wisely to difficult moments, including a dominating member, a crisis disclosure, an attendee who appears intoxicated or unwell, and conflict, using 911, naloxone, 988, and staff or chaplain referrals as appropriate.
7. Describe the stages of group life, plan for co-leading, and build a realistic leader self-care plan.
8. Adapt group leadership for facility settings and for church or community settings, and design a six-week group plan.

Course Materials

• This student workbook
• A Bible (King James Version)
• A notebook or lined paper and a folder
• Pen or pencil (no devices are required; every activity has a paper version)
• Your Restoration Path card and When to Get Help card from RML 251 (new copies provided in Module 1)
• A printed Safe Circle Guidelines card (provided in Module 3)

Weekly Schedule

How You Will Be Graded

To pass this course: earn 70% or higher overall and attend at least 80% of sessions.

Classroom Covenant

• We begin and end each session in prayer. Participation in prayer is always welcome, never required.
• What is shared in class stays in class. We protect one another's stories.
• We speak with respect, listen without interrupting, and disagree with grace.
• We come prepared, do our own work, and ask for help when we need it.
• We follow all facility rules. Safety and security come first.
• We believe the best about one another and about what God can do.

Support & Accommodations

If reading, writing, vision, hearing, or any other need makes a part of this course harder, tell your instructor privately. Materials can be read aloud, enlarged, or completed orally. Missed sessions can be made up using the module pages. If you are transferred or released, your completed work stays on record and you can finish online.

Welcome

Welcome to the second course of the Recovery Ministry Leadership Certificate. This companion walks beside you with a weekly reading, five devotions for the days between sessions, and a Small Group Leader's Quick Guide you can keep in your folder long after the course ends. In this course you are learning to lead groups where people can tell the truth and find grace. That is holy work, and it is shared work: no leader carries a group alone, and Jesus, not the leader, is the healer. Remember the leader's limits as you read: walk alongside, keep it safe, point to Christ, and refer out.

How to Use This Companion

• Read the weekly reading after each class session. It takes about 10 minutes.
• Reflect on the questions. These are for you; you do not have to turn them in.
• Meet with God through the five daily devotions between sessions.
• Keep the Quick Guide at the end to carry home after release.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.— Psalm 119:105 (KJV)