08/09 BUILD Goal
How could we more effectively reach for our goal of the 08/09 Program Year (September 1st - August 31st) for BUILD.
Because of what we’ve learned from the REVEAL survey - we will make BUILD a major emphasis this year. Add Your input to help us strategize how to make this happen
Goal
Increase the number of people at The Journey who feel they are being challenged to take their next step of faith, feel like they are learning more of the Bible, and would say they are growing in their faith by fostering a 25% INCREASE in the number of Journey people who are participating in ongoing “Build” focused groups outside of Sunday morning worship experiences.
How Defined?
Number to be determined on September 1st by counting number of attendees in LTG’s and groups specifically designed for “Build” (example Trade Wind Small Group, some couples groups, 4 week men’s D2 Groups, Women’s Bible study group).
“Ongoing” – means no less than 4 weeks in duration, but the necessary ingredient is consistent ongoing meeting outside of Sunday morning worship.
Why?
Our mission is to journey with people in becoming fully devoted followers of Christ. Spiritually growing people will impact the overall mission of The Journey; currently this is a weakness in our church.
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Build
Irish Steve/shannon to lead Pub Theology
A unity LTG event yearly
Synergy between groups
Structure options for groups, books, coffee/share time
Getting into an LTG is HARD-how do i know who I want to spend time with when I am new?
Usually a group of friends
Summer dinner groups
Complete an interest survey-biking, hiking, works at apple to find common interests
Challenge people to try one out for a time
Less of a program, more about relationships
Ability to suggest topics to find resources
building
Times offered for pray for anyone to join, maybe a couple of times a week.
Mix groups up, swap members in LTG’s with other LTG’s. Learning how to set up a LTG? What does a healthy LTG look like? A Sunday service that shows LTG examples both healthy & unhealthy groups, maybe a skit/play using humor showing a LTG in progress.
Offer a chances to try a more traditional “bible study” if there is enough interest.
A course of sorts that explains what it is to be a Christian, like the Alpha series.
Offer another Reveal survey half way through the service year to monitor our progress.
Research LTGs
Let’s do some research on what makes the “Great LTG”. I can interview say 20 members of various strong LTGs and find out what makes them work. Take those learnings into design of new LTGs.
I don’t know about you - but I’m not going to live in hell, just to die, and then go to hell.
Building
The LTG situation CAN be challenging for people. It does require some intimacy and vulnerability. Due to how the worship experience at the Journey changes from series to series (which I LIKE), some people may not feel that they are getting stability. My answer to this is that LTGs are customized to each group. My thought is that some people may think LTGs are like little Journey experiences. Some sturcture and rules or something. I think of them more as custom made bible studies. You can create something that works with your group in particular….read a book, watch a christian speaker on DVD, have someone share a verse and turn it into a teaching/discussion, use a bible study book that can guide you…anything is good. It gets you talking and sharing. Then…you can cap it all off with prayer! I’ve come to find more and more how good it feels to pray with others. Sometimes my LTG group is a little disorganized (maybe due to the fact that 3 out of 4 of us have young children in their lives) and we just do that. Catch-up with one another and pray.
The major challenge I see is grouping people together. I felt it was easier for me, since I was friends with my guys already. For someone new, it would be more of a task to get connected and then go into an LTG. I might suggest filling out a short “profile” card. We could combine people that have similar lives and interests. We could do an LTG mixer, where partial groups can find more people and new people can talk to those that are already in groups to see what it means to them.
LTG and Small Group Guidance
I am in full agreement of a “suggested structure” for LTG’s and other small groups! For newcomers (and those of us that haven’t had a lengthy experience with LTG’s), it would be great to get a sense of what works for other groups, and perhaps a “menu” of a few approaches to LTG time that has proven most effective. It should help encourage those on the fence, to give it a try!