GroupLife: Everything is an Experiment
Creative Community for Emerging Generations: Ten principles:
Embrace the individual. This generation is a complex one culturally. It will be a relational model that reaches this generation. Keep some great questions in your back pocket as you sit down with someone. “Which fruit of the spirit is working most in your life right now?”
Give young adults a platform. Give them a voice in communicating the vision. Beyond coming up with the vision…they need to be able to communicate it. They don’t need their questions answered every time. But they need them validated.
Harness the power of creativity. There might be all kinds of ways that this generation would want to do community. Bumpers and gutters are necessary. It has to be relational. It has to be missional.
Validate community where it already exists. Church is the only place in the world that thinks it has to provide people with friends. For example, turn missions groups into small groups.
Make your groups experiential, intellectual, and relational. Not all at once, but over time. Variety is a key. Multiple ingredients. Dinner together? Have everyone bring their favorite cereal!
Make discipleship non-linear. They want to invited to come on a journey. An adventure. With you.
Discover a rhythm. Semesters give NCC three times that they can focus on a launching strategy. They pay for a once a year event for leaders, off site, completely paid for, high interest. There is a sense of anticipation.
Harness the power of story. Cool use of video to promote groups like alpha. Coolest thing at NCC; The Story. Larger environments where people can come and check out groups. The Story is tackling the entire Bible in 3 nights. Not just people’s story…but also the story of the Bible.
Harness the power of technology. The Reformation was influential because of the power of the printing press. Emerging generations are getting their theology from music and movies. God at the Billboards and God at the Box Office are two series that NCC does every year. This is what Paul did in Athens. Why wouldn’t we do that now by talking about some of the songs and movies that are right on the front of mind anyway? While we need to be creating culture, we need to know what to say and how to say it. Launced a group called The River for sexual and relational brokenness. Promoted by video. Video is a gradually increasing flood of one liners that express feelings. Soundtrack? Starts with dripping sound. Progresses to the sound of a raging river.
Be you. You don’t have to be cool or hip. You do have to be you. Not an excuse to be a major dork. Be you.
Sesson wrapped with a great video about baptism. You can see it right here. Watch it at your own risk. If you’re not someplace where this could happen…well, you may need to make it happen. Whenever I see this kind of thing it always pulls me back to my days at Fellowship of The Woodlands.
