Welcome! We’re delighted that you’re interested in starting your own Grateful Gathering! Whether you envision convening a group of friends and family, organizing something where you work, or creating a group that’s open to anyone interested, you’ve come to the right place. We hope that you’ll be inspired by the information below, and we look forward to answering any questions you may have about hosting — and to helping you get started.
What Are Grateful Gatherings?
Years ago, our founder Br. David Steindl-Rast articulated a compelling vision of groups of people around the globe coming together to discover, practice, and share how to live gratefully. He imagined a network of individuals and communities connected by the shared hope to transform themselves, their communities, and the world through gratefulness. Today, there are Grateful Gatherings across the United States and in ten countries. When you host a Grateful Gathering, you become part of a growing, global constellation of grateful seekers and practitioners.
We Provide Inspirational Monthly Resources for Your Gathering
As a new host, you will receive a special 3-session collection of resources & suggested agendas that help orient and ground your group in the foundational principles and practices of Grateful Living. Once you’ve completed your first three monthly Grateful Gatherings, you will begin receiving the ongoing, themed resources that we provide to all Gatherings hosts.
The ongoing monthly resources explore a wide range of Grateful Living topics such as Cultivating the Sacred, Trusting & Expressing Creativity, Holding the Heart of Grief & Loss, Generating Joy, and Savoring Uncertainty. Click Here to explore an example of the ongoing themed resources and Click Here to see a sample agenda for the same collection of resources.
If you’re wondering whether or not this opportunity may be a good fit for you, consider the following:
- Are you interested in exploring Grateful Living as an orientation to life and committed to rich conversations that open minds and hearts to the power of gratefulness?
- Are you aligned with Grateful Living’s mission, vision, and values?
- Are you able to host one Grateful Gathering per month? Generally, hosts can expect to spend between one to three hours each month planning and organizing the gathering. We encourage prospective hosts to clearly and realistically consider whether they have space for this commitment in a way that will allow them to show up fully and with joy and that will honor the interest of their group in regularly convening.
- Are you willing to fulfill the role of a host, which includes planning (scheduling a venue, promoting the Grateful Gathering, collecting resources), facilitating meetings, and managing communication between meetings with participants and Grateful Living?
- Can you commit to showing up authentically with your personal experience of Grateful Living, honoring that this is your primary role as a host? You do not need to be an expert in Grateful Living or an expert facilitator. Your role as host is not to actively present or teach, but rather to be present, thoughtful, and self-aware; to listen actively; and to hold space for your experience and those of others.
- Can you commit to joining a community of people with diverse backgrounds and diverse experiences of gratefulness? Part of hosts’ responsibility is to support space that is as safe and inclusive as possible for everyone, as outlined in A Network for Grateful Living’s Community Engagement Guidelines.
- Have you familiarized yourself with our Grateful Gatherings Host Guide?
Did you answer YES to the questions above? Sounds like you’re ready to host a Grateful Gathering! Please click on the button below to register to become a host.
