Doing church
A person who is following hard after Jesus participates and engages in church and accountable small group relationships.
What does that look like?
The outcomes we see in the lives of people following Jesus will vary, but might include:
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A habit of meeting with other Christians regularly
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Participating in worship along with other people
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Active engagement in discussion with other people, as a means of learning and applying the teachings of Scripture to everyday life. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another"
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A few people investing significant time in researching and preparing talks to assist the learning of the rest
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Listening to others, and providing acceptance, affirmation, encouragement and emotional support, potentially over an extended period of time
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Vision and motivation for achieving something together that would not be possible as individuals
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Spurring one another on to keep following Jesus more closely
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Working together in teams, and finding synergies between the gifts of different people
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Relating to people of other age groups
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Hospitality: sharing homes, meals and friendship, especially with "people not like us"
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Creating shared memories in the community - milestone events, adventures and story-making that shape our lives
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Shared laughter, fun and joy
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Conflict resolution and advocacy - helping each other to repair relationships
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Mentoring and coaching others as they develop, including adult-adult and appropriately safeguarded adult-young person relationships
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Pioneering new things, with the support of the body of other people
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Corporately employing a number of people to allow the church to be sustained, flourish and develop
How does it come about?
The way we see that becoming deeply rooted in people's lives includes
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Organised large group meetings that include
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Time to get to know other people in an informal way, which may involve refreshments
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Opportunities to worship God together
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Opportunities to pray for one another
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Learning from the research and prepared talks of those who have taken that on
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Vision-casting by leaders
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Sharing communion; Baptism celebrations
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Large events for children and young people
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An accessible system of regularly-meeting small groups that include
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Time to get to know other people in an informal way, which may involve refreshments or a meal
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A variety of ways of learning together from the scriptures
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Opportunities for self-disclosure through 'icebreaker' questions or simply allowing people time to talk about how they are
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Opportunities to pray for one another
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Opportunities to worship God together
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A context for providing practical support for each other e.g. by organising meals, lending equipment or helping with tasks.
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Sharing communion
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Small groups for children and young people
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Occasional events that are
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Highly inclusive
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Fun
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May involve spending extended time together - whole days, weekends, or week-long holidays
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May be for affinity groups such as men, women, retired people, parents etc
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Resources to help accountability partners work well together
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A culture that values the corporate as well as the individual, expressed in:
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the stories we tell
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a consultative, plural leadership style
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personal disclosure by senior leaders about accountable relationships
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Skill-building in
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Relationship skills
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Small group facilitation and leadership
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Children's ministry
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Youth ministry
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Worship leadership
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Teamwork skills
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Mentoring and coaching skills
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Leadership
Resources
Key Bible passages
The body of Christ
Living stones
The bridge of Christ
Discussion materials:
Serendipity Bible:
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Accountability (page M5)
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Belonging (page M35)
Books:
Doing Church, by Alexander Venter. A church-planter's handbook and a thorough explanation of the Vineyard way of doing church.
Rebuilding your broken world, by Gordon McDonald. Very helpful chapters on the practicalities of accountable relationships.Turbulence in the church | Starting with 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 David looks at how this community of faith deals with the day to day challenges of normal church life.
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| David Flowers |
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Kate Newman and David Wallace, 07/05/2011