Those of you leading Asphalt Jesus small groups may be interested in a format idea offered by Mary Windle’s group, which integrates discussion time with blog posts. I asked Mary if she wouldn’t mind sending me what she does so I could post it here. She graciously consented:
Says Mary:
I bring my laptop up to the dining room so we can view the recent blog entries and comments at the beginning of the meeting (~5 min). We are a very time oriented group and strive to keep to a schedule to respect everyone’s evening (and work schedule for the next day), so we set a timer at the beginning of the meeting for 45 minutes. We then discuss the current chapter/affirmation for the evening. During the discussion, I have pens and post it notes on the table for people to record a comment/idea.
When the timer goes off, we reset the timer for 15 min and gather our notes to decide how we want to respond as a group to the blog. Everyone is also encouraged to view the blog on their own and feel free to post comments.
Lastly, we decided on a group name. The home where we meet has a very loving dog (Calvin, a standard poodle) who goes around the table expecting to be petted by various folks. In return, Calvin, like many canines gives his unconditional ‘dog love’ to everyone in the group. We decided that unlike Calvinistic views of predetermination and a finite number of people going to heaven, our Calvin gives unconditional love for everyone, thus our play on words Calvin’s Knights instead of Calvinites.
Also, our group members are making some amazing connections with each other!
#1 by Megan Seymour on May 13, 2009 - 1:49 pm
Hi Calvin Knights! Our Sunday night group that meets at Molly & Mitch Anderson’s has a name too. It’s SNL. The Sunday Night Listeners. We talked about many things… and we had one question of Eric. Black…. we wondered why he and most clergy wear black to lead religious services?
Inquiring minds want to know. And we promise to listen to the answer…. we’re SNL, Sunday Night Listeners.
#2 by Calvin's Knights on May 13, 2009 - 10:56 pm
It’s great that the groups are taking on a fun identity!