Our hope:

We know you carry a lot. We have been there too in other ministry settings. Far too often when things get full what gets left out is the care of your own soul. It is a “nice to have” conditioning if there aren’t emails to respond to, people to visit, or sermons to prepare for. You will suffer though. Like that stationary bike you walk past as if it looks at you with a threat instead of an invitation to live better. Those you want to serve will also suffer. The kingdom will suffer. We want to help.

Eugene Peterson in, “Working the Angles,” puts it this way: “The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are churches. They are preoccupied with shopkeeper’s concerns - how to keep customers happy, how to lure customers away from competitors down the street, how to package the goods so that the customers will lay out more money… And there must be any number of shopkeepers who by now are finding the pottage that they acquired in exchange for their ordination birthright pretty tasteless stuff and are growing wistful for a restoration to their calling. Is the wistfulness an ember strong enough to blaze into a fierce repudiation of their defection, allowing the word of God again to become fire in their mouths?”

We want to fan that flame and maybe help you leap up and off that rock like the video above. Our hope is that returning to reflecting on Scripture alongside others where nothing is expected other than an attentiveness to it, that we would be restored together- walking with a renewed purpose. We can’t change the fact that you will continue to carry much, but we can change the pattern of not caring for your soul. We believe that the church is better when you protect time to be in the text less as a student and more as a disciple. We want to reorient you to the feet of Jesus where you can be renewed by the words that inspired him. You should join us for this practice of unhurried delight.

Fall 2026 Small Group Option:

This fall, we are reducing the number of extra small groups we facilitate (we often have 5-7 different groups), as well as the length of the series (we normally do 9-10 sessions). Our groups will begin on Tuesday, September 29, and will run for a total of six sessions.

The four groups listed below have been the mainstay of our program since we began offering small groups over six years ago. Although we will not have a UMC-specific group this fall, we encourage you to participate in one of the options below if the timing and theme work for you. There is no cost to participate, but if you would like to contribute $200 from your professional reimbursement or from the conference’s spiritual renewal funds, this will help Peterson House cover costs associated with planning and facilitating the group.

Available Groups:

  • Tuesday Midday In Person Ministry Leader Group meets from 11:30-1:30 at Journey Community Church at 114 Weaver Dairy Rd in Chapel Hill. Lunch is included.

  • Tuesday Afternoon In Person Square One Group meets from 4:30-6 at Journey Community Church.

  • Thursday Virtual Ministry Leader Group meets from 9-10AM EST. (Thursday groups will start on October 1)

  • Thursday Virtual Square One Group from 7-8PM EST.

The groups will meet the following weeks of:

  1. September 28

  2. October 12

  3. October 19

  4. November 2

  5. November 17

  6. November 30

Our aim is to provide unhurried delight in Scripture which is never contingent on your perfect attendance. We will be here offering it however you are able to participate. You are welcome to try a session or two if that is what you need to see if it is a good fit for you. Your signing up does not suggest every session is compulsory, but to be clear what we have noticed in 6+ years offering these small groups is the more you show up the deeper you go. If you have any questions please reach out to us in the contact section of our site.

ABOUT OUR THEME: As I read the part of Acts that recounts Paul's time in Corinth during his second missionary journey, where he spent 18 months, I don't know if that was ever his plan. I would imagine not given how he nurtured other churches around this area of the Mediterranean. Paul would drop in and check on things, might get arrested, check in on some young leaders and converts, and then be on his way to the next town. However, Paul's relationship with the church in Corinth was different. 18 months is a long time. A lot can happen in 18 months. People get to know each other in 18 months. And if Paul was going to convey the gospel in a town like Corinth he must have learned a lot about the Corinthians and this rebuilt Roman outpost with all its quirks and idiosyncrasies to do so. So if he spent all of this time there in the mid part of the first century and soon thereafter heard that the theological wheels had gotten knocked off the rails, well it might have hit a little harder than hearing a new unknown god was being worshipped in Athens.

As much as the casual reader thinks of Corinthians (who may only be familiar with 1 Corinthians 13 and has a poor understanding of whose love is even being discussed there) the Corinthian correspondence is the response of a deeply invested leader doing his best to draw this church back to its center. Not him. Not Apollos. Not Peter. To Jesus. Crystal clear. In matters of faith and living. Yes, Corinth in the first century had its own particular issues that may sound foreign to us, but what we can observe is that our current church is no less influenced to assimilate into its own culture than it was in 52 AD in Corinth. Can Paul speak into this?

An appearance of foolishness does not suggest an inability to understand. I don't think so at least. Rather, I think it speaks loud and clear to a stubbornness to welcome what will truly set us free. Where does the Lord want to offer you clarity in the life you are living or ministry you have been called to lead? We would love to have you join us as we sit with these texts and experience the transformative power of what comes when we linger over the text together.

Learn More or Sign Up (CLICK HERE)

What are the expectations?

NOTHING IS ASKED OF YOU TO PARTICIPATE. No homework. No books to read. No exegesis or perusing a commentary or two. No. It’s Monday morning and the last thing we want you to do on a Sunday night is have anything to do other than maybe going to bed early. Think of this as a way to center yourself into your week with a grounding in the text and a repeated promise of God’s blessing over you. The prophets remind us that we are not the first servants to say yes to the Lord who have had contexts that weigh on us. The Lord wants to speak to us in that place.

Each session there will be a short pericope as a lectio from 1 Corinthians. This is not a study or a continuing education offering to train you to offer this for your ministry setting. This is for you. For the buttressing of your spirit. We borrow from the Ignatian practices to sit with a morsel of the text and have it read over us multiple times, sit with it in a quiet space, and if you want offer what it is you are noticing. Simple, sure, but often quite beautiful and life giving.

What Some Participants Are Saying:

"My hope for participating in this group was to be better connected with others. This has been so important and a scheduled time for scriptural reflection and prayer (if it’s on the calendar I am more likely to do it) has certainly aided in my spiritual growth."

-Suzanne Dornsmith (Cokesbury UMC Charlotte)

"Being in my first solo pastor role, I have been craving the connection, camaraderie, and support that comes from working on staff. I was worried about being isolated and not having any accountability partners reminding me to take a deep breath so I was looking for a group to plug into. Also, I have been shocked by the visio every week because I have not done that practice before. I thought it would be distracting for me, but instead I have found it helps stir up new and deeper dimensions of reflection." 

-Patrick Neitzey (First Rutherfordton UMC)

"Back in September I was hoping for a weekly experience that would get me back in the groove, spiritually. My Mom died in August, and after three years of caring for her while working full time, I had let my spiritual practices go by the wayside. Even though it took me until the third session to actually participate, I can’t imagine missing it now. Just having the space to pause, with nothing asked of me but to be present, has been a tremendous gift. It has re-awoken the desire to connect with God, and with others as well. Thank you!" 

-Cheryl Skinner (First Lexington UMC)

Your Facilitators

Janise Matyas Smith

Janise is the associate director of Peterson House. She is a wife, a mom to four kids, a pastor and a Certified Spiritual Director.  She makes her home in Durham NC, where she spends her days caring for her four children, offering Spiritual Direction and enjoying every opportunity to preach, teach, and engage in spiritual formation.  She is a lover of God's Word, and one of her greatest joys is leading and guiding others in exploring Scripture and helping them listen to God's voice who is always speaking through His Word. She is particularly excited to be a part of the Peterson House and it's work to create space to read, reflect and listen to God's Word, and lean in to the ways God is seeking to transform us as we gather and listen to His sacred text together.

Tuesday In Person Groups

John Rogers

John is the director of Peterson House. He previously served as campus pastor at University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, NC. John Also served as the campus chaplain at McCallie School in Chattanooga, TN and as the pastor at Center Presbyterian Church in Tellico Plains, TN. John Lives in Carrboro, NC with his family. It is a joy of his to help create small groups for a wide range of people to sit in Scripture with others in unhurried delight. John is not sure if anyone really understands what he is doing in ministry these days, but simply, he is helping people have a deep and meaningful experience with the text on its own terms. He hopes your work brings you as much satisfaction Peterson House does for him.

All Groups
Thursday Morning Group

Rachel Hebert

Rachel is the campus minister for the Peace Center serving students at the University of Delaware. She is originally from the Dallas area of Texas, but has lived and studied in an array of places. She has been ordained in the PCUSA since 2015 and served congregations in Williamsburg, VA and Pittsburgh, PA. Her ministry experience has centered around being an associate pastor in congregations with a focus on mission and campus ministry. Sensing a call away from congregational ministry and into full-time campus ministry, Rachel began to pursue other avenues and was drawn to the PEACE Center ministry and initiative in Delaware. Rachel’s heart for campus ministry centers around the belief that young people between the ages of 18-22 are having some of the most honest and authentic conversations about life, faith, God, and everything in-between. When not engaging in campus ministry, Rachel can be found going on adventures around the DE/MD/East Coast with her husband, James, trying out new recipes in the kitchen, or enjoying being at home engaging in art or a good book.