The Presence of God in the Group: A Neglected Dimension
Ronald Sandison, Ledbury, Herefordshire, HR8 2EY, UK
Group Analysis March 1993, vol. 26 no. 1, 55-65
Abstract
When people gather in small groups they are often aware of an indefinable supra-personal dimension. Anyone who has taken part in a camp-fire sing-song will have experienced this. The group setting at sundown was the time and place when folk-tales and fairy stories were woven. It was the time when the elders met to discuss the events of the day, when evensong or compline was sung or said in churches. There is something "special" about this conjunction of the group and the "going down of the sun." In this article I develop the idea that to take part in a small group can be, and often is, a spiritual experience. In giving a name to this experience I consider the proposition that God, or Spirit, is ever present in the group. I view the matrix as not only nurturing and holding but also as a dynamic container, and perhaps even generator, of spiritual force.
Related material
Dr. Sandison's obituary in this evening's Telegraph and this journal on the date of his death.