How Groups Work
The Augustine Way is normally led by a facilitator such as a campus minister, a priest, or a men’s group leader. There is no need for special training to lead a group.
An optimal group size is 5-10 participants. Ideally, meetings are held every other week for about 90 minutes.
Group settings:
- Parish Men’s Groups
- Campus Ministries
- Young Adult Groups
- Seminaries
Each module contains readings, worksheets, discussion, and reflections. These can be completed during meetings or given as assignments, depending on the available time and the size of the group.
What Group Participants Need to Know
Active Participation in a Group Setting
In The Augustine Way, you will be working with others in a group setting to learn tried-and-true principles for changing behavior related to pornography and masturbation.
You will be reading carefully selected texts, discussing your experience (in an appropriate manner), and supporting one another.
Being an active and engaged member of the group is a critical aspect of The Augustine Way.
Accountability Partner
An accountability partner is one of the most powerful ways to defeat sexual sin.
You will learn how to find a like-minded partner who can be honest and direct.
Likewise, you will learn how to be a good partner who provides both candid feedback and compassionate support.
You will be checking in with one another frequently for the next few months.
Personal Striving
Those in Alcoholics Anonymous often say about the program: “It works if you work it.”
Similarly, The Augustine Way is effective to the degree that you engage it wholeheartedly.
There is no single “silver bullet” in the program that eliminates unchaste behaviors. Rather, it is a holistic approach with multiple principles and strategies in which you must willfully engage.
Persistence through the Twelve Modules
The Augustine Way is designed to last about six months. (Most groups will have twelve meetings every other week.)
Keep in mind, however, that the program is effective to the degree that you engage it between group meetings, for example: noting your behaviors, working on healthy alternatives, prayerfully reading the text, calling your accountability partner, meeting with a spiritual director, etc.
You will learn new psychological principles and gain spiritual insights—but translating this knowledge into new patterns of behavior will take a concerted personal effort, and of course, God’s grace.