March 03, 2009
Technology - Connection vs. Community
Eric Metcalf **NewThing Adult Ministry
Just had a great dialogue through what was called a "fishbowl" conversation. 5 of us sat up in front of everyone while everyone watched us discuss a hot topic: Technology - is it connection or is it community? And then we discuss. Alongside of that, there was an empty chair where anyone could come sit in the empty chair and ask a question or make a comment that would spur the conversation further.
Here's the pictoral of what was brought up:
Get a New Attitude
Genea Browne | CCC Shorewood Small Groups Director
As leaders, we have many demands on our lives. We often feel tired, drained and have nothing left to give at the end of the day. Society puts it in our face every day that we should be able to balance all of our roles perfectly while still managing to have a clean house, well behaved-kids, a successful career and time for ourselves. We look at other leaders and think they have it all together, which causes us to look at ourselves with shame and guilt and wonder, "what's wrong with me?" We try to be a superhero to others around us and this often leaves us to become over extended, resentful, maybe even angry at times.
So how do we overcome that? How do we strive for a prayerful attitude? We have to be willing to rest in God and let Him fill us up. Isaiah 40:31 tells us, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
It is a tremendous blessing to be able to be used by God in powerful ways through leadership. It is when there is no time for ourselves to fill up again, refuel, recharge is when it’s dangerous. I spend many of my days pouring into the lives of others by listening, praying and encouraging them. If I don’t spend time with God and let Him fill me up I run the risk of burning out and then I am of no use to anyone. Maybe you can relate.
Having a prayerful attitude can bring you an inner peace and calm that you won’t experience with anything else. Having a prayerful attitude means giving up everything to God even when we are tired and weary. It’s at those times that we look to God and say, I can do ALL things through you, God, who gives me strength. Having a prayerful attitude means exactly what it says in Luke 10:27, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.” Having a prayerful attitude means living a life for God like you mean it. Saying, “God this life isn’t about me but it’s all about you and in order to do your work I have to care for myself.” God wants to use us leaders as a vessel to reach others, to show His love to hurting people. And let me ask you this--how are you caring for that vessel?
WCA Gathering
Eric Metcalf **NewThing Adult Ministry Director
Hanging with some the greatest minds in the small group world in San Antonio, TX. The Willow Creek Association (WCA) once a year gathers a group of hand-selected people to talk through Kingdom issues among grouplife. Last year we covered some stellar topics that dramatically impacted how we do church at COMMUNITY. The 2 Big Ideas that were influenced this year by last year's WCA Gatherhing were: The Story of Everything and You 2.0. To read more about last year's gathering visit this LINK.
So I'll try and keep you posted about what comes up and where things go. It looks like, based upon the wall post-its, we will be covering topics like:
- Missional Small Groups? (my number one question)
- Measurements of Success?
- What role does Technology play in small groups?
- Spiritual Formation?
- What's aging or dying in grouplife?
And then we are going to look at the S.W.O.T. of the group life movement (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).
Lots of stuff here. So how about you, what would you like to see addressed? What stands out to you in this dialogue?
February 24, 2009
WCA GroupLife Blog picks a fight!
Eric Metcalf **NewThing Adult Ministry Champion
I'm a big fan from learning from other leaders in the small group world and the team at WCA (Willow Creek Association) are some of the best to learn from. Well, Dave Treat (Group Life Director of Innovation, WCA) picked a fight about a very hot topic among those who lead small group ministries and I decided to join in.
Take a look and join the RUMBLE!
February 20, 2009
We're Moving!
Don't you just love change? Or not? Well we have a big change coming to this Small Groups Blog, and it's definitely a change for the better.
What's Changing:
Our location! This blog will now be located in 2 different places, so it can better serve the 2 primary audiences who benefit from it.
We are moving part of the blog to our main COMMUNITY website (www.communitychristian.org) - this is for the many COMMUNITY Small Group apprentices, leaders, coaches, and staff who get their COMMUNITY-specific information and resources from this blog.
The other part of the blog is moving to our NewThing website (www.newthing.org) - this is for the many churches and people outside of COMMUNITY who use our blog for training, discussion guides, info, resources, and more.
What's Not Changing:
The blog will continue to provide access to all the quality resources produced by COMMUNITY/NewThing for Adult Small Groups. And it will continue to provide training content, start discussions, share stories of what's working and what's not, and allow for lots of feedback.
Why Change? Becase we don't really have anything better to do, so we thought we could mess people up and...no, not really. We are trying to be more efficient with our COMMUNITY stuff by sending all COMMUNITY people to one website to find everything they need. And we want to continue serving those outside of COMMUNITY/NewThing by continuing to share resources/training/ideas all in one place - www.newthing.org.
It's all going down by March 3rd. So bring on the change and see you there soon!
February 17, 2009
New Discussion Guide: Tough Times
This weekend at COMMUNITY we kick off our brand-new series, Tough Times, which will be a very powerful and timely series. It's all about how God responds and wants us to respond when we are going through tough times. So whether you're in one or know someone who is, it should be very valuable stuff.
To go along with this series, we have written an excellent Small Group Discussion Guide that help facilitate discussion around the 3 weeks of this series. So be the first to download a copy--HERE!
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