1. Group Dynamics and
Community Building
Dynamic Youth Ministry
Starr King School for the Ministry
Fall 2010

2. Five Stages of Community Building
Bonding
Opening Up
Affirming
Stretching
Deeper Sharing

3. Five Stages of Community Building
 Model developed by Denny Rydberg
 There are many models of group building. This
one has been used successfully for many years in
Unitarian Universalist youth settings.
 Help develop intimacy and trust.
 A group does not necessarily move in a linear
fashion through the five stages. They are more
like phases a group goes through, rather than
sequential steps or stages. When new members
join a group, the group must go through bonding,
opening up, etc. all over again.

4. Five Stages of Community Building
Bonding – group members get to know
each other, engage in emotionally low-risk
activities
Reflecting on a group you have been part
of: what are some ways the group members
have bonded?
 Opening Up
 Affirming
 Stretching
 Deeper Sharing

5. Five Stages of Community Building
 Bonding
Opening Up – group members share
a little more deeply about opinions, concerns,
hopes and dreams
Reflecting on a group you have been part
of: how has this group moved from bonding
to opening up? What activities or dynamics
facilitated this?
 Affirming
 Stretching
 Deeper Sharing

6. Five Stages of Community Building
 Bonding
 Opening Up
Affirming – group members respond
to one another in positive ways, reinforcing the
connections they are building
Reflecting on a group you have been part
of: how have you affirmed others and felt
affirmed by them?
 Stretching
 Deeper Sharing

7. Five Stages of Community Building
 Bonding
 Opening Up
 Affirming
Stretching – planned (e.g. ropes course) or
unplanned (e.g. group member is ill); a challenging
experience for groups that have not gone through
bonding/opening up/affirming
Reflecting on a group you have been part of:
what planned or unplanned stretching
experiences have you had as a group, and how
has the group handled them?
 Deeper Sharing

8. Five Stages of Community Building
 Bonding
 Opening Up
 Affirming
 Stretching
Deeper Sharing – sharing deeper
thoughts and feelings in a trusting group
environment; taking risks
Reflection Questions: When have you
felt trusting enough in community to get to
the point of deeper sharing? What
dynamics of the group made this possible?
What was the outcome?

9. Covenants
 Covenant = group agreement or ground rules
 A covenant is one way of promoting trust and
community
 It is a statement of how the group wants to be
with one another.
 Created for the group by the group – the group
empowers its members to draw one another back
to the covenant when dynamics become
problematic

10. Youth Group Structures and Styles
Advisor Led Group Led
Elected Leaders
Youth-Adult
Committee

11. Youth Group Structures and Styles
 Social
 Structured
 Curriculum-Based
 The way the group is structured has an impact
on how it builds community, what dynamics play
out, and how dynamics are addressed.
Reflection Question: What are the advantages
and disadvantages of each of the structures/styles
for building community in the group?

12. Safety
 Adults play an important role in creating safety
in youth ministry.
 The material in the assigned reading on
“Creating a Safe Group” will be addressed in
greater depth in Week 12 of the course, but we
gave it to you this week because we believe it is
important for adults in youth ministry to reflect
on their role and power as it relates to group
dynamics.

13. We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been — a place
half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from
time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can
speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats.
Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as
we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own
power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work
that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing.
A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free.
(Starhawk, Building Community: Processes for Groups)

14. Power Dynamics in Community
Starhawk has written about different forms of power:
 Power over
 Power within
 Power with
We can also add…
POWER IN COMMUNITY
Power comes from having experience, knowledge,
resources; from being in a dominant or privileged
racial/gender/age group; from confidence in one’s self;
from being part of a community of collective power.

15. Power Dynamics in Community
 This week, one of your assigned readings was
“Tools for Observing Group Dynamics.”
 It can be helpful and eye-opening to observe and
document the dynamics at play in a group, and
for the group to reflect on how it can sustain or
improve the way it works and shares power.
Reflection Question: How could you use these
tools for observing group dynamics in a group you
are part of?

16. Move on to…
Readings: Multiple Intelligences, Learning Styles
Presentation: Engaging Different Learning Styles