{"id":32589,"date":"2023-04-25T20:29:12","date_gmt":"2023-04-26T03:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=32589"},"modified":"2023-04-25T20:29:12","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T03:29:12","slug":"soul-groups-loosely-connected-but-united-in-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/soul-groups-loosely-connected-but-united-in-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"Soul Groups: Loosely Connected But United in Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2001, I met with a small group of women in Newberg, Oregon for the single purpose of connection. \u00a0Most of us had recently moved from across the country; one woman relocated from Russia. Another had been living in Newberg for more than a decade. Each week, huddled in a circle sipping coffee, one person shared her story for the entire two hour evening meeting. \u00a0Along with sharing our stories about our growing up years, our parents and where we attended college, we talked long and in-depth about our faith journeys. \u00a0After each narrative, we\u2019d ask the storyteller more questions for clarity, understanding and reflection. \u00a0Our times consistently ended with prayer, thanking God for bringing us together, and naming our needs. We prayed He’d give us direction on how to spend time together once our stories come to an end.\u00a0 Little did we know what God had in store for us and our community from those genuinely gritty transformative days. \u00a0It reminds me of the Scripture from the Old Testament, \u201cFor whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice. . . \u201c<\/span>[1]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Greg Satell, the author of our very last book, <\/span>Cascades: How to Create a Movement that Drives Transformational Change <\/span><\/em>says successful movements combine two aspects. The first is network cascades. \u00a0This involves a simple formula: \u201cSmall groups, loosely connected, but united by a common purpose.\u201d<\/span>[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Satell says that anytime an idea goes viral and becomes a cascade we will see these three components. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Three months after we first started meeting, we had a dilemma: several other women asked if they could join our small group as they, too, needed deeper connection. \u00a0Wanting to keep our group at six women, we simply introduced the women to one another and encouraged them to follow our model. \u00a0 And that\u2019s what the six women decided to do. \u00a0Within three more months, seven more groups were born. \u00a0By the Fall of 2002, the women in my small group decided to call our fledgling start up, <\/span>Soul Groups<\/span><\/strong>.<\/strong> Ironically, many of the women were committed to organized Bible study groups like Bible Study Fellowship<\/span>[3]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and Community Bible Study.<\/span>[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Professors, nurses, cashiers, homeschool moms, engineers, executive leaders all signed up. What Soul Groups offered was more intimate, personal, loosely spiritually directed, with a hint of accountability (although we never used that word). \u00a0One of our values was what Julian Treasure called, \u201cRigorous Honesty,\u201d<\/span>[5]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0at the end of his chapter on the Seven Deadly Sins.<\/span><\/p>\n

By the Spring of 2003, women students on campus asked if they could have a Soul Group led by one of the women already in groups. \u00a0Like Satell writes, \u201cCascading movements don\u2019t follow the \u201cGreat Man\u201d script. Today\u2019s reality is that hierarchies have lost their power.\u201d<\/span>[6]<\/a><\/sup> Not one of us was in charge, which was attractive, but it also created our second dilemma.<\/span><\/p>\n

Suddenly, our Soul Group was faced with dividing tasks and discovering who was skilled in logistics, spreadsheets, building websites and keeping Soul Groups connected to one another. \u00a0Greg Satell writes that the second aspect of any successful movement is seemingly antithetical to the first. Movements take planning, organization and discipline without which a cascading movement will spin out of control. When the students asked to join they also requested for a large group teaching. \u00a0Thus, it was our initial Soul Group\u2019s job to teach while the second group took charge of the planning and organization. It wasn\u2019t our \u201cpassion and fervor that created the momentum\u201d<\/span>[7]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0for Soul Groups, it was when more than 200 women joined within a year that gave our ministry power. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What were the natural forces at work that made our tiny cascade not only possible but inevitable? <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to a new study published last fall in Cell Reports, \u201cThe fluctuations of our heart rates are not random\u201d,<\/span>[8]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0says Lucas Perra, a professor of biomedical engineering at City College of New York. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s the story that drives the heart. \u00a0There\u2019s an explicit link between people\u2019s heart rates and a narrative.\u201d<\/span>[9]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 This finding aligns with a mountain of research showing that our brains sync up when we interact in the same location, participate in the same activity, or simply agree with each other. The new study goes one step further; it tests whether our heart rates become synchronized while taking in the same narrative\u2013even though we are not in the same room nor even listening at the same time as other listeners.<\/span><\/p>\n

How faithfully do our hearts clock our mental lives\u2013while we are reading a book, or listening to our weekly chats, reading one another’s posts, or watching video content on our phones that someone shared? \u00a0Marcel Proust wrote at the turn of the 20th century, \u201cThe heart does not lie.\u201d<\/span>[10]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 The research tells us the same thing. \u00a0The heart\u2019s connection to the brain is so tight that when we hear the same story, our heart rates sync up. \u00a0The study found that \u201cstory drives one\u2019s attention . . . it\u2019s not the interaction between people but the story itself that does the trick.\u201d<\/span>[11]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Friends, I believe our hearts beat in unison, showing that we are not alone in our cohort as we pursue our doctorates together. \u00a0I want to ask you two questions before we stop posting for the summer:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

1). \u00a0If you could dream a little dream about one movement you could help start up, what would it be?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

2) What books are you planning to read this summer? I\u2019d like our heart rates to stay synced up! <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n

\n
\n

[1]<\/a>\u00a0Zechariah 4:10. ESV.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]<\/a>\u00a0Satell, Greg. <\/span>Cascades: How to Create a Movement That Drives Transformational Change<\/span>. 1st edition. New York: McGraw Hill, 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n

[3]<\/a>\u00a0Bible Study Fellowship. \u201cHome,\u201d January 14, 2021.<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/span>https:\/\/www.bsfinternational.org\/<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n

[4]<\/a>\u00a0Community Bible Study. \u201cHome.\u201d Accessed April 25, 2023.<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/span>https:\/\/www.communitybiblestudy.org\/<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n

[5]<\/a>\u00a0Treasure, Julian. <\/span>How to Be Heard: Secrets for Powerful Speaking and Listening<\/span>. Mango Media, 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n

[6]<\/a>\u00a0IBID.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[7]<\/a>\u00a0IBID<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[8]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cStorytelling Makes Hearts Beat As One – WSJ.\u201d Accessed April 25, 2023.<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n

[9]<\/a>\u00a0IBID.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[10]<\/a>\u00a0Proust, Marcel, and C. K. Scott Moncrieff. <\/span>Swann\u2019s Way: In Search of Lost Time, Volume One<\/span>. Independently published, 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

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[11]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cStorytelling Makes Hearts Beat As One – WSJ.\u201d Accessed April 25, 2023.<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2001, I met with a small group of women in Newberg, Oregon for the single purpose of connection. \u00a0Most of us had recently moved from across the country; one woman relocated from Russia. Another had been living in Newberg for more than a decade. Each week, huddled in a circle sipping coffee, one person […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2772,2773,2759,2775,2774,2771,2692],"class_list":["post-32589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-creatingamovement","tag-heartsdonolie","tag-juliantreasure","tag-rigoroushonesty","tag-smallgroups","tag-soulgroups","tag-cascades","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32589"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32590,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32589\/revisions\/32590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}