Present:  Bill Elrod, Cynthia May, Mary Dunston, Phyllis Johnson, Mike and Kay McMeniman, Joe Kendrick, Pastor Mike, and Pastor Jay.  Jim Blanchard was at a family celebration, and Charlie Fleet had to attend to an emergency in his extended family.

We'll be meeting again at 10a on Sunday, November 25 in the Conference Room.  (We know that Jim, Charlie, and Joe probably can't participate at that time, but the reason for it will unfold in the summary that follows.)

As we attempted last week, please review this summary reading and think it over (be prepared to offer  corrections/revisions as appropriate.)  I'll be planning for the Nov25 meeting -- as I do, I  welcome your comments/questions about what has been discussed,  and suggestions about how we should proceed together at the meeting Sunday.  At the bottom of the page, there's a place for you to post a comment (be sure to identify yourself by name).  Others will be able to read what you've written and offer comments of their own.  Come back from time to time, to see what others have added.

Meeting Summary

As we've been reviewing during the previous week and thinking about what was presented at the workshop, this question arose:

In the context of the Discipleship Process "funnel" that Terry presented, would we be more faithful to the process model, if we set about creating additional Adult Bible Fellowships?  Even if those Bible Fellowships were located in homes (due to our space limitation), and even if the attendees are small in number.  (In other words, categorizing them as Home Bible Fellowships has more to do with their purpose and characteristics, rather than their size and location.)  As we launch these Bible Fellowships, we can still infuse the "Essential Characteristics" (see below) that we identified earlier, to maximize the openness of the group and keep its members open to development.

Some Essential Characteristics for a Small-Group Setting

• Its purpose is transformation.
• A covenant is established, to define the  basic ground rules for the group.
• Expectation right from the beginning that the group will not last longer than 2 years (intended to be an ongoing spiritual base, but for a limited time).  There is still a funnel, but without a shift from one organization to another:  The group begins as an open group, closes over time for additional intimacy and accountability.
• There is a leader and an apprentice.  There is someone to lead, but early on someone is chosen to be a leader-in-training.  This is to prepare the group for the next step in its natural life-cycle.  It is expected to . . .
• Multiply.  It  may do this by distributing its members across other groups, by re-configuring itself as two smaller groups, or a number of variations.

Summary (cont.)

Wrestling with this question caused us to clarify our terms, understanding, and purpose.  Here are some outcomes:

• It strengthened our resolve that our priority purpose is to offer discipleship and connection to newcomers (primarily newcomers to the Live OutLoud service).
• Creating a new ABF(s) at present, continues a pattern/process that is recognizable and comfortable to our church family (seems less like a "departure from tradition" than creating "small groups").
• Moving along this path allows us to create an on-site ABF (as we had already strongly considered doing), and to use it as a "model" for how we launch additional ABFs (including those in a home setting).

And so, we decided our best action at this point is to launch a new ABF, at 10 on Sunday mornings, in the Fellowship Hall.  Most team members indicated a desire to participate in this, so it seemed appropriate to shift our regular meeting time, for the present, to Sunday mornings at 10.  We'll reconvene next Sunday, Nov 25, at 10 in the Conference Room.  ("Related Link" below takes you to the calendar entry.)  Pastor Jay will prepare materials for the next meeting (your comments are invited, see below).

Special note:  We haven't abandoned the desire to create "small groups" that are intended to develop those who are more firmly committed to discipleship.  We'll come back to that!  And we can begin that exploration by coming back to the "exploration questions" that grew out of the Workshop on the 10th.