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Joining God in the Neighborhood

Congregational Workbook “Pocket Edition”

A Transformed by the Spirit Resource American Baptist Churches USA

January 2016 Edition

For assistance, please contact… JGiN Pastor Liason: Jeff Savage [email protected] JGiN Resource Person: Greg Mamula [email protected] TbyS Director: Jeff Woods [email protected] TbyS Journey Team Chair: Nikita McCalister [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




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ContentsWelcome to Joining God in the Neighborhood..............................5

Practice 1: Listening for God...........................................................6

Dwelling in the Word (20-30minutes).........................................7

Listening to our Neighborhoods.................................................8

Listening Journal.......................................................................12

Practice 2: Discerning...................................................................21

Discerning Meeting Outlines.....................................................22

Practice 3: Exploring.....................................................................25

Exploration Charts.....................................................................27

Practice 4: Reflection....................................................................30

Practice 5: Deciding......................................................................33

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Welcome to Joining God in the NeighborhoodYou are about to begin an exciting journey of getting in sync with what God is doing in your neighborhood and church community. The foundational belief for this journey is that God is already active and moving all around us. Our goal through Joining God in the Neighborhood is to ask better questions. It is time to move away from unhelpful questions revolving around how to “fix” churches and instead start asking better questions centered around:

How do we discern what God is doing in our neighborhoods, communities, and churches and how do we join God there?

This journey is about discernment in the context of the community found in the local church. Baptist’s firmly believe, ‘All ministry is local.’ Every church, town, neighborhood, and the people that make up a community are unique. God works in the midst of these unique communities. God is the Author of all things unique and original. All of creation is saturated with variety and uniqueness. Why should we think that God’s engagement with his unique people be any different?

Joining God in the Neighborhood is about helping your unique church, observe what God is doing in your unique neighborhood and town, in your unique context. If we fail to grasp that God is working in our midst and join him in that work we will miss out on God’s best for our local ministry. Joining God in the Neighborhood is about helping us observe what God is already doing all around us so we can join him in that good work.

In the pages that follow you are invited to come on a journey to discover five practical exercises that will guide your church in discovering how to listen, discern, explore, and reflect on how God is moving in your community. Then you have to

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decide how God is leading you to join God in that work. If you are ready to Join God in the Neighborhood it’s time to turn the page.

Practice 1: Listening for GodListening for God is a key component to discerning how God is inviting your congregation to join the Spirit in your community. You are invited to join in three areas of listening:

Listen to God through Dwelling in Word Listen to one another Listen to our neighborhoods

Dwelling in the Word exercise invites us to participate in the first two areas of Listening for God. Baptist’s are a people of the Word. We are shaped by the narrative of scripture. It is the foundation for all we believe and practice. It is only natural that the first place we search for God’s voice would be in his written word. We also believe that God speaks to us as individuals through scripture and as such we must listen to one another to hear what God is saying to our fellow Christians.

In this first practice, we encourage you to invite as many people in the congregation as possible to participate in Dwelling in the Word. Whenever there is a meeting or gathering of groups take 30 minutes and begin with the process outlined below.

As you become familiar with the Dwelling in the Word process, we encourage you to explore creative ways of engaging in this process with one another and with God. In the beginning, however, we recommend that you follow the steps outlined below using the text of Luke 10:1-12. It is about mission and God being ahead of us in our neighborhoods. You will learn how to dwell in this text with one another and be drawn into the question: Where might the Spirit be calling us to join with God in our neighborhoods?

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Dwelling in the Word (20-30minutes)

Have copies of Luke 10:1-12 available for everyone. Have two people (male/female) take turns reading the

passage aloud. After the first reading, ask people to be open to the Spirit

and focus on these questions:o As the text is read, where did you stop?o Are there words, phrases, or ideas that grasp you?o Is there a question you would like to ask?

After the second reading ponder the questions again. After several moments of silence, ask people to find

someone in the room they do not know well to be partners with. Sit facing each other.

One person will share for two minutes where they stopped in the passage or what words and phrases jumped out to them. Then switch roles.

o The partner should be listening well and not thinking about what they will say next.

After four to five minutes bring the group back together. The leader will ask people to share what they heard their partner saying.

o Where did your partner stop? Why?o How did they hear God?o What new insights or questions emerged?o Focus on reporting what your partner observed not

what you observed. This requires us to listen attentively to our partner.

After everyone has shared, briefly ask the group if there have been any ways the Spirit spoke them through the text.

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Finally, ask the group, “How are we hearing God’s call to practice Luke 10 in our neighborhoods and communities?”

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Listening to our Neighborhoods

The second type of listening you your congregation is invited into is listening in your neighborhoods. We will explore practices to expand our confidence that God is active ahead of us in our communities. One way to ‘see’ God in our neighborhoods with fresh ways is by the practice of “seeing” our neighborhoods with new eyes.

You may ask: “Why focus on our neighborhoods?” Here are several reasons:

Congregations were designed for their neighborhoods. There are amazing things happening in our local

communities that, if we begin to see them, can transform our understanding of church.

As society changes, fewer people come to church. Simply trying to make church more attractive doesn’t compel people to come, so we need to go and be where people are – the neighborhood is one of those places.

The Spirit is already ahead of us, active and at work in our neighborhoods.

You are invited to practice walking and observing to get to know your neighborhood. These exercises will help you personally get to know your neighborhood better.

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Listening to Your Neighborhood Exercises1. Map Your NeighborhoodIn this exercise you are going to draw your own ‘map’ of your neighborhood that you will share with other ‘map-makers’ in your group and dialogue about what you are discovering.

Imagine you are in a helicopter looking down on your neighborhood. Draw a sketch of what you see:1. What is at the center of your neighborhood? Draw an image

of this. 2. Mark the shopping places, parks or schools in the

neighborhood. 3. What other landmarks do you want to mark? 4. Are there churches, business buildings, fire or police stations? 5. Mark the gathering places.6. Mark your favorite places to go. Consider why you chose this. 7. Mark your least favorite place to go. Consider why you chose

this. 8. Identify major boundaries in your neighborhood (geographic

features, human-made boundaries). 9. Who is in your neighborhood?10. Name people you know and locate them on your map. 11. Are there some stories you could tell about these people? 12. What do you know about these specific people? What makes

them unique?13. Using Your Senses:

i. What do you see? ii. What do you smell?

iii. What do you hear? iv. What do you feel?v. What effect did any of these things have on

you?14. Did you stop to talk with anyone on your walks? What did

you hear?

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Example of Map

Map Your NeighborhoodDraw a map of your neighborhood using the step from page 9. Be sure to point out some of the key places. As you go for your walks feel free to fill in your picture with more details and information.

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2. Walk Your NeighborhoodGo for a 30-45minute walk around your neighborhood three to four times a week. Do this at different times of day: morning, afternoon, late afternoon, evening. This can be the neighborhood where the church resides, where you live or where you work. While on the walk make observations about your community. Focus on just a couple questions each time you go for a walk.

What does your neighborhood look like (buildings, parks, apartments, streets, etc.)?

Are different people, groups, events, gathering at different times?

What does the neighborhood look like in the morning, afternoon, evening?

Who do you know in the neighborhood already? Why and how do you know them? What makes them unique?

Who are the people groups here? Where did they come from? How long have they been here?

Who is invisible? Why? What are the stresses in this neighborhood? How is communication accomplished here? How can the

church speak into this community? Who are the individuals who connect and bridge build in

this community? What organizations are present? What does that tell you? Do the original people live here? If not why? Where did

they go? What three things would you do to improve your

neighborhood?

Use the journal pages provided here or grab your own journal to document your walking experiences to share later in the discerning step.

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Listening JournalDate: Time: Neighborhood Name:____________

What was your experience on this walk?

What questions did you focus on in your walk today?

Where did you feel the Spirit of God active in your neighborhood?

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Practice 2: DiscerningYou have been listening and attending to your neighborhoods and the stories shaping the people around you. It is now time to move into the second step of discernment. Discernment is about being attentive to God and discerning where God is at work and where we can get involved. It is not just gathering statistical data and making sociological fixes. Discernment is not a church growth program; it is an attentive questioning of the presence of God.

What Do We Mean By Discerning?The guiding question of our Luke 10 journey is: How do we go on a journey together to discern what the Spirit is up to ahead of us in our neighborhoods and communities? Discernment is about the whole church describing what God is up to based on your Listening for God exercises. Discernment is a community activity rather than the work of individuals alone. Therefore we ask questions and prayerfully reflect on them in both individual and group settings. For many of us, this will be a new way of thinking about God, the Gospel, and Mission.

Discerning GroupsUsing the listening practices you have learned in the Dwelling in the Word exercises form a handful of discerning groups for church members to gather. The meetings should be simple, follow the enclosed agendas, and might include a meal so you can eat, pray, and work around the table.

Prior to meeting together individuals should reflect on what they are observing God doing in their midst. Here are a list of questions for personal reflection between Discerning Group meetings.

1. From your neighborhood listening, list some places, things, moments, or connections that have drawn your attention and

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imagination.2. Do any stories, images, or conversations connect with your

responses to question 1, helping you understand why they caught your attention?

3. Write down some thoughts describing why you think the Spirit is nudging you in these directions.

Once you have reflected on these questions individually you are ready to gather with the larger group.

Discerning Meeting OutlinesMeeting 1:

Welcome Where did you see God this week in your neighborhood? Dwelling in the word Share answers to the “Questions for Group Discussion”

below

Between Meetings continue to walk the neighborhood reflecting on the journal questions.

Meeting 2: Welcome Where did you see God this week in your prayer time and

neighborhood (refer to journal if needs be) Dwelling in the word Share answers to the questions for group discussion below Ask the “Neighborhood Questions” below

Between meetings…walk and dwell and journalMeeting 3:

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Welcome Share the places you feel God is active in your

neighborhood Why do you feel this way?

Dwelling exercise Ask the “Questions for Group Discussion” below

Questions for Group Discussion

Share one of the stories that keeps coming back to you as you reflect upon your neighborhood listening exercises.

Invite others to share what they think that God might be up to in this story.

Invite everyone to respond by affirming and/or commenting.

Talk together about how you might find natural ways of attending to some of the people in the stories who live in your neighborhoods.

Pray together around the discernment that has taken place.

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Practice 3: ExploringExplorations are created by asking, “What activities can we initiate that will help us engage our community in new ways and join with what God is already doing in our neighborhoods? Remember that the main goal of this resource is:

How do we join with what God is doing in our neighborhoods and our community?

By engaging in explorations you are testing ideas that we are not sure we know how to do and where results are not guaranteed. Listening for God and discerning the presence of the Spirit is not a program or a science. It is an art that requires practice, patience, and determination. Exploration requires us to travel lightly with Jesus as he guides us into the neighborhood. When Jesus tells his followers in Luke 10 to “take nothing with you” he is calling us to stop doing things for people and to start being with people since we will need their help to survive! Only to the extent we can be with people in our neighborhoods, will we be able to participate with the Spirit. Just as the disciples of Luke 10 had to join the community we have to join the community.

Choosing an Exploration ActionExplorations are not about doing something for others, meeting a perceived need, or solving a problem. Explorations are action oriented, involves encountering people, are designed to join God in what he is already doing, and should guide you into new ways of joining God in the future. An exploration activity is:

A simple plan to practice joining with what you see God doing in the neighborhood.

Becoming a partner with people in your community. Participating in something (book club, garden group,

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sports group etc.) Engaging the people whom you already have met. About how you come to be a friend and guest with others

in the community. Placing yourself in a role of learner and listener (What is

God’s Spirit up to here?)

Using your discernment groups prayerfully choose a simple exploration activity that will allow you to Join God in the Neighborhood. The most effective explorations are simple, small, light on structure, require little or no financial resources, are allowed to fail, help you better learn new ways of “being” church, come out of your context of listening and discerning locally, and partner with others. Any exploration will do as long as you believe it is what God is leading you to do in your context. No two explorations will be exactly the same because they are developed out our relationship with God and our neighborhoods.

Once you discern an exploration share it with others and invite them to join you in that exploration activity. See if they also discern God is leading them to participate in such an exploration. It could be anybody from the church or even outside the church.Use the charts on the next couple pages to help you engage in your new explorations.

Allow your explorations to take time. Some may only be a one day activity others might need to last for several months.

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Exploration ChartsOur Exploration is…

It is based on these elements of our listening & discerning…

It fits the criteria for explorations in the following ways…

What we plan to do over the next 3-6 months is…

Some specific action steps are…

Keep bi-weekly notes that you will share in your group

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Our Exploration is…

What we did this week…

What we are experiencing… (share stories)

What we are learning?

What is really working?

What doesn’t seem to be working?

Evaluating Explorations

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Question to address: In the light of seeking to invite the people of our congregation to enter a shared journey of discerning what the Spirit is doing in our neighborhoods and communities and create some learning experiences in joining with God there – engage this worksheet:

Our Exploration was…

What we did…

What worked well…

What we would change…

Where are we now?

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Practice 4: ReflectionWhat did we do? What are we learning? Where are we seeing God?

A key practice that is often left out in processes of congregational change is the simple but powerful step of reflecting on what we have done. Reflection, like discernment, is difficult and yet the most important in terms of a congregation becoming self-conscious and partnering with God. Without this practice of reflection getting into the bones and rhythms of a congregation’s life, the first three practices will be little more than a moment of trying something before moving on to something else.

Reflection has several elements and each is important. These questions provide a pathway to reflect on our actions to determine how to take next steps. Without this reflection taking next steps becomes difficult. The pattern of reflection is as follows:

1. WHAT? Sharing together what we have done Is there a story that best captures your experience? What did you enjoy most about this experience?

2. WHAT HAPPENED? On the basis of what we’ve done: In what ways did we experience God at work in all of

this? Are there ways in which your attitudes toward going

on this journey with Jesus have changed? Why? Are there ways in which your assumptions about being

church are being challenged? What has worked well? Why? What didn’t work well? Why?

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3. SO WHAT? What are we learning about: Listening to God in the neighborhood? Going lightly? Being with rather than doing for?

4. NEW QUESTIONS: What are the new questions that are emerging for us from these experiences in terms of:

Our sense of listening to the Spirit? Being church in our neighborhood? Are there now new ways you want to imagine being

church together?

5. SHARE: What are the key things we want to share with the rest of the congregation?

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Practice 5: DecidingIn what new ways will we now join with God in the neighborhood?

The fifth practice in reframing the imagination of congregations from a church-centered to a God-centered focus (going lightly with Jesus into our neighborhoods) involves deciding to initiate a new set of Explorations based on the reflection work.

The purpose of this section is to provide a simple process whereby a congregation can start to practice its way into asking the better question of:

How do we discern what God is doing in our neighborhoods, communities, and churches and how do we join God there?

As you and your congregation learns how to go on this journey of Joining with God in the Neighborhood you will discover how to become a very different kinds of congregation. It is important to know how to continue the cycle. This is what the Deciding practice is about. The following offers an example of how this can be done.

1. CurateAfter participating in Joining God in the Neighborhood your entire congregation will be ready to take responsibility for discerning what God is doing in your midst rather than just a few key leaders. Curating involves creating spaces for interacting, sharing and decisions owned by the congregation. Set up new structures and groups that will allow the congregation to continue to listen, discern, explore, reflect, and decide on how to follow the Spirit of God.

2. Plan to do this carefully and slowly

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Think through the various steps (such as those outlined below) that need to be in place for people to make decisions. Remember that there are three kinds of decisions that are important.

a. First, for the congregation as a whole to hear the stories of what has happened and affirm that this is a direction in which the congregation wants to keep moving.

b. Second, for another small number of people to decide to join with the discerning and exploration journey.

c. Third, to have those in the first iteration look at how they will continue this journey into their neighborhoods.

d. (Don’t create vague, general bullet point agendas, but work at developing good, specific process agendas for each step.)

3. Gather and frame the work.Based on the Reflection processes outlined above, frame what you have learned into a communication piece for the board and key leaders of the congregation. A wise leader will see that the structure of that communication piece is already provided in the steps outlined in the Reflection section. Design the communication to:

a. Involve those who participated in this first iteration.b. Be as interactive as possible.c. Provide a picture of the journey of going lightly in the

way of Jesus into the neighborhood (stories of what took place and what people experienced).

d. Share the five key practices and why they are important.

e. Emphasize this is about introducing some new practices that can become part of the congregation’s life rather than putting another program into place.

4. Gather with the board and key leaders to share with them:

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a. The overall communication piece based on the Reflection step.

b. Listen carefully to their questions and, along with others who have been in the process, take time to interact with them around these questions.

c. Propose a time for gathering with the whole congregation to share this communication and invite others to join in the journey of discerning and Exploration.

5. Bring the congregation together for an evening to share the communications piece:

a. Tell the storiesb. Share a picture of what God is doing – using the stories

from your own and other congregations give a picture of what things might look like in a few years.

c. Listen to people’s responses.d. Continue to communicate that no structures, programs

or roles are being changed – things in the church continue as they’ve been. This journey is about ‘Exploration’ and we will continue to take the time to stop and reflect on what we’re doing.

6. Set a calendar date for beginning a ‘next round’ of discerning and exploration. Invite all those interested to attend.

7. Have people who’ve gone through the first round become ‘journey guides’ for the next.

Continue communicating with the congregation the steps being taken and keep inviting people to share the stories of their experiences on the journey.

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Documents

Welcome to Joining God in the Neighborhood · Web viewWhy should we think that God’s ... centered to a God-centered focus (going lightly with Jesus into our ... in which the congregation