Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
MINISTRY FORMATION
December 2011
Year 1
We really just worked on theology. We thought about the origins of community in the Triune God, Gods great plans for community as the eternal end for mankind, what a community centred on the gospel looks like, and the key role community plays in evangelism and discipleship. At the same time, we ran a fairly basic church program with Sunday Morning meetings and mid week Growth groups.
December 2011
Year 2
We introduced the Gospel Community concept as our way of responding to the teaching of year 1. Each growth group was renamed as a Gospel Community and we asked people to adjust their vocabulary to reflect this. We spoke a lot and taught a lot about the ideal (see above), but in actual practise we didnt push for a lot of change. One thing we did do, however, was to ask people to find 1 or 2 normal everyday things (things that they would do alone anyway) and do them with others in their GCs. The challenge was to do these things together just once a month and see them as an opportunity for ministry. We call these community rhythms.
however, is a time where we break up into GC leadership teams and spend time thinking about how our GC is doing. We think through where our people are at, what we need to do to help them grow and whether the community life still has a Gospel shape to it. We then set goals for the next month and revisit those goals again at the next meeting.
The Future
2012 will be a year of structural consolidation and creative thinking and planning. The next step for us is to work out how to mobilise our GCs in communal mission more effectively.
Year 3
This year we have started to change things structurally. Until the beginning of this year, our GCs were essentially standard Growth Groups with different names. They now look quite different. Each GC manifests itself in different ways each week of the month. 2 weeks a month it will take the classic format of a mid evening Growth Group style meeting. At least one week a month they might meet on a different day with all of the children. They eat together and then engage in a Whole family learning experience where adults and children study the Bible together. Another week they meet at a different time and place, again the whole GC (kids included), again around food and try to include outsiders. This structure is not an end in itself, but rather a way helping people progress towards the ideal. In addition to this, we have started a monthly GC leaders training session. This is where all of the GC leaders come together for a time of accountability, refocussing and training. Perhaps the most useful part of this session,
December 2011