Brainstorming about Community...

Over the later part of summer, I made the transition from student ministry to Pastor of Community Life. The transition has been good from the sense of seeing God do some neat and cool things. So over the past few months, I have had many discussions with people like yourself about 'community.' We have talked about what it looks like, walks like, acts like, ways to develop it, cultivate it, and so on. Through these open deliberations, I have been able to see God at work. God has been developing in me a way to go about experiencing deeper community in our church and in my own life. I want to share with you some ways that I would like to see us organically go about reaching community together. 

 

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Groups to Assist in Community Building:

1. Ministry Team Representatives (MTR's)
2. LifeGroups
3. Community Building Team 

So these are the three groups I would like to see begin working on community.  

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Venues from which we can cultivate community: 

1. LifeGroups - during regular scheduled meeting times, special events, etc.
2. One-Time Ministry Events - (Love Our Neighbor, reFUEL weekend, etc.)
3. Affinity Groups - (Sports/Recreation, Book club, shopping, etc.)
4. Ministries - Within each ministry, a natural sense of community is being formed
5. Newsong University - short term classes designed to strengthen our faith. Could also be short-term LifeGroups assembled to meet short-term needs.

This list should not be seen as a complete or exhaustive list but rather a beginning point.

I am curious what your thoughts are on these ideas.