What might a session look like and
what is the job of a session facilitator?
All participants end up going to the room where the session will be held.
If possible, you'll take a seat in a configuration that will promote communication. You may sit in a circle of chairs or at a group of tables - so everyone can face or see everyone else.
Your facilitator will welcome you to the topic session (to make sure you're in the right spot), and then he or she will share his/her idea. They'll model a couple of ideas, so you'll know that you can share a simple short idea or one that requires a picture, or even a handout. After that brief example, your group facilitator will open up the floor for sharing and discussion and ask the attendees to share their ideas. A good way to do this is just to go around the room in the order of seating.
The other job of a facilitator is to keep the sharing going - to motivate attendees to share, and/or control the conversation so everyone has an opportunity to share. In addition to this role of coordinator of sharing, he/she may also appoint a "secretary" to record all ideas, or may collect ideas him/herself. All ideas will be collected, compiled, and distributed either via e-mail or posted on the website. Also, if time is available at the end, the facilitator should open the ideas for discussion, such as "How can these ideas be modified for different sized churches, or for different age groups, etc.?" (Hopefully this will be a "meeting of the minds" and a "picking of each other brains".)
