“People are fed up with mass society and feel a strong need to get together in a genuine and a sincere way.” So said Bob Atchley, a professor at the Buddhist-oriented Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, speaking last week in Boston.

He considers the rise of small groups – – not more than 12 or 15 people – – the most significant feature in American religion today.  It is a form of  “unchurched spirituality” that appeals to many who have broken with their earlier patterns.

For many people, big no longer does it. Groups larger than about a dozen , they find, cannot get to know one another and share genuine feelings.

The beginnings of the small group phenomenon can be traced back to the period after World War II. The rise of the Human Potential movement led many Americans to focus on their inner life, sensitizing them to their own spiritual quest. They developed a so-called holistic approach to life, seeing their body, mind, and spirit forming one united whole.

They came to appreciate the value of previously unfamiliar spiritual practices, especially meditation, which they came to recognize as a different way of knowing.  It served them as a form  of learning that goes beyond ordinary thought.

The small group movement grew stronger in the 1960s when many Americans, most of them young, experimented with various forms of communal life. Those who are now old are likely not to have taken part in these experiments and thus may not be attracted to small groups now as part of  their spiritual life.

But those who do join and meet regularly with others usually become comfortable disclosing their inner selves.  In doing so, they find others to respond supportively  to their revelation of self. In fact, the more they reveal their own weaknesses, the greater that support tends to become.

Professor Atchley attributes to spiritual traditions of the East the idea that “you need a spiritual community to interpret your experience.” This has led to recognizing how a community can serve as what he calls your “garbage collector,” accepting from you whatever you wish to share.

Just being heard means a great deal to most people. For those who cannot find anyone else to listen to their story –  –  and that includes almost everybody –  –  discovering sympathetic listeners  counts for a whole lot.

In the words of Thich Nhat Han, the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, these groups are rooted in “compassionate listening.”  They learn to hear one another with heartfelt sympathy.

Professor Atchley compares these gatherings to family groups, but without the baggage that most families carry. “People talk about heavy stuff,” he reports, “but they laugh a lot.”

Typically, there is not much structure to these groups, nor do authority figures exist. Most members, in fact, are trying to get away from the oppressive authorities of their earlier lives.  Instead, these groups tend to be “ruthlessly democratic,” respecting the rights of each person to a voice.

What attracts people to these groups is their authenticity. They appear to be free of the humbug that often afflicts large religious organizations.

And they respect diversity, the differences among people that so characterize American life now. In the small groups one finds women and men of varied ethnic origins, along with other human differences.

Membership also cuts across religious lines. People of different faiths come together and feel comfortable in one another’s presence. Christians of various backgrounds also find common ground despite inter-church differences.

In reflecting on the small group movement, Professor Atchley feels one crucial question still remains uncertain. How will these groups influence power and authority?

As a member of a small prayer group myself, I appreciate coming together with a few friends. At the same time, however, I continue to place high value on membership in the church in which I grew up. It continues to feed me values not available to small groups. I especially love the liturgy, the public worship for which people of faith come together.

I also value the greater variety one finds in the church community. Rich and poor, saint and sinner, old and young – all come together in search of inspiration.

For  me, having available both the church and the small prayer group offers the best situation of all.

Richard Griffin